After Trancers and Eliminators became minor hits, Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo were assigned more scripts by Charles Band. One assignment he gave them was a sci-fi wrestling movie with aliens, which the duo wasn’t entirely sold on. They took the job anyway and used 1947’s Body and Soul as a reference for their screenplay. Their original concept was more of a spoof of boxing movies from the time, which didn’t sit well with Band. At some point, the script went through many rewrites after Bilson and De Meo left to work on The Flash. Peter Manoogian, who previously helmed Eliminators and Enemy Territory, was given $2 million to film Empire’s most ambitious film. The movie was shot in the old Dino De Laurentiis studios in Rome and finished in 1988. Unfortunately, due to Empire’s bankruptcy, Arena wouldn’t see a release until 1991.
%
Rating
Synopsis
In the year 4038, on a lone space station, alien races battle in a gladiatorial arena for dominance. The reigning champion is the cyborg Horn (Michael Deak), whose promoter, Rogor (Marc Alaimo), is rigging the fights. After Horn pummels her last fighter, Quinn (Claudia Christian) desperately seeks a new one to take on Rogor’s champion. Enter Steve Armstrong (Paul Satterfield), a young man from Earth who’s a cook working with his friend Shorty (Hamilton Camp). He gets into a fight with one of Quinn’s fighters, and she’s so impressed that she offers him a contract. Steve initially turns it down, but once Shorty receives threats over gambling debts, he agrees and becomes a good fighter. Feeling threatened, Rogor sends his henchmen Weezil (Armin Shimerman) and Skull (William Butler) to sabotage Steve’s fight with Horn. Will Horn defend his title, or will Steve become the new champion of the Arena?
Review
Arena has the ingredients to make a fun sci-fi movie: likable characters, unique creature designs, and a decent story. Despite this, the film can’t decide whether to take itself seriously or have fun with the premise. This movie is a standard rags-to-riches boxing story, even with its outlandish setting and otherworldly aliens. It’s Rocky in space but without the heart and soul of John G. Avildsen’s original classic. How differently would the movie have played out if they had used Bilson and De Meo’s original script? Unfortunately, what we got was a predictable boxing movie that happens to have a decent setting and unique monsters. That said, you can see the $2 million budget on the screen with the elaborate sets and alien designs. While John Carl Buechler handled much of it, the highlight is Screaming Mad George’s contribution.
Paul Satterfield makes for a decent leading man, giving the role plenty of charm and charisma to make him endearing. It helps that he looks like a blonde Christopher Reeve, which makes me wonder why he never got bigger. The rest of the cast includes character actors like Hamilton Camp, Claudia Christian, Marc Alaimo, Shari Shattuck, and Armin Shimerman. Most people will recognize them from roles in shows like Babylon 5 and various iterations of Star Trek. They all do a serviceable job, though Hamilton Camp stands out for his goofy charm and comedic timing. Peter Manoogian’s direction is decent, Mac Ahlberg’s cinematography is good as usual, and Richard Band’s score gets the job done. If the film had more camp and didn’t take itself as seriously, this would be an underrated gem in Empire’s catalog. Overall, Arena isn’t terrible, but there are better Empire movies to check out.
Watch Arena on Amazon Prime: https://amzn.to/3YsTgh3.
Disclosure: The above link is an affiliate link, which means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.
