Arena

Yes, one could argue it looks a bit cheesy today, but hey, I like the 80s atmosphere, & one neat thing about this movie is the cast.

If you are a Sci-Fi buff you'll find yourself going "No way!" a lot as you meet the actors playing these characters. A lot of the main cast ended up on other space stations a couple of years after they made this movie, namely Babylon Five and Deep Space Nine. In that way it has a bit of a neat "When Worlds Collide" vibe for the TV Speculative Fiction buff. Claudia Christian eventually became a regular on B5, and Shari Shattuck made a stopover there too. Both Armin Shimmerman and Marc Alaimo ended up doing yeoman service on DS9, Shimmerman as a regular and Alaimo as a recurring guest. It is neat to see them all together in this one a couple of years before they hit those series roles, and they and the rest of the cast seem to be having fun with it too.

This movie is sort of like "Robot Jox" in that it has a tournament. It isn't like it, in that it is fights between aliens. The alien in this case being a rare human ready to become the first human champ in some time. All the standards are here for this type of movie with a villain, betrayal and all that good stuff that make movies of this type so predictable. It does not help that the fights are lacking any real punch as they are nothing like the high energy fights you get in an anime or any Jackie Chan movie. Still though you have loads of alien creatures to look at and some attractive female leads. That, however, does not a movie make so for the most part it is a by the numbers sports movie with an alien twist.

All bets are off at a corrupt intergalactic fighting competition where a system removes the fighter's advantage, no matter what species and puts them on an even standing.

Made and released in the UK in 1989, like Robot Jox, Crash & Burn, Oblivion and other Charles Band productions the lack of money is obvious but this B-film captures the imagination which many larger budgeted films fail to do. Arena taps into a time when fighting films had peaked and Rocky was deep rooted in the conciseness along with WWF specials. Director Peter Manoogian offers plenty of showdowns. His direction is fine and many of the makeup and special effects still hold up.

In a cast of outlandish aliens Claudia Christian features as Quinn and the Christopher Reeve-a-like Paul Satterfield's Steve Armstrong works as the stereotype hero.

Despite its clichés and the fact it was never going to win any Oscars its many references to other science fictions and fresh concept makes it an enjoyable low budget science fiction.

I remember watching Arena back in the day when I was nothing but a sprog, it stuck with me but I long since forgot the name of the film.

I came across it again today and the nostalgia came flooding back. They often tell you not to rewatch the classics from your childhood as they could not possibly meet your expectations based on how it made you feel at the time. On this occasion, it's as good as I remembered.

With goofy Star Trek-esque alien races, Jim Henson looking monsters and a cast including Armin "Buffy/Deep Space Nine" Shimerman and Claudia Christian this is a fun little gem of an 80's movie.

It tells the story of a young man who finds himself becoming a hero for Earth when he joins an intergalactic fighting tournament. But as if he doesn't have enough to worry about on the mat, there are powers that be behind the scenes that don't want him to win.

Sure it does follow a real tried and tested "Fight movie" formula, but it doesn't take itself seriously at all. It's silly, it's over the top, and it's a lot of fun.

To me this will always be a classic, a cheesy cheesy classic.

The Good:

Fantastic creature effects

Really fun movie

The Bad:

Could have used additional time

When I was 10 I loved this film. It's a bit like Kickboxer meets Star trek meets Rocky. I managed to get a copy a few years back now and watched it again with a few friends.

To say it was weird was an understatement. It's actually rather funny at how bad the acting and effects are. i remember it being really exciting and packed with action. Watching it now I realised it was slow with little action and what action there was was just actually very funny.

To be honest they could do a remake which if done properly could be really good.

If you like sci-fi 'B' movies then this is the one for you.

Good old 80/90's fun!