User reviews

I haven't watched this film for a few years now but I remember it well as it was a real no brainer fun watch that I viewed several times on a battered old VHS copy. The plot is paper thin and not much above the usual T.V. sci-fi episode in fact I'm sure the an episode of Babylon 5 has a similar plot (TKO in series 1 or 2 I think a coincidence as Claudia Christian appears in both). The effects are basic the budget was probably minimal but this doesn't matter it's the vision of the future that sells this film you need to let go and use your imagination and when you do it kinda works. If you just let the poor effects go and some hammy acting in places you'll get some solid entertainment but you really do have to be in that B-Movie kind of mood to enjoy it.

The fights have to work around some ambitious (for the budget) alien anatomy and thats this films creates strength it tries to stay away from all aliens being basically humanoid shaped and throws the occasional curve-ball in there.

Solid not spectacular with a better budget a few extra sub plots this could have been very good as is a solid B-Movie effort no more, no less 5/10.

Held in a space station is an intergalactic fighting competition that pits all kind of species in the arena of endurance, ability and strength. There hasn't been a human victor in over 50 years and Steve Armstrong decides to take up the challenge, after his friend finds himself in trouble. However to take that crown of champion he must defeat the hideously cocky Horn and overcome attempts by a devious promoter Rogor. Who's trying to stop Steve's advancement through the competition.

I really wanted to relish in "Arena", because for an extremely low budget production (it simply tells), it illustrated a colourful universe and a magnificent range of distinguishable species (think of Star Wars). Sure it doesn't have state of the art visuals, but those limitations didn't worry it and the overall junky and tackiness of it play into its own hands. Who produced this low-end Sci-fi romp? Well, no other than full moon's Charles Brand. So the campy richness and b-grade fixtures were assured from the get-go.

Though, I guess I better get to the point to why I found it to be lacking poise. From very beginning we know how the standard storyline will play out. An underdog theme trumps in as we watch our protagonist start small with obstacles standing in his way and then eventually end a big high note. This predictable pattern is made more foreseeable with the good guys vs. bad guys context. It's pretty old-hat stuff, but one gets used to after a while even if there's a change of scenery to the mix. But this was lesser of its worries. Its main showpiece was the arena and fighting competition itself. Too bad the fight scenes were too few and goofily staged. I was disappointed on this aspect. They lacked any real sort of adrenaline, force and at times completely drag with the same repetitive activity. The only real fight that stood out for me took place outside the arena, when Steve shows us what his made of. I wouldn't blame someone who thinks this is more so a costume show, as Steve is in one fancy looking nappy outfit.

Peter Manoogian's direction is workably sub-par, but lacks flair in his vision. The photography is quite stuffy and trumping in is Richard Brand's cornball music score. Those filming techniques might not blow you away, but they are acceptably achieved. John Carl Buechler's make-up is detailed (though not always perfect) and adds the to the film's spirit. The cold script is flooded with ineptness, but thankfully it's laced with agreeably witty banter. The performances aren't anything special, but solid enough. Paul Strathfield makes a likable working class heroine, if not much else. There's the familiar face of the succulent and biting Claudia Christian. Eye candy is in the shape of Shari Shattuck. Marco Alaimo goes out of his way to look and act real sinister as Rogor. Hamilton Camp and Armin Shimerman play the supporting roles in mostly a comical tone.

Dreams can come true, but that wasn't entirely the case here. Rather than be exciting, it's diverting at best.

I remember watching Arena back in the day when I was nothing but a sprog, it stuck with me but I long since forgot the name of the film.

I came across it again today and the nostalgia came flooding back. They often tell you not to rewatch the classics from your childhood as they could not possibly meet your expectations based on how it made you feel at the time. On this occasion, it's as good as I remembered.

With goofy Star Trek-esque alien races, Jim Henson looking monsters and a cast including Armin "Buffy/Deep Space Nine" Shimerman and Claudia Christian this is a fun little gem of an 80's movie.

It tells the story of a young man who finds himself becoming a hero for Earth when he joins an intergalactic fighting tournament. But as if he doesn't have enough to worry about on the mat, there are powers that be behind the scenes that don't want him to win.

Sure it does follow a real tried and tested "Fight movie" formula, but it doesn't take itself seriously at all. It's silly, it's over the top, and it's a lot of fun.

To me this will always be a classic, a cheesy cheesy classic.

The Good:

Fantastic creature effects

Really fun movie

The Bad:

Could have used additional time

All bets are off at a corrupt intergalactic fighting competition where a system removes the fighter's advantage, no matter what species and puts them on an even standing.

Made and released in the UK in 1989, like Robot Jox, Crash & Burn, Oblivion and other Charles Band productions the lack of money is obvious but this B-film captures the imagination which many larger budgeted films fail to do. Arena taps into a time when fighting films had peaked and Rocky was deep rooted in the conciseness along with WWF specials. Director Peter Manoogian offers plenty of showdowns. His direction is fine and many of the makeup and special effects still hold up.

In a cast of outlandish aliens Claudia Christian features as Quinn and the Christopher Reeve-a-like Paul Satterfield's Steve Armstrong works as the stereotype hero.

Despite its clichés and the fact it was never going to win any Oscars its many references to other science fictions and fresh concept makes it an enjoyable low budget science fiction.

Hey, flailing writers of movies, know how to make a good Sci-Fi movie. Just take a genre, and re-write it as a space movie.

This is a better film that it deserves to be in that it stole a bunch of Clichés from fight movies, and it was made in Italy (almost never a good sign when everyone in the closing credits has a name that ends in the letter "i". )

So what are its good points? Well, it has three actors known for their roles in good Science FIction. Claudia Christian from Babylon 5, and Marc Alaimo and Armin Shimmerman from Star Trek:Deep Space Nine. They take what could be cardboard characters and breathe some life into them.

The special effects are vintage pre-CGI, and some of the creature effects look good, others look kind of hokey.

So not Shakespeare or even Star Wars, but frankly, I found more sympathy for these characters than any of the people standing in front of Green Screens in the Phantom Menace wondering what their motivation was...

When I was 10 I loved this film. It's a bit like Kickboxer meets Star trek meets Rocky. I managed to get a copy a few years back now and watched it again with a few friends.

To say it was weird was an understatement. It's actually rather funny at how bad the acting and effects are. i remember it being really exciting and packed with action. Watching it now I realised it was slow with little action and what action there was was just actually very funny.

To be honest they could do a remake which if done properly could be really good.

If you like sci-fi 'B' movies then this is the one for you.

Good old 80/90's fun!

Yes, one could argue it looks a bit cheesy today, but hey, I like the 80s atmosphere, & one neat thing about this movie is the cast.

If you are a Sci-Fi buff you'll find yourself going "No way!" a lot as you meet the actors playing these characters. A lot of the main cast ended up on other space stations a couple of years after they made this movie, namely Babylon Five and Deep Space Nine. In that way it has a bit of a neat "When Worlds Collide" vibe for the TV Speculative Fiction buff. Claudia Christian eventually became a regular on B5, and Shari Shattuck made a stopover there too. Both Armin Shimmerman and Marc Alaimo ended up doing yeoman service on DS9, Shimmerman as a regular and Alaimo as a recurring guest. It is neat to see them all together in this one a couple of years before they hit those series roles, and they and the rest of the cast seem to be having fun with it too.

This movie is sort of like "Robot Jox" in that it has a tournament. It isn't like it, in that it is fights between aliens. The alien in this case being a rare human ready to become the first human champ in some time. All the standards are here for this type of movie with a villain, betrayal and all that good stuff that make movies of this type so predictable. It does not help that the fights are lacking any real punch as they are nothing like the high energy fights you get in an anime or any Jackie Chan movie. Still though you have loads of alien creatures to look at and some attractive female leads. That, however, does not a movie make so for the most part it is a by the numbers sports movie with an alien twist.

Overall, a highly enjoyable and truly wonderful film. Yes, the effects are shabby, the acting stilted, the story disjointed, but this film does something quite rare, it transports you into a world where these things don't matter. It's a world that is truly believable in the way that modern sci-fi flicks simply are not (I use the recent Star Wars outing as my authority). In the same way that the cantina scene from the original star wars film caught the imagination, this movie does the same. You get a glimpse into a strange and weird world where men in leotards wrestle with giant slugs with a dwarf with four arms as your best friend. Truly unique and amazing fun.

The Arena (1989) is a movie I recently rewatched for the first time in a long time on Tubi. The storyline follows an intergalactic fight tournament where it's been over 30 years since a human was relevant in it. When a fight promoter and trainer find a human related to an old champ, he takes him under his wing and tries to make him the next big thing. When the human turns down a rival promoter the rival tries to sabotage the kid from reaching his potential.

This movie is directed by Peter Manoogian (The Dungeonmaster) and stars Hamilton Camp (Joe Dirt), Claudia Christian (Half Past Dead), Marc Alaimo (Total Recall), Shari Shattuck (Spy Hard), Armin Shimerman (The Hitcher) and William Butler (Night of the Living Dead).

I love this movie every time I watch it and the storyline and characters always remind me of Flash Gordon for some reason. The special effects, masks, makeup, prosthetics and fight scenes are excellent and very entertaining. They did a great job creating this world. The settings are really well done and the diversity in types of aliens and creatures was creative. The storyline is a bit predictable but still fun to watch unfold.

Overall this isn't the greatest movie in the world but it is a fun one. I would score this a 6.5-7/10 and strongly recommend it.

If I were to rate this film based on my memories of it when I was ten years old, it would be a straight nine out of ten. Unfortunately, I'm not going to do that, since I watched it again just last year (I'm 26 now). Anyway, it turns out this film is actually a badly acted, poorly produced and boring effort. The fights which impressed me so much as a child now reveal themselves for what they are - a funny looking blonde guy pretending to use martial arts on a man in a rubber suit (a technique recently revived for the atrocity that was Alien Vs Predator). The script is badly written, and does no credit to what is actually a pretty good premise for a sci-fi action movie. There are certainly some interesting ideas. Perhaps a remake should be considered?

It has so many great actors from Science Fiction movies, comedies, others that I am surprised I missed this and that they were all together in one movie. Did Babylon 5 steal Claudia's look from this movie. This is a watered down version of her B5 uniform and makeup. The best surprise was Marc Alaimo, Gul Dukat. Then there is Armin Shimerman and so many others. I dont know if I would have enjoyed it back then. It does not live up to the standards of Star Trek, Babylon 5, or Star Wars, but for today, it is a blast from the past. Enjoy.

Oh boy.

Here's the thing about 'Arena': almost everything about it is simply adequate.

Not good. Not bad. Not outstanding, or mediocre, or subpar. Just adequate. Sets, costumes, makeup, effects, lighting, acting, writing, fight choreography, editing, music, exposition, dialogue, narrative, suspense, sensuality... All those things of which the art of cinema is comprised are here. The film proceeds from beginning to end with clear, unremarkable lines from A to B.

And... that's about it.

Nothing particular stands out as being good or bad. It just is. There are moments that are clearly inspired by various sci-fi movies and TV shows, and scenes that obviously take their cues from stories focusing on sports, and boxing or martial arts specifically. I'm hard-pressed to say I like it, but nor can I say I dislike it. I certainly don't think anyone involved with this production set out to make a movie so very average, yet I don't think I've ever seen a picture that is this middle-of-the-road in every single way.

There are two things about 'Arena,' and two things only, that do stand out: Marc Alaimo and Armin Shimerman. A few years after this film they would go on to co-star together in the phenomenal Star Trek series 'Deep Space 9' as recurring antagonist Gul Dukat and series regular Quark, respectively. Between outfits, make-up, and prosthetics, I'm curious to know which characters took longer to prepare for on the set each day, those of DS9 or those they portray in 'Arena.' In any event, they are easily the best actors in this film; while I'm undoubtedly biased, I feel reasonably confident to say that should anyone find fault in their performances, it's most likely down to a lack of material for them to work with.

Even being aware ahead of time of Alaimo and Shimerman's casting, I otherwise didn't know what to expect of 'Arena.' It certainly wasn't this. I don't mean that in a good way, or in a bad way. I'm not amazed, or disappointed. Just puzzled.

'Arena' is a movie that will keep you watching to the end just to see if anything especially noteworthy happens.

What a curiosity.

They just don't make them like this anymore. Yeah, it's a total schlock fest... But what an idea. Some dude has to fight it out in the intergalactic ring against all sorts of aliens ( AKA dudes in rubber costumes ), in classic cheesy 80's direct to video sci fi fashion. We're simply not blessed with such cornball films that are this fun anymore.

There's not really much in the way of story. We get some blondie no name actor playing Steve Armstrong, giving those super tough guys in rubber suits a really hard time in the intergalactic fighting ring. Will the golden boy make it out alive in the ring, fighting against the behinds the scenes corruption and overcome his underdog status to become champion? You'll just have to waste some time and find out.

Yeah, everything about it technically is fairly awful, but it's a fun film. Highly recommend if you spot it on cable and you enjoy cheese-fest flicks. There's some slow moments and awful dialog throughout, but the fights are all entertaining in a goofy way, just as most of the film is. It's B grade schlock, don't go into this film expecting something amazing and you'll have a fun time.

Someone should take notice from the good ol' days of VHS and get the direct to DVD market going with fresh ideas like this, and actually have them be semi-competent productions like this film.

What can be said about this film that already hasn't been said? In the grand scheme of things, this film is another in a logjammed era of apocalyptic or dystopic films. The 80s was rife for this sort of material, mainly due to the popularity of Mad Max. But how did this silly movie mix in with the rest of the dreck?

Well, first and foremost, they had a tough protagonist named Steve. Any time Steve is not meant as a silly derogatory character is a win in my book. Plus, despite the low budget, they did have some decent effects in the movie. The creature effects were pretty solid and despite this being a straight to video type affair, it really worked. I was also surprised to see how many actors from my favorite sci-fi shows were involved with the making of this film. It was definitely a "before they were famous" moment for me.

Of course, the silliness of the movie is going to restrict it to the Rifftrax world of comedic excellence, at least it was a well made train wreck that people can actually enjoy. It's not a miserable experience, which is key for any good-bad film out there.

Although it is probably ten years since I last saw this film I do have it in my loft along with hundreds of other films I bought from my local video rental shop. I found it very entertaining and yes although not the most serious film ever made you had to take it as was. Simply an action scifi made for a young teen audience. For a limited budget film I thought the creature effects and set design were pretty good and the acting was by far not the worst I have seen. So for me at a time when I was a 17 / 18 year old wanting to get into the effects business it touched a cord with me along with other scifi flicks and I am now working in the film industry and have been doing so for the past 5 years

Arena is a crappy, low budget B movie...but it's one of the best crappy low budget B movies ever made. Actually, it's what passes for a big budget Hollywood blockbuster, in terms of B movies.

The saving grace of the film is the quality of the special effects that go into creating some of the alien species in the film, they're actually pretty darn impressive. Of course, it's sometimes hard to be impressed with the film, such as even though the special effects are cool, the costumes the characters wear look like cheesy leftovers from the wardrobe of "Space Mutiny".

The main character is an unlikeable, one dimensional, somewhat confusing, and laughable muscle hunk. However...he's not AS unlikeable or laughable as most other B movie leading men, such as the many incarnations of Reb Brown. It tend to ads to the fun though, that you don't really like this character, and you actually would like to see a hairy alien kick his head in.

Similarly the acting and plot are definitely mediocre. However, being just mediocre is a huge step up from some of the B movie cousins of this film.

If you were to grade the film on a "normal movie" scale, i suppose it would only be a 3 or a 4. However, it's like the Special Olympics here, you cant really class it with normal films as it's quite obviously B movie cheese. And as far as B movies go, I'd give it a 7.

I stumbled across this movie one of the 5 million times that HBO showed it my Junior year of College...

If you like cardboard cutouts in the crowd...wrestling moves that are supported by visible wires...and a plot that a monkey could write...then rent this movie...

Terrible...awful...but not the worse...there is always Congo...where you want to make an ash tray out of the stupid monkeys head...but that is another rant...

If you want to see a good action space movie...that is brainless...see the motion picture classic and guilty pleasure Starship Troopers...lead by Doogie Howser...stay away from this piece of garbage that could of been shot in someones garage...

Greetings and salutations, and welcome to my review of 1984s Arena.

The Story gets 1.25 out of 2: The writers, Danny Bilson and Paul De Mao provide the audience with a basic boxing/fighting storyline, though they add freshness by enacting it in space; on a Space Station. What would have been nice was if the writers could have added tension and intrigue. Sadly, the writers missed the chances to add atmosphere. The characterisations are okay and enjoyable. However, a few minor characters needed more meat on their bones, especially the nightclub singer - come nymph - come assassin.

The Direction a 0.75 & The Pacing receives a 0.75: Once again, it's a story of missed opportunists. There are plenty of occasions where Peter Manoogian could have made the film more interesting. These are chiefly the fight scenes, but other segments would have benefited from varied camera angles, lighting effects, and tempo fluctuations. For a fight film, Arena lacks tension, and you can't get behind the hero as you should. Arena is not Rocky on Deep Space Nine. That said, it's not too terrible. It is watchable and entertaining, thanks to the story writing and the cast, rather than the direction.

The Acting gets 1.25: Though the performances aren't spectacular, we do have Claudia Christian and everybody's favourite Ferengi, Armin Shimerman, who's hard to define under his alien weasel makeup. Christian's character, Quinn, is neglected, even though she plays a crucial part in our hero's future. Had the writers supported Quinn more and added a few extra scenes, both the film and narrative would be better. Marc Alaimo, who portrays the bad guy, Rogor, also required to be more profound. And I couldn't help but feel he needed to be darker in character too.

And, my Enjoyment level earns a 1.25 out of 2: The steady averageness of this film liberates it from the scrap heap. Even though it's not a fantastic film, there are no cringe-worthy troubling parts either, which means a lot. It's also cheerful and humorous in places, another substantial bonus.

Arena, therefore, receives a total of 5.25 out of 10: Should you experience an urge to watch a sci-fi fight-fest in outer-space, then this film is for you. It's not a movie to rush out and purchase or to hurry and stream, either. No. However, if you've gone through all your Must-Watch's, Arena isn't that a horrible way to waste an hour and a half.

Once you've KO'd that god-damned alien get your butt over to my The Final Frontier list to determine where the Champion Of The Universe ranks in my charts.

Take Care & Stay Well.