3.8 | / 10 |
Users | 2.2 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
Jonathan Cross is an all-American hotshot, the most popular player in the fastest and most extreme sport of all time: Rollerball. Along with teammates Marcus Ridley and Aurora, Jonathan is living the high life -- fame, money, incredible cars -- all for giving viewers what they want: a dangerous game packed with visceral thrills, breakneck speed and head- slamming action. Things go wrong when Rollerball's creator, Petrovich, realizes that serious on-court accidents bring higher viewer ratings. Soon Jonathan and his friends are playing for their lives. The teammates find themselves trapped in intrigue, pawns in a new game without any rules.
Starring: Chris Klein, Jean Reno, LL Cool J, Rebecca Romijn, Naveen AndrewsAction | 100% |
Sport | 30% |
Sci-Fi | 5% |
Video codec: MPEG-2
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: Dolby Digital 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0
English, Spanish, Korean, Mandarin (Traditional)
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Region A (locked)
Movie | 1.5 | |
Video | 2.5 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
I remember sitting down to watch Rollerball when it was originally released to DVD back in 2002. Knowing it was directed by John McTiernan (Predator, Die Hard and The Hunt for Red October), I was willing to give the film a fair shake despite the ruthless critical reception it had received upon its theatrical release. Unfortunately, everything I’d heard was 100% correct, and I came away hoping my path would never cross with Rollerball again. As you can see, my wish didn’t come true, but at least this review provided an opportunity to give the film a second chance.
That's probably the angriest face Chris Klein has ever mustered.
Presented in 1080p utilizing the MPEG-2 codec (at a bitrate that wavers from 12Mbps to 28Mbps), Rollerball is a problematic transfer. As with my recent reviews of Road House and Out of Time, Rollerball demonstrates wild shifts in clarity, with some scenes appearing nice and distinct and others appearing hazy or blurred. I've suspected the use of MPEG-2 as the main culprit behind problem, and this film tends to confirm my belief. After all, Rollerball is only seven years old and I've seen plenty of films on Blu-ray that are three or four times that age, but still offer a better level of clarity. Detail issues aside, I was also a bit disappointed in the muted color spectrum and the overall bland look. The neon colors of the Rollerball rink never pop off the screen, robbing the viewer of what could have been the only reason to watch the film in the first place. Adding to the problems, contrast suffers in a number of sequences (especially a stairway scene at the 41 minute mark), creating a serious loss of shadow detail from time to time.
On a side note, I wanted to mention three items that collectively downgraded my perception of the visual experience beyond the problems noted above. First, there an odd slow-down in the video that occurs at the 50:36 mark when Jonathan is talking to Marcus. Suddenly the video jumps ahead several frames to catch up with his movement and dialogue as if the slowdown never took place (the whole effect is a bit jarring). Second, at the 54 minute mark, there's a brief two or three second shot of the English announcer that looks downright awful, with the image almost appearing as if it were superimposed on top of the same frame, but slightly off to the side. Third, (and this is a source issue), the entire motorcycle chase sequence around the 59 minute mark is completed using nightvision equipment of some sort, creating a green, obscured, artifact heavy picture. I can't fathom how the filmmakers thought it was a good idea, especially after watching the final footage.
The primary audio offering is a DTS-HD MA 5.1 track in the native language of English. Performing marginally better than the video transfer, the overall audio experience is still somewhat disappointing for a recent action film. The volume of the dialogue presented some issues along the way, as I found myself straining to make out what the characters were saying. The special effects demonstrated subtle use of the the rear surrounds, but it wasn't nearly as dynamic as I was expecting from a film that features bone-crunching hits, a metal ball bouncing around, and the rumble of a motorcycle engine. Speaking of rumble, I was a little disappointed in the shortcomings of the LFE track. There were numerous opportunities for my subwoofer to shine, but the track never realized that potential. In the end, I came away from the audio experience with the opinion that it wasn't bad for a mediocre action track, but won't measure up next to the wealth of better offerings on the format.
Though it's hardly worth mentioning, there appears to be an audio blip in the track around the 32:06 mark, where several elements in the audio track (including the music) cut out for a split second. It's not as jarring as the video problem mentioned above, but will still be noticeable to audiophiles.
Rollerball is one of several recent Blu-ray releases from MGM that contain a copy of the DVD release in addition to the Blu-ray. This appears to be a strategic move to provide special features without actually adding them to the Blu-ray disc itself. In general, I wouldn't consider this practice ideal (especially for anyone with an interest in director's commentaries) but it may partially account for the reasonable retail price of this Blu-ray release.
Having said that, I'm reviewing a single-disc rental copy of the Rollerball Blu-ray, so I'm not able to comment on the DVD special features included within the retail package. The only special feature included on the Blu-ray disc is a collection of four high-definition trailers (Rollerball, Terminator, Windtalkers and Species).
If you've never seen Rollerball, you should have no trouble continuing to pass on the opportunity with this newly-released Blu-ray offering. I'm willing to give director John McTiernan a break since everyone has a minor misstep every now and again, but Rollerball is simply a case of shoddy filmmaking at its finest. From a technical standpoint, the presentation is certainly a marginal improvement over the DVD counterpart, but never rises to the potential we'd expect from a glossy action production. In the end, I'm not recommending this release to anyone and I'd go so far as to say it isn't even worthy of a rental.
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