The Arena (1973) from Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy; Greg Wroblewski)

Do you like movies about gladiators, Tommy?

I don't know about you guys, but I don't. Hell, Kubrick directed Spartacus, and I don't even like that one very much. The Russell Crowe one was pretty good, but that makes one out of a zillion or so.

In general, perhaps I should add to the Scoopy Unities - leather strap-around leg wear is a sure sign of top quality entertainment, from Victor Mature to Steve Reeves.

I guess it could be worse. It was better than David Arquette's Othello. Actually, I kinda liked Arquette in that Al Jolson blackface, but I found Chris Klein to be a dubious casting choice as the scheming Iago. Or maybe I just dreamed that.

Man, I gotta cut down on spicy food before bedtime.

This Arena movie is an especially sloppy cheapozoid exploitation flick. I guess they cut a couple scenes that should have stayed, because there is at least one major continuity error. Worse than that there's at least one plot development that couldn't have happened at all - at least not without some explanation, however shabby.

That's the bad news.

The good news is:

  • this one is about FEMALE gladiatiors
  • they get naked
  • one of them is Pam Grier, stark nekkid, 24 years old

And that, my friends, is the rest of the story.

Good day.

IMDB summary: 4.2 out of 10.

DVD info from Amazon.

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