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16 reviews in total

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9 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
Far from great, but kind of fun., 6 December 2002

Author: LebowskiT1000 from Escondido, California, USA

No, this is not a great movie, and yes it has it's share of problems. I'm not really even sure why I like this film, but I do. I admit that it can be pretty bad at times and extremely cheesy at others, but it still kept me entertained for an hour and half.

The story is actually a fairly interesting one, nothing terribly original, but nonetheless interesting. This film is basically just "Rocky" and "Star Wars" thrown together.

The acting was nothing to get excited about in the film, but it wasn't all that bad either. There were a few times that were pretty badly done, but overall the acting was just fine. I've got to say something though, Paul Satterfield has an uncanny resemblance to Christopher Reeve and sounds like him too. The entire cast are virtually unknown to me, but there were some familiar faces in the film (still couldn't name them or place where I'd seen them though).

The special effects were relatively decent given that I'm sure the budget was REALLY low. The make-up effects were sometimes really good and other times just horrible. Some of the aliens were actually quite well done and pretty cool looking. The outfits and wardrobe of the film was pretty good for the most part, except that stupid fighting uniform thing that Steve Armstrong (Paul Satterfield) wore when in the arena, that needed to go.

All in all, I thought this was an ok film. Far from great, but I've seen worse. I definitely wouldn't recommend this to anyone. I would only recommend this film to people that like cheesy sci-fi films. If the words "cheesy" and "sci-fi" don't spark your interest, then go watch something else. In the event that you do see the film, I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for reading,

-Chris

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7 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
A cool Alien Scifi Flick which you can watch without too much thought, 8 February 2003

Author: mark dunn (mark@mountplcentral.com) from london

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

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6 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Suspend your Disbelief, 6 June 2006

Author: drummerboy_1066 from United Kingdom

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.

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4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
I thought it was quite good actually..., 16 September 2006

Author: Paul Andrews (poolandrews@hotmail.com) from UK

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Arena is set on a huge space station where an intergalactic sports event known as Arena takes place, all shapes & sizes of alien creatures gather to go head-to-head in the arena where the aim is to simply beat your opponent in a test of strength, skill & stamina. There hasn't been a human champion for 50 years but professional fighter Steve Armstrong (Paul Satterfield) feels he has what it takes, when he beats up one of sexy fight promoter Quinn's (Claudia Christian) prize fighters he gets his opportunity in the arena. Coached by his buddy Shorty (Hamilton Camp) & guided by Quinn Armstrong is a revelation & quickly become the No. 1 contender for the title of champion which a nasty alien creature named Horn (Michael Deak) currently retains. However evil promoter Rogor (Marc Alaimo) fears that his man may lose & decides to use dishonest methods to fix the fight, but will Armstrong's spirit & determination see him through...

This Italian American co-production was directed by Peter Manoogian & was better than I had expected. The script by Danny Bilson & Paul De Meo which takes itself pretty seriously is basically an underdog tale, someone overcoming the odds & succeeding & in that respect it's all too obvious what's going to happen & how things are going to turn out. I suppose you could describe Arena as an intergalactic version of Rocky (1976) & in that sense it is quite successful. The character's are decent & the comic relief isn't too annoying & the dialogue is OK. The film moves along at a nice pace & is never that dull although I thought it could have done with a few more fights because as it stands there is only three which isn't really enough. Arena provides fair entertainment, it plays quite well & overall I liked it.

Director Manoogian does an OK job, there isn't much style to it but it looks alright. I was impressed by the aliens, there are loads of them & while some of the make-up/masks look a bit rubbery/spray-painted they show imagination & effort, I especially liked the huge Sloth creature who looks like a cross between a lizard, a slug & grasshopper if you can even begin to imagine that! Horn looked quite good as well especially his facial movements. The violence is very tame & the fights aren't that great which is the biggest disappointment about Arena really.

Produced by Empire pictures (maybe better know for it's horror output) & shot in Italy Arena is quite well made although I doubt it had a massive budget. The special effects vary, none are outstanding but you feel the filmmakers did the best with what they had. The acting was OK although Satterfield makes for a somewhat dull hero, Christian looked pretty sexy.

Arena was a decent film in my opinion & better than I was expecting, it certainly isn't a masterpiece but provides simple & undemanding entertainment. Could have been better but could have been worse, just about worth a watch if you can find a copy going (very) cheap.

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3 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Another Charles Band mediocrity..., 6 May 2010

Author: buchass from Portugal

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

"Arena" its an awful film. Its stupid, incoherent and boriiiinnnggg... The lack of money is obvious. The main characters are ridiculous, a Californian surfer look a like and his friend kind of Bilbo Baggins... well, they are just terrible. The arena scenes are dull, very dull believe me...

Its a soulless sci-fi ultra low budget film. The script and the acting its just for the laughs, the special effects are just awful, i think the only thing credible in the film, are the aliens faces. If your are a really, i repeat, a really sci-fi fan, you might like this film, but if you are not, don't waste your time. An episode of "Babylon Five" its much better then the entire "Arena".

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4 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
One man's dream. Is an intergalactic championship., 8 January 2007

Author: lost-in-limbo from the Mad Hatter's tea party.

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.

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4 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Better than one might expect., 16 July 2003
Author: sketchy from The haunted attic.

Effects man John Carl Buechler created over 75 animatronic and make-up creatures for this film, automaticly making this worth checking out. While there's nothing "brilliant" here, the creature effects (witch vary in designs and are generally well executed), acting, and plot (The creature designs being this films highlight) are all on a level of quality you rearly find from a film on this budget, and although this is not a great movie, it is still pretty good.

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3 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Not Fantastic But Watchable, 5 August 2005

Author: no-skyline from London, England

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.

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5 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
Well it does feature a nice assortment of aliens, but the fights are lacking., 7 June 2005

Author: Aaron1375 from Alabama

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.

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When a SF buff sees the cast, they'll do a double take....., 6 January 2012

Author: David Powell (David_Powell3006@msn.com) from New Jersey, USA

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.

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