Bullet Points: Futuresport
In this edition of Bullet Points we look back at 1998’s Futuresport and look ahead to the year 2025, where a revolutionary new sport is the only way to stop a revolution…
- The Most Popular Athlete in the World: Dean Cain plays Tremaine Ramzey, a former basketball player who left the sport after a points shaving scandal and wound up becoming the face of a new game known as Futuresport. As the movie begins Tre is on top of the world, he is beloved by millions, he has a supermodel girlfriend and he has just arrived in New Orleans for the big championship game. Even an attempt on his life by the Hawaiian Liberation Order can’t bring Tre Ramzey down. But just when Tre Ramzey thinks he is unstoppable, his ego ends up being his undoing in the championship game… his selfishness costs his team the game and he goes from being on the highest mountain to the lowest valley in the course of the game… his supermodel girlfriend even leaves him.
- Wild Card: Wesley Snipes plays Obike Fixx, complete with dreadlocks and a Jamaican accent. Fixx is actually the man who created Futuresport as a more peaceful way for gangs to settle their differences out on the mean streets. Fixx was not a fan of Futuresport blowing up the way it did and it becoming corporate. The Futuresport boom is thanks in part to a story that ace reporter Alex Torres did on Futuresport in its early days… the piece was designed to make Obike Fixx a star, but it was Tre Ramzey that ended up becoming a superstar because of it (as an aside it also led to a romance between Ramzey and Torres). So it makes perfect sense that Fixx has conflicted feelings towards Ramzey and Futuresport which keeps the audience guessing what he is going to do next.
- Burying the Lead: Let me circle back to the Hawaiian Liberation Order… in Futuresport’s 2025, Hawaii is sick and tired of being the 50th state and there is a strong movement on the islands to secede from the United States. The more radical members of the movement have formed a terrorist group led by a tattoo faced man named Sythe (J.R. Bourne, Jungleground). Ramzey is a target at first because of his worldwide popularity and the fact that despite the fact that he does have some Hawaiian ancestry, he has not used his fame and popularity to back the secession movement… but when Ramzey raises the stakes, the HLO really have it out for Tre Ramzey.
- Road to Redemption: The loss at the Futuresport championship game is an eye opening experience for our hero Tre Ramzey and soon he finds himself on the road to redemption. Ramzey rekindles his romance with Alex Torres and uses Alex’s media connections to arrange a press conference to be seen around the world… everyone believes this is going to be Tre Ramzey’s retirement speech, but instead Tre Ramzey flips the script and goes back to the roots of Futuresport and the concept that it can be used to resolve issues between rival gangs. With tensions mounting between the United States and the Hawaiian Liberation Organization and a war between the two looming on the horizon… Ramzey gets the bright idea to have a team representing North America take on team representing the Pan Pacific Commonwealth in a game of Futuresport with the winner getting Hawaii. Did I mention this game was going to be played under street rules?
- Battle for Hawaii: The big finale is set and the HLO pulls out all the stops before the game is even played by killing the coach of the North American Alliance and kidnapping Alex Torres! But what the HLO believes will make Tre Ramzey and the North American Alliance weaker, only serves to make them stronger and there will be no forfeit in this Battle for Hawaii… there will be a definitive winner!
If I had to describe Futuresport in a single word, that word would be harmless. Watching Futuresport is not going to change your life. Futuresport will not become your favorite movie of all-time, nor will you consider it the worst movie you’ve ever seen. But with a nice blend of sport, action and some sci-fi, Futuresport should amuse you for 91 minutes. I realize that is not exactly high praise, but I would definitely choose Futuresport over the Rollerball remake and I realize that is not exactly high praise either.
I also realize that it is time for some Bonus Bullet Points…
- If You Ever: …wanted to hear Wesley Snipes say “ding dong diddly” in a Jamaican accent, then this is the movie for you.
- Composer: Stewart Copeland provided the music for Futuresport. Copeland was also the composer for The Equalizer television series and Highlander II: The Quickening.
- Tell Me He Did Not Just Say That: “Truth, Justice and the North American way.” – Tre Ramzey
- Looking to the Future: A running theme through out the movie is Tre Ramzey’s “Popularity Index” a concept not unlike tracking the number of followers celebrities have on social media today.
