Harry takes a look at the remake of ROLLERBALL

You know... sometimes there are movies that just the mention of gets you in a fit. A fit of geek joy? ROLLERBALL is one of mine.

Lots of people I know hate the film. Despise it. Loathe it even. These people also don’t watch football. Don’t watch basketball. And... have never really played organized team sports... be it in little league or high school.

I’ve played football. Loved squishing quarterbacks. I’ve also been in the band playing during football games... led the charge on my trombone alongside my best friend’s trumpet. And... I have just been in the crowd.... that electric crowd filled stadium. And I’ve done the sports bar bit. Drunk... rowdy folks screaming and hollering. I’ve worn plastic viking helmets, a wedge of cheese upon my brow and so many combinations of team colors... it’s not even funny.

The first DVD I bought myself was ROLLERBALL. Like I said.... I love the film. But I’m the first to admit that the movie had some major flaws. Mainly having to do with everytime the camera left the game, preparation of the game or team meetings. The corporate soceity stuff just did not work for me.

However, I have always felt that it was that aspect of the story that warranted a remake. Nail the entire story. Flesh out the history of the Corporate Soceity. How do we get from where we are to a Corporate Soceity? What is wrong with it? A perfectly organized living structure that is... perfection.

Then there was the tree blowing up scene. Oh sure, I understand the symbolism, but for a lot of people it was a real scratch your head sort of thing.

The various babes that randomly kept showing up with no real meaning to us. What was up with that? That one chick that comes up and Jonathan and suddenly he seems a bit changed. A hint of a history... but what was going on there.

The film seems to be about how the Corporation is wanting to downplay the individual, but at the same time they make a film special dedicated to the accomplishments of a single player... thus helping him in his journey to stardom.... the very thing that Mr Bartholomew and all the other suits wish to stop.

Doing the interviews with players as the hit town... all of the things they do to handle and make the game real to our real world... makes the corporate society weak looking. And we must be able to look at this game as though it is in a soceity that is well established. That is POWERFUL.

So... when I heard there was a ROLLERBALL remake in the wind. And that John McTiernan was in charge... I was excited.

Recently due to spies that in-line skated from MGM’s corporate offices... to my home here in Austin and handed me the 1st draft screenplay for that very same remake.

Well... I’m proud to say that at least within the first draft by David Campbell Wilson, well... In almost every single facet it is an improved reconception of the original. At least on the printed page.

There are major changes here and there, but basically the film is structured almost exactly the same. With the only major sequence left out being the smart water computer.... That is gone.

The film begins with a history lesson which gives you an absolutely perfect idea of how the world came to be the way it is at the time this film takes place. Which is the 25th century... Twiki is nowhere to be seen. I don’t want to spoil this history, but I will say that today’s story on CBS NIGHTLY NEWS about mosquitoes, birds, ticks and a new deadly virus that came to the United States... well, it sent shivers down my screwed up back (btw...the reason there was no update was I wrenched the hell out of my back and have been trying to unwrench it for the past 24)

Our hero is still Jonathan (no E), but fans know him as only Energy Player 6, Captain. Thereby stripping him of individuality. He’s just a number on a team made up of other numbers, who often times have different faces from game to game. His face has been the same, in the same jersey for a long time now. People know his number. And over his career he has been developing an amazing following... though he is just another number.

What I like most about this script is the creation of this Corporate Society. It’s scary. It seems possible. Everything is visual now. There are no books. In fact all the workers... well... they can’t read. They only know what they need to know. Excess knowledge and thought limits productivity.

So true... but it is those very thoughts that allow us to be human. The game seems to be changed just a bit. Though... as written I can’t really see it without thinking of the original filmed game. I believe this version of the game is far more violent and cruel.

The rule changes are harsher. And this film is intense. The script is far darker than the original film. And is frankly... a bit unsettling. The last three pages literally made me stop... and just shake my head... and go, “Holy shit.”

Now the scary thing I’ve heard is that this film had ‘script problems’. That it was in rewrite hell. GOD, I hope this isn’t so. This was a mean ol script. And the ending would leave the audience stunned and blown away.

Fantastic.

It’s funny. From the opening, I thought I had figured the whole film out. (BUZZER SOUND) That’s right... it didn’t go that way.

Moonpie is now known as Catnip.... Personally... I like Moonpie. You learn much more about the world that created this game....

In the original, we never really went behind the scenes of the Corporate world. See them. Hear their decision making process. This time... we really get to have a look at the beast.

McTiernan has the ability to direct this script, but the key is going to be in getting an EXTREMELY charismatic actor who can play early to mid thirties to play this role. Russell Crowe most likely won’t go near the film because of his similar work in GLADIATOR. Personally... I’d love to see either Chow Yun Fat or Nicholas Cage or George Clooney in this role.

It is a tough and hard film to make. But the script really did fix a crapload of the holes in the original. In this screenplay... it’s not just the game that is scary... but the entire world.