Arena

Despite being a movie which, at first glance, appears to have been funded with Bazooka bubblegum wrappers, Arena is choc-ful of surprisingly well-designed creature costumes. Add to that a ridiculously evil pinkie-nibbling villain with a sexy voice, a sexy suit, and a sexy do to match, you'd think you'd have a cheesy sci-fi schlockfest bound for the outer ring of cult status. Unfortunately what we get is Over the Top's inbred cousin from Rigel 9.

No Holds Barred meets Suburban Commando, but without the luxury of being able to afford Hulk Hogan.

Doesn't try to hide the schlock but doesn't play it up too much either; it's refreshingly content to be a low-budget collection of fighting movie cliches. The most enjoyable aspect of this movie is the well-realized setting -- particularly the eclectic assortment of aliens, reminiscent of the Star Wars canteen scene or perhaps a DS9 episode. Despite (or perhaps because of) the clearly meager budget, some of the makeup & creature effects are actually quite impressive.

Arena sorta straddles the line between 'bad' and 'acceptable (for being a low-budget sci-fi flick with an unambitious plot)'. However, a coupla minor details allow it to transcend both of those descriptors in favor of 'pretty fun'. The main thing is the creatures that populate the world of Arena; they're varied, surprisingly well made, and their dumb, mumbled quips really help give them character (shoutout to Weezil, a ratty Revolver Ocelot-lookin' henchman). Like a long, good Babylon 5 episode.

Hilarious at times. Sometimes intentionally sometimes not.

Arena is a disappointment. This doesn't mean the film is bad. Far from it. It just means that I had certain expectations that the film did not meet. The creature design is amazing and I was surprised by the amount of creatures we saw. Usually, films like this only have the actual creature designs in a few scene and the rest of the film would be humans with make up on.

Mild Empire Pics fare, a sort of sci-fi _Rocky_. Had this played up the comic aspects more it would have been one of Empire's best; as is, it's just minor beefcake and monsters fun.

aaaaaarrggg's review is spot on.

I watched this thinking it would be funny,and it is in parts (unintentionally), but its mostly a bit dull.

Horn is champion.