ROLLERBALL (1975)

'''ROLLERBALL. Norman Jewison, dir.''' USA: United Artists, 1975. W. Harrison, script, from his "Roller Ball Murder," q.v. under Fiction.

The highly mechanized game of Rollerball is used by the ruling corporate apparat as an outlet for the violent emotions of the masses and as a way to teach them that individual effort is futile. Note sequence in which the film's hero goes to consult his world's central computer, where the human past is, theoretically, preserved. ROLLERBALL is discussed in CW by E. A. Hull (see citation under Drama Criticism). A film with the same title appeared in 2002 and seems to have disappeared quietly.