Gene Siskel of the "Chicago Tribune" gave the film 2 stars out of 4 and called it "a movie in love with itself" and "vapid, pretentious, and arrogant. Not even John Houseman's fine performance as a villainous corporate director is sufficient to make 'Rollerball' tolerable. The only way to enjoy it, I suppose, is to cheer at the rollerball game's mayhem." Arthur D. Murphy of "Variety", wrote that it "packs an emotional and intellectual wallop" and that James Caan gave an "excellent performance." Charles Champlin of the "Los Angeles Times" was also positive, calling it "a fresh, unusual and stimulating movie. In its portraying of the vast and essentially stateless multinational corporations, 'Rollerball' plays off developments which have come since Huxley's and Orwell's time." Jonathan Rosenbaum of "The Monthly Film Bulletin" panned "Rollerball" as "A classic demonstration of how several millions of dollars can be unenjoyably wasted ... this glib fable seems to be aiming at a simplified version of "A Clockwork Orange" without any intimations of wit or satire to carry the vague moralistic message."