25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Gladiator-babes in ancient Rome!, March 20, 2001
This review is from: The Arena (aka Naked Warriors) (DVD)
This is Roger Corman's version of Gladiator and Caligula rolled into one, years before them! And it's not bad, either. Beautiful slave girls must fight to the death in the arena in ancient Rome as a novelty for the jaded Romans. The gladiator girls learn to fight and then use their skills to revolt and escape. Sort of a feminist take on Spartacus.
And the production values belie the usual low-budget restrictions. The costumes, sets, props, and fight scenes are good, and Pam Grier, in her pre-Coffy star-making role, is feisty, pugnacious, and naked, too. Her nude scene, in fact, got a top 3-star rating in Craig Hosoda's The Bare Facts video guide!
The bonus features on this DVD include not one, but two Leonard Maltin-Roger Corman interviews, but neither of them is about this movie in particular! There's the movie trailer, trailers of several other Corman films, a chapter index, booklet, and a few mini- biographies of cast and crew. The image quality is good.
Unfortunately, though, the movie is in full screen format when it would have really benefited from the widescreen treatment. All in all, not quite what it should have been, but still worth it to all us diehard Corman/Grier/ancient Rome fans! MORITURI SALUTAMUS!
"O Cæsar, Morituri Salutamus!"
"O Cæsar, we who are about to die Salute you!" was the gladiators' cry In the arena, standing face to face With death and with the Roman populace.
--Longfellow
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33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Super Movie, November 12, 1999
By A Customer
This was an awesome "guy" film. 4 elements made it stand out as such. 1) The main characters were Pam Grier and Margeret Markov. Two very attactive women. 2) There was constant action throughout the movie. Even a couple of catfights. 3) Of course it wouldn't be a guy film without tons of unnecessary nudity. Both Grier and Markov have full frontial shots! 4)But to top it off, it's not like you're sitting though a bunch of mindless scenes just to see Grier and Markov. Rather this film has a really great storyline. The plot is believable (except for maybe one scene) and the message really touches your heart. It's a great film worth owning. and if you like it you should check out.."Black Mama, White Mama"..not nearly as good but has it's moments.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very entertaining B movie, June 11, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: The Arena (aka Naked Warriors) (DVD)
This movie will take you back to the 70's, when one would go to action double features in second run movie theaters such as the Ambassador in San Juan. It's basically the standard Roger Corman "women in prison" formula but set in Roman times. But it's still a lot of fun. Pam Grier is, as usual, amazing. And she has two really good nude scenes which should really please fans. The action sequences are pretty good for this kind of movie. It would have been great to have some commentary by Pam Grier, but, all in all, it's a great movie to sit back, grab some popcorn, have a couple of beers and have a great time.
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