Arena

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.

Hey, flailing writers of movies, know how to make a good Sci-Fi movie. Just take a genre, and re-write it as a space movie.

This is a better film that it deserves to be in that it stole a bunch of Clichés from fight movies, and it was made in Italy (almost never a good sign when everyone in the closing credits has a name that ends in the letter "i". )

So what are its good points? Well, it has three actors known for their roles in good Science FIction. Claudia Christian from Babylon 5, and Marc Alaimo and Armin Shimmerman from Star Trek:Deep Space Nine. They take what could be cardboard characters and breathe some life into them.

The special effects are vintage pre-CGI, and some of the creature effects look good, others look kind of hokey.

So not Shakespeare or even Star Wars, but frankly, I found more sympathy for these characters than any of the people standing in front of Green Screens in the Phantom Menace wondering what their motivation was...

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

Overall, a highly enjoyable and truly wonderful film. Yes, the effects are shabby, the acting stilted, the story disjointed, but this film does something quite rare, it transports you into a world where these things don't matter. It's a world that is truly believable in the way that modern sci-fi flicks simply are not (I use the recent Star Wars outing as my authority). In the same way that the cantina scene from the original star wars film caught the imagination, this movie does the same. You get a glimpse into a strange and weird world where men in leotards wrestle with giant slugs with a dwarf with four arms as your best friend. Truly unique and amazing fun.