在不久后的2005年,一种名为“轮滑球"(Rollerball)的新兴竞技运动以其超乎寻常的惊险、刺激吸引了大众的注意力,成为一大体育娱乐热点。每当赛季到来时,数以万计狂热的观众都会疯狂地为自己支持的队伍下注,然后守在电视前观看紧张的现场转播。然而,在这项运动的背后,却隐藏着黑暗残酷的内幕……
这部影片是库布里克花了四年时间制作的充满哲学命题的鸿篇巨制。一块大黑石树立在史前人类的面前,他们刚刚开始认识工具,进入到进化的里程碑。同样的黑石还在宇宙多处出现,它们矗立在月球上,漂浮在太空中,带着某种神秘的寓意。
Post-nuclear-war dramas centering on a small group of survivors now constitute an entire genre in science-fiction films. All of them, in some way or another, can be traced back to this seminal film from 1951 in which five people deal with the possibility they are the only human beings left alive on the planet. While most of the later movies exploited this possibility for B-movie thrills, "Five" adopts a quiet, contemplative tone which some may find dull but which thoughtful viewers are more likely to find, for want of a better word, haunting. There is something about this movie which gets under the skin and which lurks in the corners of the mind long after it's over.