Arena Wars

The shows premise is a direct rip off of Schwarzenegger's 1987 film, "The Running Man" except it doesn't have the amazing Arnold Schwarzenegger. Many characters are direct derivatives from that show, and they are poorly portrayed by unknown "actors" and "actresses". Ultimately the storyline is mundane and incredibly predictable. Acting by any of the main characters is poor at best, and Michael Madsen needed more sarcastic screen time, which he doesn't get. The set must have cost less than the arena for American Gladiators, and the action sequences were choreographed by a 12 year old boy. Skip it.

The most annoying thing about this is the audio, a lot of chat is sounded out by the music or the cheering crowd. Even when the background noise is softened the talking audio is still low so be prepared to put on the subtitles.

The whipping sound effects when a kick or punch is thrown are so over exaggerated that I think the sound department must have been hired right out of cartoon productions.

Even seasoned actors can't add any clout, if anything it shows their own weaknesses as actors.

Madsen in particular, who has been in some blockbuster movies absolutely stunk throughout this movie.

It's as bad as a bad 80s b movie.

Just watching the first few minutes, I see this as a poor man's Running Man.

The Stephen King story with 1987 version with Arnold Schwarzenegger and the upcoming 2025 version with Glenn Powell.

No where close to the orginal Running Man and trying to get out there before the next version.

The violence and language is somewhat expected, but, the acting is not believable, especially the announcing team that is hosting the Arena Wars.

I could not finish the movie as the announcing teams voices were not clear and the overall audio in the movie focused too much on bad music or the crowds reactions, which was shown way too much.

So, I gave it a 3 star only bad.for the actor's giving a good effort, but, the material to work with in this version was.

I have to say that I harbored absolutely zero expectations to the 2024 movie "Arena Wars" given a cast ensemble with the likes of Michael Madsen, Eric Roberts and Robert LaSardo as the most prominent names and performers. Yet, I still opted to watch the movie on account of it being a movie that I had never seen, nor actually ever heard about.

The concept of "Arena Wars" was simplistic, so very, very simplistic. It was essentially just watching inmates serving life sentences going up against armed gladiators on TV for entertaining the masses and for a chance to achieve freedom. That was basically everything the movie was offering. Writers Brandon Slagle, Michael Mahal and Sonny Mahal didn't exactly put together an outstanding or memorable script or storyline.

The acting performances in the movie were fair, though I can't claim to be a fan of neither Michael Madsen or Eric Roberts, both of which look like they have been replaced by replicas from Wish with zero on screen energy.

I will say that there was actually enough senseless violence and action in the movie to keep it relatively afloat, at least to a level where it was a watchable enough movie.

While "Arena Wars" was a semi-watchable movie, it is hardly one that warrants more than just a single viewing.

My rating of director Brandon Slagle's 2024 movie "Arena Wars" lands on a four out of ten stars.

Sorry to tell the honest truth about this movie but it is wholeheartedly horrible. There are no redeeming qualities in this movie. It looks extremely low budget and the special effects are noticeably awful. The acting is compromised of very weak and uninspired even with some notable acting veterans. None of which are remotely likeable characters. First off consider this movie is pretty much straight to video, it is still not worth a rental.

As the title suggests, the prior 4 reviews are false and don't represent the film in any way. I mean what is this "A fun take on a rather overused style". People need to stop with his reviews. He is nothing but a studio shill whom never really knows what he's saying + he types like a robot.

Bottom line. Skip this movie. The best thing about it is probably the cover poster.