Previn's original compositions alternate between dissonant pieces on early 1970s synthesizers and (for contemporary sounding "source music" during a party scene in the film) slightly stiff sounding take-offs on the funk being created at the time by Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters. The Headhunter-style stuff is certainly pleasant to listen to, but it's the Bach, Albinoni and Shostakovich pieces that make the CD a worthwhile listen.
Curiously, the CD's accompanying booklet spends more time analyzing the film's poster artist, Bob Peak, than they do the choices behind the soundtrack selection. Peak's artwork, included in the booklet is certainly dramatic and colorful, but a little balance in behind-the-scenes information would have been nice.
Rollerball, the film has aged relatively nicely, since it's easily the most action-filled of a series of fairly dreary films churned out by a Hollywood that just couldn't see beyond the edicts of Kubrick's 2001, until George Lucas found a galaxy far, far away that was fun. Rollerball, the soundtrack has a handful of amazing pieces that remind that Hollywood could make good soundtracks until it became a division of MTV.
FOOTNOTE: Tomaso Albinoni was an 18th century composer. However, his Adagio, easily his most heard work, was reconstructed from a fragment of manuscript discovered in the Dresden State Library after the Second World War with very 20th century style harmonies in 1945 by Remo Giazotto. According to this site, Giazotto was:
a Milanese musicologist who was at that time completing his biography of Albinoni and his listing of Albinoni's music. Only the bass line and six bars of melody had survived, possibly from the slow movement of a Trio Sonata. Giazotto "reconstructed" the now-famous Adagio in about 1945, based on the surviving fragment. To him it suggested a piece that would be played in church, so he added an organ. It is perhaps ironic, that Albinoni's rediscovery by the wider public in our own times was largely based on this ever-popular piece which Albinoni would only barely recognize.
Article comments
1 - Louise
Rollerball to me was about the imagery. The stark modernism of early 70's Munich was such a perfect choice for this films locations. I just love the coldness of it. A promise of this antiseptic future free of the impending misery that many doomsayers predicted back in the 70's. I never thought of it as a repudiation of leftist ideals but the more I look at this imperfect film, the more I understand it to be such a damning criticism of the leftist utopia. Comfort is not freedom. These so-called corporations that control this vision of the future don't really act like capitalist enterprises at all. They represent this nanny-like state of existence we see today that threatens to weaken all of western society. They want to take away all risk. All chance. All daring. The "suits" become more powerful than the cowboys. Litigation replaces sweat and fists. Jonathan E. is the cowboy. I wonder if this was Jewison's intent. I plan on buying the soundtrack.
Thanks.
2 - Marcus Kinkaid
Hey people, a movie is a movie...why are we watching? Last time I checked, movie stars and the high end crew make lots and lots of money to make movies. Right? So why are we bitching on every movie review internet site that this movie completely blew? Of course the movie was bad. Of course it was terrible. The name of the movie is "Rollerball." Was that not an indication of what you were about to see? It tires me so to see bad reviews for movies. Most movies are not exceptionally good, like life for most people is not exceptionally good. But this movie, like most to all "not exceptionally good" movies allow the regular (majority) person to be somewhere else for a while. And it is damn fun to be somewhere else for a while. It always feels good to be there. Somewhere else. And that is exactly where this movie, and every average movie takes us...to somewhere else. Regardless of how average to below average to excellent a movie is to each person, somewhere else is a great place to be. I wish every movie was perfect and ideal and just plain spectacular, but I know that I can only love the truly great ones by knowing the average and less exist. And as great as the great ones are and will always be, I need the average ones just as much, because the real movie lover loves the thrill of the hunt.
3 - eegore
I was amazed when I first saw this movie in the theatre. For those that understood the background scheming and dealing, it is the ultimate horror movie in that it represents a corperate society that has killed the spirit of man leaving nothing but the shallow masses that follow a brutal game as the only accepted outlet. The idea that life is decided by the corperate oligarchy is a horror nightmare that is almost becoming true with the globalization of corperations. They are no longer bound by the laws of any one nation and do as they see fit with impunity. This movie was a shocking vision of the future that can very easily come true. James Caan played the fly in the corperate ointment with the utmost perfection and threatened the corparte view that the individual is no longer important and is now an asset that is manipulated for convenience and the maintenance of power. He was not a heroic character but someone who did not want to give up something that was a part of his life.
4 - margy
Please tell me the name of the musician who played the harpsichord in the 1975 Rollerball movie.
Bought my husband a great set of 14 sci-fi movies and somehow he had never seen this one.