The Arena (I) (2001)

In an age of Gladiators, the power that was Rome held its empire together with the might of its armies, the sweat and tears of its conquests, and the cheers and bloodlust of its citizens - ... See full summary »

Director:

Timur Bekmambetov

Writer:

John William Corrington

Stars:

Karen McDougal, Lisa Dergan, Olga Sutulova

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Karen McDougal	...	Jessemina
Lisa Dergan	...	Bodicia
Olga Sutulova	...	Livia
Yuliya Chicherina	...	Diedra
Severina Kamugish Kemirimbe	...	Lucinia
Viktor Verzhbitskiy	...	Timarchus
Anatoli Mambetov	...	Septimus
Aleksey Osipov	...	Flavius
Kirill Ulyanov	...	Priscium
Gabriel Vorobyov	...	Aemelius
Leonid Maximov	...	Claudius (as Leon Maximov)
Natalya Surkova	...	Cornelia (as Natalia Surkova)
Alexsei Dedov	...	Wolfstan
Igor Botvin	...	Quintus
Ernst Romanov	...	Caesar

Storyline

In an age of Gladiators, the power that was Rome held its empire together with the might of its armies, the sweat and tears of its conquests, and the cheers and bloodlust of its citizens - glorified in the deadly spectacle of The Arena. Stolen from their homelands, the fiery Druid maiden Bodicia, exotic slave girl Jessemina, and the powerful barbarian Flavius, are pitted against each other as gladiators by the sadistic Roman Governor Timarchus. Banished by Caesar, Timarchus unleashes his frustration on his gladiators, staging extravagant spectacles of combat, orgy and death. In a violent world where only the strong survive, love and hate, life and death, are separated by an instant.

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Plot Keywords:

gladiator | slave | roman | druid | slave girl | 

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Taglines:

In an age of Gladiators... Destiny lies at the end of a sword.

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Action

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and sexuality

Details

Country:

Russia USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 August 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Arena da Morte

Filming Locations:

St. Petersburg, Russia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Juga Films Corporation, Bazelevs Production, Concorde-New Horizons

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

Early in the movie, Bodicia relates how she was captured by the Romans. She says that her lover gave her a tattoo on the left side of her chest and that they then made love, which the movie shows. As she continues her narrative, of the Romans coming the next morning, the movie shows her fleeing. In this scene, her garments open to bare her chest, but there is no wound, blood, or any other evidence of a tattoo having been given the night before.

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Quotes

Claudius: Our land will be cursed forever!

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Connections

Remake of The Arena (1974)

User Reviews

Fun with swords, clubs, wooden prisons and T&A

It's not gladiator but it is not bad. The worst thing about this movie is that you constantly feel like you are watching a Japanese film that has been dubbed in English. The voices of the Playmates are the ones that belong to them but I can't be sure of any of the others.

The two main female characters are lovely. AND YES they do get nekkid. In the Featurette for Lisa Dergen she revealed that the guy she was supposed to be having sex with was very nervous, she was not as she had partaken in quite a bit of wine and was dis-inhibited. She said that somewhere in the scene he leaned over and whispered in her ear the he was gay. She laughed. In the editing it just looks like she is enjoying his labors so they left it in.

The sets are not bad but the "cells" where the slaves are kept are pretty flimsy wood. Really not strong enough to keep in what we are supposed to believe are warriors. They did do a very good job of making things look used instead of brand new.

The SOUND other than the dubbed feeling is quite good.

The dialogue oft times written as though it is intended to be sarcastic but rendered with complete sincerity. I wonder if that is due to non-English speaking actors giving dialogue phonetically.

The fight scenes are not up to par with much of anything else I have scene of this type. Editing is used to make up for the lack of good coordination among the fighters but it doesn't quite make up for it.

For an afternoon of fun and a good bit of T&A THE ARENA is a good choice.