The Arena (2001/I)

User Rating:

2.2/10   

Director:

Timur Bekmambetov

Writer:

John William Corrington (writer)

Release Date:

28 August 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Action

Tagline:

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

Plot:

In an age of Gladiators, the power that was Rome held its empire together with the might of its armies...

Plot Keywords:

Gladiator | Slave | Roman | Slave Girl | Druid

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Gladiatrix (Russia)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence and sexuality.

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

Russia | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

St. Petersburg, Russia

Company:

Juga Films Corporation

Goofs:

Continuity: 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.

Quotes:

Claudius: Our land will be cursed forever!

Movie Connections:

Remake of The Arena (1974)

Remake of Naked Warriors

I have seen this film four times now. It is a remake of the film, Naked Warriors (Pam Grier and Margaret Markov). Grier and Markov also made a film called Black Mama, White Mama (1973), a women in prison film. The Arena is not a bad remake--it owes much to the original film and to two other films/series, yes Ridley Scott's Gladiator and the series, Xena, Warrior Princess. It treats the women with a certain amount of respect and quickly focuses on their love/hate/love relationship. Another film of the same type from the Sixties: Thor and the Amazon Women.