Customer Reviews

The Arena

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Unlike the reviewers before me I was not familiar with the actresses in this movie. I was familiar with the original low budget movie from the early seventies. I bought this DVD hoping for an improved movie. I was quite dissapointed. This movie followed a similar but different storyline. Some of the original dialog and camera angles were used. They found some nice halls to film the "Rome" locations in. The Arena looked purpose built and they actually had crowds of spectators. Unfortunately everything else was worse. The original had two great catfights plus three arena duels plus the final rebellion/escape. This movie only repeated the last two arena duels, one of which was shot at night so dark I was unable to see what was going on. The girls in the original movie all have quite distinct and interesting personalities. Not so in this one. The voiceover narration used intead of showing the story did not help either. I suggest you buy the original Roger Corman classic instead - The Arena (aka Naked Warriors) (1973) -- DVD. This review was bases on the DVD versions of both movies.

The story was classic B-flick. The execution(no pun intended) was weak. The skin element was truly lacking here. Nudity was minimal or no long enough. The only love scene was not intense or engaging at all. A bath/shower scene should be added and better acting would have made a big difference. The fighting was okay, standard fighting, nothing special. Karen McDougal (who was great as PMOY 1998) was not acting here at all in this movie and she does not bare enough skin to make up for the lack of acting skills. A tighter script, more skin, stronger love scene and better dialogue would have made this into a truly worthy flick.

I purchased this film on DVD even though I had read bad reviews of it, I was very surprised! I had none of the audio, nor visual problems, and had a very crisp and clear picture. I even tested it on a high definition TV, with outstanding clarity. I have never seen the original version shot in the 70's, but I intend to. First, Karen McDougal and Lisa Dergan both give fine performances for first time acting stints. the cinematography was well executed, and the film well paced, along with other fine acting of the foreign actors. The McDougal/ Dergan commentary/ interview is very nice and insiteful. Version reviewed is presented in widescreen format.
I disagree with the other reviewer's view on the nudity, it was not gratutitous, nor degrading, and fell in line with the story. Yes, there is some nudity, but to give a negative review just because there is not ENOUGH nudity is too harsh.
I give a thumbs up for "The Arena", and highly recommend this film for those who enjoyed "Amazon's and Gladiator's" a superior film of the same time period. Amazon.com ships very quickly, and safely, with excellent pricing!

I was pretty anxious to see this movie, regardless of the bad reviews. Being a fan of mid 80's "Barbarian Flicks" I assumed that this movie was going to be an update on this classic genre which usually includes plenty of mud wrestling, gratuitous nudity, torture devices, gratuitous nudity, midgets and ummm....gratuitous nudity. Especially since the two main characters were playmates.

The Arena disappointed on so many fronts that it boggles the mind. I think there was more flesh and titillation on an episode of Sheena than this movie. That being said the movie itself was a total bore and had none of the campy fun I expected.

If you want some fun check out Barbarian Queen or DeathStalker

Sure, the only reason I bought this movie was because my favorite Playmate/PMOY is in it. I wasn't expecting much, just something worth seeing. So, is there anything worth seeing in this film? Simply put, no. The acting is terrible, the costumes are cheap, but there is mindless nudity from both of the featured playmates. I hate to say it, but Ms. Mcdougal can't act to save her life. Sure she was great in her playboy video, but she didn't do anything other than prance around naked. I only paid $12, so it didn't hurt me in the ol' pocket. I bought this one to add to my growing collection of Mcdougal merch, and that would be the only reason to own this one. Don't even bother renting it, it's not worth the money.

This film isn't exactly what I expected. It wasn't nearly as trashy and gratuitous as I expected ( which is a shame ), but it is reasonably well filmed and some of the acting isn't all that terrible. The Arena offers a fairly historically credible depiction of a military outpost in Roman Britain. The costumes are quite good, and although I find it heavy handed, there is an attempt to utilize a cinema-graphic atmosphere. This film certainly does not resemble a cheap made for TV film. The two female leads ( former Playboy Playmates ) look great, whether naked or not. That doesn't hurt, but there is considerably less nudity than one would anticipate. What a shame....

Oddly enough, I think that the film's higher than expected quality to be it's downfall. It's neither fish nor fowl. However, if you're a fan of this genre, you would certainly want to add this flic to your collection.

"The Arena" revolves around 2 points: (1) a pyschopathic Roman governor in the northern Barbarian hinterlands who is obsessed with gladiator battles, and (2) two absolutely beautiful but talentless former Playboy Playmates who play slave girls molded into female gladiators. That about sums it up. The movie really brings home that depravity of the Roman empire and the complete and total lack of value of human life in that era. For that reason, it's worth watching once. The violence is graphic perhaps by necessity, given the subject matter, but it seems that the subject matter was chosen to showcase the violence for a target audience. The movie appears to have been filmed in a Slavic language and overdubbed in English (except for the Playmates, who speak in their native English). Don't buy this movie for the Playmates.

This film is a low budget skin flick. I will not say that it is low quality and I certainly can not say it is high quality. The actors are good looking and the script is average at best. I ordered it thinking it was a different film. It is not one I would recommend.

Go to Roger Corman's bio page and press up until you highlight Corman's name. Press enter and you will be treated to a Roger Corman interview with Leonard Maltin.

Ok so I watched the movie and I'm sad to say that it was short of what I thought it would be. I thought this movie was going to be a female version of gladiator, but I was wrong. The only reason I found out about this movie was the fact that Karen McDougal was in it. With two playmates in the flick I thought there would be more nudity but to my suprise there wasn't. Sex sells people come on should at least get some bathing scenes and better love scenes to make the viewer want to continue watching. You would think in the heat of battle their clothes would come off. I was more dissapointed that Karen McDougal wore her clothes too much in this film. The audio seemed poor and along with the acting. So if you want to see bare chested female sword-swing action this movie's not for you.