The Arena

2001
R
1h 32m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Enslaved gladiators Bodicia, Jessemina, and Flavius battle each other in deadly arena spectacles staged by sadistic Roman Governor Timarchus, amidst a world of combat, passion, and survival ... Read allEnslaved gladiators Bodicia, Jessemina, and Flavius battle each other in deadly arena spectacles staged by sadistic Roman Governor Timarchus, amidst a world of combat, passion, and survival against all odds.Enslaved gladiators Bodicia, Jessemina, and Flavius battle each other in deadly arena spectacles staged by sadistic Roman Governor Timarchus, amidst a world of combat, passion, and survival against all odds.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

3.0/10

834

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 nomination

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
A remake of The Arena (1974) starring Pam Grier. Both were produced by Roger Corman.

Goofs
Early in the movie, Bodicia relates how she was captured by the Romans. She says that her lover gave her a tattoo on the left side of her chest and that they then made love, which the movie shows. As she continues her narrative, of the Romans coming the next morning, the movie shows her fleeing. In this scene, her garments open to bare her chest, but there is no wound, blood, or any other evidence of a tattoo having been given the night before.

Quotes
Diedra: No pain, no fear, no worries, just silence, silence.

Connections
Referenced in Dinner for Five: Episode #4.6 (2005)

User reviews18

Review

Featured review

4/10

Editor Wanted

I came into this movie expecting two things - a lot of nudity and not much of a plot. Neither one came to fruition. The story was surprisingly easy to follow and pretty much made sense. A group of slaves gets sent to the frontier of the Roman Empire; some are pressed into gladiator duty. The local governor is trying to assimilate the local populace into the Empire so he organizes "quality" gladiator fights for the entertainment of the people. He figures what could be more entertaining than watching some slave girls duel. They get trained and then they fight. It's not a great story, but it works.

The lead actresses are indeed Playboy material. However, they aren't particularly good actresses and there wasn't enough screen time for their assets. As such, these ladies were miscast. They could have found some girls who could actually look like they were fighters and it would have made this a little better.

The real killer in this movie is the cinematography. The color filters are straight up annoying. The emphasis on close-ups - while I'm sure used to cover up the cheap sets - made it hard to watch. And the average shot length on this must have been two seconds. A drunk monkey with an iPhone could have shot a better movie.

This story had potential. It was horribly undone by poor acting, awful editing, and fight scenes scripted by 10 year olds.