Rating: 
Summary: Hidden Interview
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Simply unwatchable due to rapid fire editing
Review: Here is a film that obviously tried to ride the coattails and cash in on the enormous success of Ridley Scott's magnificent GLADIATOR. Try as it might, however, at the end of the day it's still a low-budget, badly put together, half-baked movie.The highlight of the film is that it stars two playmates: Lisa Dergan and Karen McDougal. While there is some gratuitous nudity, it is brief and not nearly as erotic as it could have been. However, as you probably imagine, both girls are lookers and have exquisite bodies (especially McDougal). Beyond that, there is not a whole lot that is redeemable about this film. The script is absolutely horrid and the acting is not much better. Dergan has some decent facial expressions that could pass for acting, but everyone in the film looks like they're reading off of cue cards. Some of the scenes are so silly that I swear they came straight from Monty Python. The story also fudges history a great deal. As indicated in the film, Rome was sacked in 410CE. However, I can assure you that gladiatorial games had nothing whatsoever to do with the impetus of this incident. Rather, the real story was that the Visigoths were trying to escape from the Huns in the late 4th century. The Huns were sweeping westward and invaded the territory of the Visigoths. So, the Germanic tribe requested to come under the umbrella of the Roman empire for protection from the Huns. The Visigoths were betrayed by the Romans and tens of thousands of them starved due to Roman empty promises. This led to furious resentment and ultimately a rebellion that overwhelmed the resources of Rome. In the end, the Germans sacked Rome in 410, as is stated in the film. However, Rome did recover from being overrun and it was not officially "over" for the western half of the empire until 473CE. People who watch this DVD need to be aware that the story seriously fudges this so that history may cater to Corman's plot. To be fair, there was one subtle aspect of the film that had undeniable historical veracity. In the final sequence, Dergan wears gladiator mesh that extends down her right arm. This was normal fare for gladiators as it protected their sword arm. The Romans wanted the contests to last awhile, and one of the best ways of doing that was ensuring that the gladiator had maximum protection on the arm which held their sword. Otherwise, if the fighter lost the faculty of his sword he could do little to defend himself / herself (the Romans considered this to be very boring). However, the filmmakers hardly went overboard in their familiarity with the games. While the trident / net was a common feature in the games, they would be apt to go up against fighters who had extensive armor. The point was to pit opposites together: one with light armor but a long reach vs. the other with lots of armor but a much shorter reach. Also, one of the gladiators in the film has a shield that's about as big as a dinner plate. I'm pretty sure that was not normal fare in the gladiator arsenal! When I purchased this film I figured I would be getting a poor man's GLADIATOR, and that's pretty much what I got. While there really were female gladiators in the Roman empire, I would think that any women who looked like Dergan or McDougal would have been spared the arena. Unless you have an insatiable curiousity about this movie, I would recommend that you spare yourself from ARENA as well.
Rating: 
Summary: GLADIATOR wannabe
Review: Here is a film that obviously tried to ride the coattails and cash in on the enormous success of Ridley Scott's magnificent GLADIATOR. Try as it might, however, at the end of the day it's still a low-budget, badly put together, half-baked movie. The highlight of the film is that it stars two playmates: Lisa Dergan and Karen McDougal. While there is some gratuitous nudity, it is brief and not nearly as erotic as it could have been. However, as you probably imagine, both girls are lookers and have exquisite bodies (especially McDougal). Beyond that, there is not a whole lot that is redeemable about this film. The script is absolutely horrid and the acting is not much better. Dergan has some decent facial expressions that could pass for acting, but everyone in the film looks like they're reading off of cue cards. Some of the scenes are so silly that I swear they came straight from Monty Python. The story also fudges history a great deal. As indicated in the film, Rome was sacked in 410CE. However, I can assure you that gladiatorial games had nothing whatsoever to do with the impetus of this incident. Rather, the real story was that the Visigoths were trying to escape from the Huns in the late 4th century. The Huns were sweeping westward and invaded the territory of the Visigoths. So, the Germanic tribe requested to come under the umbrella of the Roman empire for protection from the Huns. The Visigoths were betrayed by the Romans and tens of thousands of them starved due to Roman empty promises. This led to furious resentment and ultimately a rebellion that overwhelmed the resources of Rome. In the end, the Germans sacked Rome in 410, as is stated in the film. However, Rome did recover from being overrun and it was not officially "over" for the western half of the empire until 473CE. People who watch this DVD need to be aware that the story seriously fudges this so that history may cater to Corman's plot. To be fair, there was one subtle aspect of the film that had undeniable historical veracity. In the final sequence, Dergan wears gladiator mesh that extends down her right arm. This was normal fare for gladiators as it protected their sword arm. The Romans wanted the contests to last awhile, and one of the best ways of doing that was ensuring that the gladiator had maximum protection on the arm which held their sword. Otherwise, if the fighter lost the faculty of his sword he could do little to defend himself / herself (the Romans considered this to be very boring). However, the filmmakers hardly went overboard in their familiarity with the games. While the trident / net was a common feature in the games, they would be apt to go up against fighters who had extensive armor. The point was to pit opposites together: one with light armor but a long reach vs. the other with lots of armor but a much shorter reach. Also, one of the gladiators in the film has a shield that's about as big as a dinner plate. I'm pretty sure that was not normal fare in the gladiator arsenal! When I purchased this film I figured I would be getting a poor man's GLADIATOR, and that's pretty much what I got. While there really were female gladiators in the Roman empire, I would think that any women who looked like Dergan or McDougal would have been spared the arena. Unless you have an insatiable curiousity about this movie, I would recommend that you spare yourself from ARENA as well.
Rating:
Summary: Simply unwatchable due to rapid fire editing
Review: I bought this movie because of the 2 stars. The director obviously features them heavily, but he employs rapid-fire editing that will give you a bad headache. He cuts between good scenes and flashbacks to a mind numbing result. I can't watch this movie and I would not recommend it
Rating: 
Summary: a very entertaining film!
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: Buy the VHS, not the DVD!
Review: I tried 3 times to order this DVD, and each time I get a defectuous version, and each time the defects were the same: unable to read the ending of the movie and unable to access the only featurette that interrested me (the Karen's interview)! I tried to watch it on others DVD players with exactly the same results. I also had reports from people experiencing the same problems. That's why I'm telling you: do not buy the DVD version of this movie! You might get angry. I will try to buy the VHS version. After that, I will write a review on the movie itself.
Rating:
Summary: Stay Away !
Review: 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
Rating:
Summary: Less is not better
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: It could have been a lot better
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A strange little movie
Review: 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.
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