Today's depressing sign of aging: watching a movie from my childhood that depicted a far-off future and noting that said "far-off future" comes set in the current past. We encounter that circumstance via 1975's Rollerball, a dystopian action/sci-fi flick from 1975.

Large businesses rule a world without crime or wars but also without individuality. An ultra-violent team sport called "rollerball" acts as a way for citizens to vent their emotions.

His corporate overlords press star Houston player Jonathan E. (James Caan) to retire for their own nefarious ends. However, Jonathan fights back against the tyranny, even if this means a threat to his own existence.

As mentioned at the top, I was a kid when Rollerball hit screens in 1975. I maintained awareness of the movie and probably thought it looked cool but there was no way my parents were going to take then-eight-year-old me to a violent "R"-rated film.

I did see the 2002 remake with Chris Klein in the Caan role, however. It flopped, and it deserved its commercial failure, as even with Die Hard director John McTiernan involved, it became an idiotic and incoherent mess.

When I viewed the 2002 Rollerball, I mentioned that it offered such a terrible movie that it became inevitable the 1975 original would prove superior. While this means the older film tops the remake, it comes with its own issues.

The 1975 Rollerball clearly exists as a product of its time. The film adopts a post-Watergate suspicion of authority and a view of conspiracy operated by powerful men.

At its heart, Rollerball feels like it wants to concentrate on the intrigue related to corporate executive Bartholomew’s (John Houseman) pressure to get Jonathan E to retire as well as Jonathan’s investigation into this. In theory, this means we could find a taut thriller as Jonathan E digs deeper into these domains.

Instead, Rollerball takes a very long time to go anywhere. We get a hint that it’ll prefer a leisurely pace when the opening game runs for an extended period.

I get that we need an introduction to the titular sport, and the first scene also allows us a quick view of the primary characters. Still, this sequence could get cut in half and not make the film any weaker, as the contest doesn’t need nearly all that cinematic real estate to do what its needs.

This trend continues across the movie’s 124 minutes. Scenes span much longer than necessary and it often feels like the plot lacks much real purpose.

Screenwriter William Harrison adapted his own short story for the film, and Rollerball indeed feels like a brief tale expanded to feature length. The story meanders and dawdles with sequences that come across like little more than padding.

Granted, I’ll take the deliberate pacing of the 1975 movie over the crazed rapid-fire 2002 remake. However, I think we could find a happy medium between these two extremes.

All of this makes the 1975 Rollerball a chore to watch too much of the time. While we await its inevitable climax as Jonathan E confronts his overlords, it becomes awfully tough to stick with this intensely slow story.

Rollerball appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. This turned into a solid Dolby Vision presentation.

Overall delineation seemed satisfying. A few wider shots could feel somewhat soft, but the majority of the movie felt accurate and tight.

Neither jagged edges nor moiré effects became an issue, and I saw no edge haloes. Grain seemed natural, and I saw no print flaws.

The movie’s palette usually came across as fairly natural, albeit with a lean toward red at times. The colors felt lively, and HDR added impact to the tones.

Blacks seemed deep and dense, while low-light shots appeared well-rendered. HDR gave whites and contrast extra punch. Though still a product of its era, the image worked well.

I also liked the movie’s remixed DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio, as the soundscape opened up matters in an appealing manner. Unsurprisingly, the titular competitions did so in the most active way.

This meant smooth movement across the front speakers along with accurate placement. Music also provided nice stereo spread.

Surround usage became limited and didn’t use the back speakers as a consistent participant. Nonetheless, they added dimensionality to the athletic scenes.

Audio quality showed its age but nonetheless held up fine. Despite some slightly stiff lines, dialogue remained reasonably natural and lacked edginess.

Music offered vivid reproduction, and effects felt fine, albeit slightly rough in louder moments. This turned into a pretty good remix for a movie from 1975.

As we shift to extras, we find two separate audio commentaries. The first comes from director Norman Jewison, as he delivers a running, screen-specific discussion of story/characters, cast and performances, music, costumes, designing the titular athletic event, stunts and action, sets and locations, editing and related domains.

Taped for a 1997 DVD, Jewison offers a very good overview of the film here. He touches on a wide variety of useful topics and makes this a thoroughly informative piece.

For the second commentary, we hear from screenwriter William Harrison. During his own running, screen-specific chat, he covers his source story and its adaptation, story and characters, cast and performances, aspects of the titular sport, sets and a few related production domains.

After Jewison’s excellent chat, Harrison’s dull track disappoints. He goes MIA for extended periods and tends to narrate the movie too much of the time.

Even when Harrison addresses the movie, he tends to repeat material already examined by Jewison. This winds up as a weak commentary that viewers can skip and miss very little.

Five featurettes follow, and Return to the Arena goes for 25 minutes, seven seconds. It provides notes from Jewison, Harrison, editor Antony Gibbs, stunt coordinator Max Kleven, stuntperson Walt Scott and actor John Beck.

Created for a 2001 DVD, “Arena” examines story/characters, the source and its adaptation, what brought Jewison to the project, influences, stunts and action, cast and performances, the design of the titular sport, sets and locations, editing, music, and the film's reception.

Inevitably, some of this info repeats from the commentaries. Nonetheless, "Arena" turns into a good overview and comes with enough fresh material to merit a look.

The Bike Work occupies 17 minutes, 33 seconds. Shot in 2015, stuntperson Craig R. Baxley becomes the participant here.

Baxley looks at his time on the shoot and specifics about stunts and action related to the Rollerball contests as well as his thoughts about the remake. He provides a solid examination of these topics.

A vintage circa 1975 promo piece, From Rome to Rollerball: The Full Circle spans seven minutes, 54 seconds. Here we find info from Jewison and actor James Caan.

They cover basics about the film. We don't get much real substance but I like the shots from the set so they add some value.

Blood Sports goes for 10 minutes, 58 seconds. Taped in 2014, this time we discover remarks from Caan.

We find Caan's thoughts about his character and aspects of the shoot. While Caan doesn't reveal much of immense interest, he delivers a few good anecdotes.

Finally, The Fourth City occupies 18 minutes, 55 seconds. The show involves unit manager Dieter Meyer, Audi Dome manager Moritz Breitner, and actor Jimmy Berg.

"City" looks at the use of Munich for the production and some aspects of the Rollerball games. Expect a little repetition from elsewhere but the topics get a new spin most of the time.

Some ads complete the disc. We locate four TV spots as well as four trailers for Rollerball.

At its core, Rollerball comes with the potential to deliver a taut conspiracy-based thriller. In reality, though, the film moves at a horribly slow pace and comes with too little actual story or character content to adequately fill its 124-minute running time. The 4K UHD brings very good picture and audio as well as a mix of bonus materials. Chalk up Rollerball as a dull disappointment.