Very disappointed :(

Dreadfully Boring

Brilliant and touching

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Along with Skatetown, USA, Roller Boogie is the other film that celebrates that brief era when roller disco ruled the youth culture. It came as soon as it arrived almost. People still skate, they just don't do it to disco music any more.I think that Linda Blair accepted the role of the lead here possibly because she wanted to break away from that Exorcist image. She couldn't play all her parts with a spinning head and was trying for a more wholesome image. As a leading man for Roller Boogie she took a skating champion Jim Bray.Possibly they also saw a budding teen idol in Bray. As an actor he was a great skater. But also in time he might have developed into a decent actor once his projected bubblegum popularity waned. But the film came and went and Bray left no real impression other than with his skates. The plot has the roller kids trying to save former Roller Derby champion Sean McClory's skate emporium from developers who led by Mark Goddard aren't squeamish about how they acquire the joint. Goddard is also in cahoots with Blair's father Roger Perry.Blair's mother is Beverly Garland who sees her daughter as a flute prodigy and has her earmarked for Julliard. But Blair wants to learn to skate so she can roller disco with the rest of the gang and Bray's willing to teach her.I think you can see where this one is going. If you like roller disco you have a double bill of Skatetown, USA and Roller Boogie for your fare.

Roller Boogie lacks good music, and so much more! Were it not for the hotness of Linda Blair and Kimberly Beck, this film would lack any reason to even glance at it. This should be on the bottom 100 list with R.O.T.O.R. and the Kirk Cameron movie. It's amazing some of the things that TCM will slip into their lineup some nights if you stay up late enough. I kind of remember this film from my childhood... back in the days of school-sponsored rollerskating parties, white men with Afros, and Jimmy Carter. After watching most of it as an adult, its hard to believe anyone could have enjoyed it. Even with rollerskating being so hip at that time.Roller Boogie would like to be Saturday Night Fever, or something along those lines. But it takes talent and so much more to make a lasting film based only a certain popular craze. SNF had the charismatic John Travolta. Roller Boogie has..... some guy who never did anything else as its male lead. SNF had a memorable Bee Gees soundtrack. Xanadu had Olivia Newton-John and ELO for its exceptional soundtrack. Roller Boogie has not one memorable song, and few memorable scenes. Honesty, what was the most memorable scene of Roller Boogie? I'd have to say it was when the kids throw a whole food truck worth of fruit at the bad guy and his henchmen. What else happened? There was another scene where a bunch of stiff old people fall into a swimming pool for no other reason than they probably couldn't think of any other way to end the scene. There is some decent skating, but there had to be. The problem is with how stagy it all looks. A couple characters will be talking in the foreground, and there will be these extras in rainbow-colored clothing doing choreographed skating routines on the sidewalk behind them. Doesn't look authentic at all. The film was shot in a few weeks, but doesn't end up looking like they spent even that much time on it. Any momentum Linda Blair had in the 1970s pretty much ended with this film. It could have been interesting. It isn't. It should have been fun. It isn't. Roller Boogie might be worse than American Anthem. It's that bad. 2 of 10 stars. The Hound.

Do you remember envying people who lived in California until you lived there? "Roller Boogie" recalls the reality of the place by being too much like many experiences there. Writing about this movie requires effort better spent on other topics, but innocent people might need a warning.First let me confess that I love roller-skating. My parents operated the local rink on Saturdays for a few months as community volunteers. They had essentially met skating. The skating in the film attracts me. I think I would like Venice, California. I think I would have liked it during the outdoor roller-skating fad. Further, I like the car Linda Blair drives in this film.Further, Jim Bray is a terrific skater; for a novice, he is a good actor. Linda Blair is not as bad an actor as critics claim. Here she is an attractive young woman. Mark Lester directed a superb award-winning documentary. He produced important films. He directed some good movies and wrote scripts for others.I do not object to remaking something like the old Andy Hardy movies—there is a place for such movies. Redoing the old American International movies is okay too. In many ways, this film surpasses those cult classics. At least, Jim Bray and Linda Blair are winsome. That counts. Of course, if you need plot, intentional humour, taste, wit, or other aspects of great movies, you might rate this film lower than I do. Still, though "Roller Boogie" feels like a cheap date, a cheap date could be a terrific date. "Roller Boogie" is not terrific, but cheap dates have their place. This one depends on you. I might have gone for a nine rating if I had not grown into a grumpy old man. Further, I miss living in California. I liked it.

"roller Boogie" is an absolute time capsule. It features Linda Blair at her ultimate cutest and a full bevy of roller skating teens. Undoubtedly this is the best roller boogie movie ever made! Which isn't saying much, but still its enjoyable fluff from start to finish, and considering its run time of over two hours, it never gets dull.Terry barkley is a talented musician who'd rather skate at the local hot spot than get into Julliard! Wow, there s plot to root for. Her father, played by Roger Perry of "Facts of Life" fame, is not thrilled. Doesn't matter, Terry's heart is in her skates. But watch out, there are bad guys, rotten land-developers who want the roller rink for themselves! And they'll do anything to get it! Can Terry and Bobby save the day and win the big roller contest? DAre we hope? OK, you won't be on pins and needles, the plot in this flick is telegraphed so a two year old could get it.Like I said, though, Roller Boogie is a time piece. If you want to see life in southern California in the late 70's this is it. I actually felt sorry for some of the guys and gals cause those outfits were really skin-tight! Linda looks great though. Jimmy Bray doesn't make an impression and that does hurt the film, but just enjoy the silly music, the stunts, some of which are righteous and the cheesy plot and your'e bound to have a good time. Note the extreme sports preview when Terry and Bobby are on the run and cross a pipeline! The party scene is also classic and was ripped off a dozen times after this.Roller boogie has it all, pathos, passion, pepperoni! Hey, you can't take this too seriously, just enjoy and let your'e brain freeze.