See the original

I haven't seen this remake yet, because I wanted to revisit the original first, which I remember as being extremely popular in its day. After seeing it again tonight, all I can say is you MUST rent it immediately. The Jewison film is not really about bloodsport, but about the corporate takeover of the world. It's quite fascinating in its future predictions--everyone medicated, no one reading books, corporations controlling the citizenry. Sound familiar? There's a whole lot of philosophy in the original and even the rollerball action sequences take on a very graphic and horrifying feel.

Here are some classic quotes from the movie to whet your appetite:


“The game was created to show the futility of individual effort… this is not a game you’re supposed to grow strong in.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for our Corporate anthem.”

“I forget which corporation is which. Any ass knows that fire is Engery. But what about the music? Where does the music come from? I forget what corporation runs what city. Chicago’s still the food city. What about Indianapolis? Whatever happened to that town? Things were simpler when I was a kid. We still had three nations, that was before the corporate wars. I remember someone telling me about the national football league and the world cup. The corporate wars were nasty. Nobody talks about that.”

“Corporate society is an inevitable destiny—a material dream world. Everything man touched became attainable.”

“You know, Johnny, all they want is a kind of incidental control over just a part of our lives. They have control economically and politically, but they also provide.”

“Corporate executives make corporate decisions, corporate decisions are made by corporate executives. Knowledge coverts to power; energy equals genius. Power is knowledge, genius is energy."

“Do the executives still come here?” “They used to.” “What about the books?” “Oh no, the books have all changed, they’ve been transcribed and summarized.”

I still have to see the remake, just for comparison, but it sounds like it's been changed completely from the message of the original. And why? Seems to me that corporate takeover of America and the world is a much more topical subject than athletes fighting with overbearing management. I mean, who cares?