Before reality TV was a pop culture staple, it was the stuff of sci-fi nightmares. Movies like The Running Man satirized and skewered the desire to make humanity’s brutal side into entertainment, and the genre only grew as reality TV became a staple of everyday life. The film, based on a 1973 short story published in Esquire, follows Jonathan E. (James Caan), the star of Houston’s Rollerball team. Jonathan E. is the ruthless star of Houston’s rollerball team in Rollerball. Rollerball may have one of the silliest premises in dystopian sci-fi, but it works because it takes itself deathly seriously.