The Arena

source: The Arena

I recommend this film as a mix of home entertainment and female fighting *. It has strong characters, high script values (parts of the dialogue may not be understood if you don't some classic culture background), good acting, beautiful women undressed (with modest camerawork) for a couple of sex scenes, and dressed to kill in the ultimate macho game of the arena bloodbath. Occasional comic relief is provided by Deidre, played but not overplayed by Lucretia Love, in a story otherwise gloomy. This film marks the epitome of Pam Grier's career, the eternal, superb, black retiarius fighting for survival first, for freedom second. Her role is in accordance with the actress's own personality, a physically and psychologically strong feminist, not alien to passion and love. She would be called to replay that sort of character in lesser films - starting as the independent journalist in the first episodes of "Chicago Blues" (USA 1988, TV series). However, with her civilized hairdo, in cocktail or executive dresses, her blatant sex-appeal was tamed down, to prevent those X and R ratings we liked so much. Pam Grier will always be Mamawi, the Nubian fighting slave. The video editions do not do justice to the original theatrical release. Margaret Markov defends her character the best she can, but pales in confront with the black mama - the same fate she suffered when they played the title roles of Black Mama, White Mama (1973). Many slaves never saw the light at the end of the tunnel, but they should have, all worthy of taking the fisher boat to Freedom instead of the barge to Hades.

Basically a women's prison movie set in an Imperial Roman slave quarters, with all the soft flesh and catfights that come with it. They even manage to get a little satire on ancient Roman society in--leave it to the Italians to manage something like that. Meet our heroines: Bodacious Blonde Bodicia (Margaret Markov), virgin priestess abducted from Brittany, and Black Mamawi (Wow-ee!), (Pam Grier) nubile from Nubia. Dusty off the slave block, it's the perfect excuse to strip them and hose them down to ready them for "The Arena". And what a sad collection of fellow fightesr we find there: Dig the red-haired combatant with the comb-over, and what an unfortunate and unsightly show of flab in the gladiators' procession. Trivia here says they were stuntmen: in that case, Italy has some of the most out-of-shape stuntmen in the world, which would also explain all the bad action scenes in their movies. Everything here is strictly bottom of the barrel, but the girls get some nifty costumes for combat: Check out Pam's mod chainmail! She is at her loveliest here, and though I'd never call her deep, her performance is by far the best of the worst There's a feel-good fantasy grrl-power climax, then a never-ending me-too feeling denouement in which all the men get theirs. In the midst of all this mess there tries to be a "message" which gets lost in all the ludicrousness, but I was struck by how our black slave's righteous pronouncements on freedom and equality are still having to be said 50 years later.

The assistant director of Johnny Got His Gun, as well as the director of Big Bad Mama, Lone Wolf McQuaid and Eye for an Eye, Steve Carver directed this exploitation roughie, where slave girls become gladiators and rise against their masters. But hey - it has Pam Grier in it! And you know why it's probably so sleazy? I blame the director of cinematography - Joe D'Amoto! In the time after Spartacus, in the ancient Roman town of Brundusium, a group of slave girls are sold to Timarchus (Daniele Vargas, Eyeball), a promoter who puts together the fights in the colosseum. After the girls engage in a fight, she gets a big idea: make them fight to the death. That's when Mamawi (Pam Grier) and Bodicia (Margaret Markov) - who had just teamed up in Black Mama, White Mama - decide to team up and get out alive. Rosalba Neri (Lady Frankenstein herself!, as well as Lucifera: Demon Lover and Amuck!) is in this too! Markov met her husband, producer Mark Damon, while making this movie, but couldn't date until production was over, as director Steve Carver had made a rule regarding cast and crew intermingling. Your enjoyment of this will depend on how much you enjoy watching women battle as gladiators and get treated as slaves. Go in wisely, dear reader.

This is called the first women in prison flick ever made, so only for that alone it's a reason to watch it to see where it all started. But for the geeks in horror genre there's more. It was a co-production between the USA and Italie and it showed. Roger Corman was producer. The cinematography was done by Joe D'amato en the editing was in the hands of Joe Dante. All of them becoming notorious for their flicks. And if you look at the thespians, it had Pam Grier in it just coming out of Coffy (1973). With all those famous names it should have been a fantastic flick but it's all done before their heydays and it shows even as it do has a few potentials. The story is simple but believable and of course due some catfight in the kitchen it's decided that all women who are slaves should become gladiators. Being raped and humiliated by Romans they all work together to destroy the Romans. Don't expect big effects, there aren't any, and when stabbing takes place it's all done off-camera. Being an exploitation flick it also has a bit of nudity full frontal from the slaves. It was so typical back then around those years because * was the big thing so nudity was a must in most of the flicks made early seventies to compete with the * business. Clocking in under 90 minutes makes it watchable. And it do show the use of the typical zooming in on faces or action seen in spaghetti westerns made then and Italian horrors. If you aren't into WIP flicks then forget this but if you want to see the start of a few famous horror directors and producers then you must pick it up. It's not a good flick as I wrote earlier but a perfect example of early seventies exploitation. Gore 0/5 Nudity 1,5/5 Effects 0/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

"The Arena" is typically trashy and smutty 70s exploitation production, courtesy of ... the almighty Roger - King of the B's - Corman; or what else did you expect? I can just imagine what the conversation in Corman's office must have looked and sounded like! "Mr. Corman, we have a great idea for a movie! You know how films with hot women in cages make tremendous amounts of money at the box office? Well, what if we do something similar, but set in the Ancient Rome and with the female slaves forced to battle for their lives as gladiators in the arena?" "Hmm, interesting. Will there be any nudity?". "Yes, of course. The women have to take baths and change outfits. They could also rip each other's clothes off during fights! We could even cast 1 super-hot black girl and 1 super-hot white girl, so we please all male audiences' tastes!". "Sold! Cast the exact same girls as in 'Black Mama White Mama'. I heard that one was very profitable". Well, okay, naturally this is my imagination running wild, but why not? As much as I enjoyed "The Arena", and gazing at the stunning naked bodies of Pam Grier and Margaret Markov in particular, it honestly isn't a very great film. The acting performances are weak (except for goddess Grier), the story is barely existent, the battle sequences suffer from poor choreography and the costumes & set-pieces look like depreciated materials from "Spartacus". Still, it's vintage Corman-guff revolving around solely one brilliantly exploited idea. Female slaves serving as distraction for gladiators on the night before battle get into a massive cat-fight in the kitchen. Obviously, there's one clever Roman who sees this as a guaranteed crowd-pleasing idea to transfer to the arena. But these women are tough. Much tougher as their male counterparts, in fact, and use their newly gained fighting skills to try and escape. As far as "Sword & Sandal" films go, "The Arena" isn't much of a classic, but there are five words that always justify the purchase: Pam Grier full frontal nudity. It's incredibly shallow, I know, but also true.

Roger Corman's tough, engrossing, skillfully executed proto-feminist $1.98 drive-in version of "Spartacus," an early New World Pictures production reuniting the dynamic distaff duo of Pam Grier and Margaret Markov, who previously formed a sparky, highly charged rat-a-tat-tat chemistry together in Eddie Romero's excellent Filipino "The Defiant Ones" variant "Black Mama, White Mama." Ancient Rome, Italty: Desperate for a little variety and bored with your standard mano a mano gladiatorial combat, the gross, idle, decadent rich captors of a culturally diverse assortment of slaves decide to let their much abused female servants engage in vicious one winner per battle to the death gladiator fights. The female fighters, who include the gutsy Mamawi (the one and only Pam Grier, in typically ferocious fit'n'physical fighting mode), the compassionate Bodicia (beauteous, blue-eyed unsung favorite firebrand blonde Margaret Markov), and the flighty Diedre (lovely redhead cupcake Lucretia Love), understandably disgusted with the foul, ignoble, dehumanizing treatment they receive from their odious oppressors, stage a violent, rousing climactic revolt in which men and women alike savagely fight for their freedom. Ably directed by Steve Carver (who also helmed the bang-up Depression-era corker "Big Bad Mama" for Corman), with quick pacing, snappy editing, a pungent, convincing period atmosphere, a tightly constructed narrative that thunders along with tremendous drive, and a fine, brooding score by Francesco De Masi, "The Arena" really makes the cut as top-of-the-line high concept 70's exploitation cinema at its most quirky and inspired. The solid, unusually intelligent script by John William and Joyce Carol Corrington (who previously wrote the funky end-of-the-world sci-fi/action hoot "The Omega Man") poses an extremely challenging and provocative moral question: Would you willingly kill another person in order to stay alive? And how much abuse would you endure before finally deciding that enough's enough? Furthermore, the truly terrific B-movie twosome of Pam and Margaret make for strong, smart and sympathetic heroines whose desire for independence is both genuinely admirable and even inspirational. Sara Bey, a striking brunette actress who's most fondly remembered as the titular perverted character in "Lady Frankenstein," makes for an eminently hateful villainess as the bitchy, overbearing, cold-hearted wealthy wench Cordelia. The gladiatorial combat scenes seriously cook: they're brutal, sweaty and bloody, the kind of splendidly staged down'n'dirty swords and battle axes a swinging fights that are quite exciting in a fiercely visceral, kick-you-in-the-guts sort of way (Pam in particular wields a mean trident). A genuine oddity from the Glorious Golden Era of the Grindhouse, "The Arena" partially succeeds on the basis of its sheer strangeness alone and largely because it's simply a very well-done consummate pro job all around.

"The Arena" is one classic cult Blaxploitation film of the 70's that entertains as it's set in ancient Rome and featured Black screen gem Pam Grier. It involves beautiful women who after kidnapped by Roman soldiers must fight to save their lives. The scenes are entertaining and a fun feel good joy as it's jungle caged fever females against males. The eye candy and skin is present with many * and love scenes that are sweet and nice. Overall nice cult B type flick to check out.

After being captured by Roman soldiers, a group of women are sold off as slaves. After a continuous poor showing with the men gladiators. Soon enough, these women servants become the showpieces and now they're fighting each other to the death in front of the bloodthirsty Rome crowd and its powerful oppressors. But these ladies don't plan on living like that and do their best to organise an all-out revolt. What we get from this Corman production is a boldly, sound drive-in exploitation that follows quite a straightforward formula, which seems to work all the time. On this occasion, chuck in a bunch of female beauties in skimpy outfits in a Colosseum backdrop and watch them go toe-to-toe! It's basically a WIP story within a different era. When you got the likes of the fierily titillating Pam Grier and the ravishingly magnetic Margaret Markov sporting it out. You know you're in for a fulfilling appetizer! This gladiatorial stout supplies plenty of fleshy impulses and gets its hands dirty to invoke the gritty thrills and slimly sleaze. The barbaric attitude within the story superbly captures the gropingly seedy underbelly of the Roman Empire and that viscous instinct for survival to get on top. Simply what you see here is what you get. The women are the main centrepieces and director Steve Carver knew that by exploiting every opportunity. It does have its moments when some ponderous stretches creep in, but when the ladies get their gear on, it finally kicks into gear. The script is extremely leaden (with some corn riddled hokum) and there's not much in the way of character progression, while the performances on the other-hand go down rather well and trump in with a crackling rapport. The very capable Rosalba Neri pops in as the tantalizing ice-queen Cordelia. Lucretia Love and Paul Muller chip in with enjoyably campy performances. The glorious cycle of action is very well organised in some frenetic spurts and spanking scenes. The kinetically compact cinematography and a triumphantly heart-pounding music score demonstrated this energy. The atmosphere is paved on very convincingly and truly bait's the audience. You can't take any of it very seriously, as it can get rather goofy. Although for what it is, it's a well-made and acted piece that entertains.

I thought this movie would be sexier, and funnier. It starts out that way, but then it ends up getting pretty stupid and pathetic and being the most lame attempt at a message about womens liberation I have ever seen and the last half is just disappointing. It starts out being about sexy slave girls who get naked sometimes and have sex with gladiators and are in other sexual scenarios, and then are forced to fight each other and do so haphazardly like they don't know what they are doing because they are untrained women who have never fought before....to suddenly after just a week of fighting they stage a revolt and miraculously somehow their level of fighting skill changes and they are now able to fight off droves of roman soldiers in order to escape, and its suddenly the highly trained roman soldiers who don't have fighting skills and are somehow not even able to beat these untrained women. I should have stopped watching but I thought it would go back to being sexy and fun but it never did. Really disappointing.