Arena

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.

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.

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.

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!