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Rollerball poster

Movies that feel likeRollerball (1975)

In a corporate-controlled future, an ultra-violent sport known as Rollerball represents the world, and one of its powerful athletes is out to defy those who want him out of the game.

If you loved Rollerball, the closest films we have are THX 1138 (1971), Slaughterhouse-Five (1972) and Fahrenheit 451 (1966). All three share Rollerball's cerebral and bleak feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Testament (1983).

🍅 55% Rotten Tomatoes★ 6.5 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Norman Jewisoncerebralbleak
5 of 12 streaming nowAmazon Prime Video · MUBI · MGM Plus

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If Rollerball hit the spot, these will too

THX 1138 poster
THX 1138
1971 · dir. George Lucas
🍅 72%★ 6.6science fiction · drama

Two things both keep coming back to: the future and dystopia

The difference: Sits closer to drama than Rollerball does

People in the future live in a totalitarian society. A technician named THX 1138 lives a mundane life between work and taking a controlled consumption of drugs that the government uses to make puppets out of people. As THX is without drugs for the first time he has feelings for a woman and they start a secret relationship.

Slaughterhouse-Five poster
Slaughterhouse-Five
1972 · dir. George Roy Hill
🍅 82%★ 6.8drama · science fiction · warPrime Video

The same mix in both: ideas, then bleakness

The difference: Critics rated this one higher still

Billy Pilgrim, a veteran of the Second World War, finds himself mysteriously detached from time, so that he is able to travel, without being able to help it, from the days of his childhood to those of his peculiar life on a distant planet called Tralfamadore, passing through his bitter experience as a prisoner of war in the German city of Dresden, over which looms the inevitable shadow of an unspeakable tragedy.

Fahrenheit 451 poster
Fahrenheit 451
1966 · dir. François Truffaut
🍅 82%★ 7.2drama · science fiction

Both are built on the same subject: dystopia

In the future, the government maintains control of public opinion by outlawing literature and maintaining a group of enforcers, known as “firemen,” to perform the necessary book burnings. Fireman Montag begins to question the morality of his vocation…

Logan's Run poster
Logan's Run
1976 · dir. Michael Anderson
🍅 58%★ 6.8action · science fiction

Cerebral science fiction in both cases

In the 23rd century, inhabitants of a domed city freely experience all of life's pleasures — but no one is allowed to live past 30. Citizens can try for a chance at being "renewed" in a civic ceremony on their 30th birthday. Escape is the only other option.

The War of the Worlds poster
The War of the Worlds
1953 · dir. Byron Haskin
★ 7science fiction · action

Science fiction built on bleakness, twice over

The difference: 22 years apart, and the 1950s show

The residents of a small town are excited when a flaming meteor lands in the hills, until they discover it is the first of many transport devices from Mars bringing an army of invaders invincible to any man-made weapon, even the atomic bomb.

Advantageous poster
Advantageous
2015 · dir. Jennifer Phang
🍅 87%★ 6science fiction · drama

Cerebral science fiction, and it commits to that

In a near-future city where soaring opulence overshadows economic hardship, Gwen and her daughter, Jules, do all they can to hold on to their joy, despite the instability surfacing in their world.

Code 46 poster
Code 46
2003 · dir. Michael Winterbottom
🍅 52%★ 6.1drama · science fiction · thriller

Both keep coming back to the same thing: the future

In a dystopian future, insurance fraud investigator William Gold arrives in Shanghai to investigate a forgery ring for "papelles", futuristic passports that record people's identities and genetics. Gold falls for Maria Gonzalez, the woman in charge of the forgeries. After a passionate affair, Gold returns home, having named a coworker as the culprit. But when one of Gonzalez's customers is found dead, Gold is sent back to Shanghai to complete the investigation.

Testament poster
Testament
1983 · dir. Lynne Littman
🍅 90%★ 6.9drama · science fiction

A streak of bleakness through both

It's just another day in the small town of Hamlin until something disastrous happens. Suddenly, news breaks that a series of nuclear warheads has been dropped along the Eastern Seaboard and, more locally, in California. As people begin coping with the devastating aftermath of the attacks — many suffer radiation poisoning — the Wetherly family tries to survive.

Zardoz poster
Zardoz
1974 · dir. John Boorman
🍅 49%★ 5.8fantasy · action · thrillerPrime Video

Cut from the same science fiction cloth

In the far future, a savage trained only to kill finds a way into the community of bored immortals that alone preserves humanity's achievements.

The Quiet Earth poster
The Quiet Earth
1985 · dir. Geoff Murphy
🍅 75%★ 6.7drama · science fiction · thriller

Both know what they want from science fiction

After a top-secret experiment misfires, a scientist may be the only man left alive in the world.

The Omega Man poster
The Omega Man
1971 · dir. Boris Sagal
🍅 65%★ 6.4science fiction · action · drama

The same science fiction instincts

Due to an experimental vaccine, Dr. Robert Neville is the only human survivor of an apocalyptic war waged with biological weapons. Besides him, only a few hundred deformed, nocturnal people remain; sensitive to light, and homicidally psychotic.

Avalon poster
Avalon
2001 · dir. Mamoru Oshii
🍅 83%★ 6.4action · science fiction

The same preoccupation in both: game

In a future world, young people are increasingly becoming addicted to an illegal (and potentially deadly) battle simulation game called Avalon. When Ash, a star player, hears of rumors that a more advanced level of the game exists somewhere, she gives up her loner ways and joins a gang of explorers. Even if she finds the gateway to the next level, will she ever be able to come back to reality?

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The best-reviewed films that share Rollerball’s defining feeling.