Sci-Fi Gems Week: Rollerball

Welcome back fans of my garbled writing to Day 2 of Sci-Fi Gems Week. Harken in the blue box with the madman to 1975. A film about a dystopic future where corporations dominate the planet, and control access to all transports, housing, communications and even food based in the economic downpour. Without passion behind any potential up-rises the masses can be entertained in violence. This is Rollerball.

Yup, dig me.

In the far away time of 2018, a sport similar to Roller Derby in that both sports compete in a round track, Rollerball involves a dozen players with 9 in body armor and on roller skater with three cycles. A steel ball is shot out in the arena with an in and out zone, one of the team must grab the ball and fire it into the goal on the other side of the stadium. The skaters can use the momentum of the cycles to block, jab or slam into the other. Skaters can also use their own momentum and smack each other but there will be penalties and time lost on the clock. If a player is injured they can be rescued by medics or simply replaced by a substitute.

And the crowd goes wild!

Enter Johnathan E. (James Caan of El Dorado, The Godfather, Funny Lady, Hide in Plain Sight, Thief, Misery and For the Boys) the best Houston district er um I mean Rollerball team has to offer and the board of Energy Corporation are a bit antsy. Head chairman Mr. Bartholomew (John Houseman of The Paper Chase, Three Days of the Condor, St. Ives, Aspen, The Cheap Detective, The Fog and Noble House) afraid Johnathan is too easily recognizable, offering him stature above his station that he will encourage others to strive rather than remain corporate drones and tries to tempt Johnathan with a retirement package, funds, wenches and whatever else could appease him but they never bother to ask if John wants to retire. John keeps himself entertained with his corporate concubine Mackie (Pamela Hensley of Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze, Kingston: Confidential, The Six Million Dollar Man, Switch and The Nude Bomb) and explains skill and technique to rising, upcoming whipper snappers... I mean new Rollerball recruits. In spite of being treated like a conqueroring gladiator of old, John finds so much censoring on reading material, music, arts and even film. Puzzled by this, John does not know what to make of it and corporate sends him yet another concubine, Daphne (Barbara Trentham of The Possession of Joel Delaney, Rollerball, Sky Riders and Death Moon) with the object there being, "Too much energy? Pork away!"

With Rollerball to distract the masses, they cannot be able to question how badly they are getting screwed by the upper 1% so Johnathan's popularity must also go and with that it becomes a blood sport to the likes even the most hardcore Rollerball fan is stunned by. Will Johnathan come out on top or will he end up a broken man?

A few things to mention about this film now. This is another good example about well written Sci-fi, given the political and social commentary within the film. With a fraction of the budget of say 2001: A Space Odyssey you have a movie pointing out political agenda, class separation, power and greed satiring on the directionless society we have already become because we are too lazy or too self-indulgent to fix our own mistakes!!! Now, that being said on my ranty soapbox, I totally want a flame gun! You kids playing in my yard again?? PHOOOM!!!

So this patch will help me understand Windows 8??