Arena: An Absurd Notion

this was one of my first videos that i owned(at the tender age of 15!) It is mostly concert footage of duran duran at their height performing. that in itself makes the video worthwhile. But Miles o'shea's potrayal as dr duran takes the cake.... And if you watch carefully you see bits of barbarella thrown in.

the weak spot is the Wild Boys video.... I love the video but the way it is edited in is rather weak...... But all in all it is truly a good movie!

This is by far the most innovative video collections. This came out in 1985 and has a look and production values as good as anything that is out there now. Duran Duran have never gotten the credit they deserve as pioneers of the video genre. Most of the credit is handed to Michael Jackson and Madonna who I am afraid had never made anything in the 80s as well as "Is there something I should know?", which to me is one of the most perfect music videos. Arena is a collection of live performances by the band bonded together with a tongue and cheek plotline including the band's namesake, the evil sex fiend Dr. Duran of Barbarella fame. It's all in fun and was especially pleasing to a 15 year old fan. I give it a 10 with deep affection.

For loyal Duran Duran fans who want to watch a good music video, skip this one. The producers decided to get creative and make this 80's video something of a sci-fi story, involving the evil Barbarella villain from which the band got its name.

What makes this idea fail is that right in the middle of some great 80's Duran Duran songs, confusing and annoying cut scenes take place showing the fictional antagonist trying to stop the band at one of their concerts. Not only is the good music repeatedly interrupted, but we have to suffer through some cheap spin-off story hosted by an evil Dr. Mario. It's almost too much to bear. 2/10

This remains one of my favorite movies of all time. It is not by any means good, it is really embarrassing at points. But it's immensely entertaining, and 20 years on it's even more entertaining for new, kitchy reasons.

This is a Duran Duran concert shot in Oakland for the Seven and the Ragged Tiger tour. The concert footage is mixed in with an absurd, stupid plot line. Duran Duran, the bad guy from Barbarella, has been awakened in deep space by the chants of screaming teenage girls. So he discovers the band Duran Duran has taken his name and he sets out to destroy the band, setting up shop under the Oakland arena and kidnapping fans with enormous hair to supply power to his positronic ray that will allow him to control the universe. Yes, really.

Duran Duran were one of the best of the new wave bands from the 80s. When they came out they seemed to be another pretty boy band more concerned with image than music. However, they wrote their own music and played their own instrument. Seeing them again last year, they have actually gotten better with age -- they have never sounded better. Their entire catalog has held up much better than one would have thought 20 years ago, particularly their first three near perfect albums, Duran Duran, Rio, and Seven.

Back to the DVD. The concert footage remains thrilling. The audience is in hysterics, and the boys really put on a hot show. The theatrics, the staging, the costuming were all brilliant, yet the music still towered above everything else. Back then and now, they really put on one hell of a good show. The storyline footage has taken on a campy, nostalgic aura and is still compulsively watchable despite inducing cringes. Oh my god, did we actually do those things to our hair! It is really great seeing bands such as Interpol and the Killers being inspired by and ripping off the original pretty boys, and it makes me feel old to realize some of these kids weren't even born when Duran Duran first hit.

Duran Duran has really held up, and Arena is a thrilling, trashy masterpiece of camp. Time has turned this show into a kitschy work of art.

This film is almost sensory overload. It is a visual feast of color, not to mention fabulous-looking people, and it obviously features great music, considering the stars and the era in which it was made. Duran Duran have always taken the music video a bit farther as an art form, so this was the perfect genre for their full-length film. Not that this is just a long-running music video. Far from it. It seems to finally encapsulate all they have wanted to express, but were previously kept to only three to five minutes. Very cute storyline incorporating a visit from Dr. Duran Duran, a bit of the history of the band and it's followers, and the development of the music to its highest point.