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Talking Pondo: Dragonheart and Rollerball (1975) with Derek Schlender
Description
In this episode, first time guest Derek Schlender ("Schlender 5 Productions") joins the podcast. He brings along the movie Dragonheart. Marty and Clif give Derek the movie Rollerball to watch.
Season 4 kicks off with a guest, and a double feature that couldn’t be more different.
Marty and Clif are joined by Derek Schlender to break down two films connected by spectacle, ambition, and wildly different results: Dragonheart (1996) and Rollerball (1975).
First up is Dragonheart. Rob Cohen’s mid-’90s fantasy epic starring Dennis Quaid and featuring Sean Connery as the voice of Draco, the last dragon. The crew digs into peak-’90s CGI, bad medieval wigs and whether nostalgia is the only thing keeping this cult fantasy afloat. Is it a charming kid’s adventure? A tonal mess? A necessary stepping stone between Jurassic Park and Lord of the Rings? All of the above?
Then it’s on to Norman Jewison’s Rollerball (1975), a dystopian sports thriller about corporate control, violent spectacle, and individualism crushed under the system. What starts as futuristic world-building turns into a surprisingly talky meditation on power, celebrity, and manufactured entertainment.
#TalkingPondo #Dragonheart #Rollerball #FilmPodcast #90sMovies #CultCinema #FantasyFilm #DystopianFilm
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Theme Song "The Rain" by Russ Pace
Photos by Geoffrey Notkin