Arena
Arena
PG-13 | 18 September 1991 (USA)
Arena Trailers

An intergalactic fighting competition between champions of various worlds has traditionally been won by a species much larger and stronger than humans. Entering the contest, a human finds he has to battle against not just his opponents and his self-doubts, but the corrupt system. Far in the future, on a distant space station, the legendary Arena is where the best fighters from every planet come to vie for the championship. But for over half a century, no Earthling has been good enough to be a contender. Until out of nowhere, comes an underdog: the great human hope, Steve Armstrong... and the best anyone's ever seen. He's been training all his life for a shot at the big time, but now he's up against some mighty big muscle: a ruthless extra-terrestrial crimelord who'll pull no punches to make sure he stops Steve dead. In the mood for hard-hitting sci-fi action? Arena will knock you out!

Reviews
BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See
SparkMore n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.
Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.
Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.
danielaustin-735-484497 When I was 10 I loved this film. It's a bit like Kickboxer meets Star trek meets Rocky. I managed to get a copy a few years back now and watched it again with a few friends. To say it was weird was an understatement. It's actually rather funny at how bad the acting and effects are. i remember it being really exciting and packed with action. Watching it now I realised it was slow with little action and what action there was was just actually very funny.To be honest they could do a remake which if done properly could be really good. If you like sci-fi 'B' movies then this is the one for you.Good old 80/90's fun!
David Powell Yes, one could argue it looks a bit cheesy today, but hey, I like the 80s atmosphere, & one neat thing about this movie is the cast.If you are a Sci-Fi buff you'll find yourself going "No way!" a lot as you meet the actors playing these characters. A lot of the main cast ended up on other space stations a couple of years after they made this movie, namely Babylon Five and Deep Space Nine. In that way it has a bit of a neat "When Worlds Collide" vibe for the TV Speculative Fiction buff. Claudia Christian eventually became a regular on B5, and Shari Shattuck made a stopover there too. Both Armin Shimmerman and Marc Alaimo ended up doing yeoman service on DS9, Shimmerman as a regular and Alaimo as a recurring guest. It is neat to see them all together in this one a couple of years before they hit those series roles, and they and the rest of the cast seem to be having fun with it too.
tone_e2000 If I were to rate this film based on my memories of it when I was ten years old, it would be a straight nine out of ten. Unfortunately, I'm not going to do that, since I watched it again just last year (I'm 26 now). Anyway, it turns out this film is actually a badly acted, poorly produced and boring effort. The fights which impressed me so much as a child now reveal themselves for what they are - a funny looking blonde guy pretending to use martial arts on a man in a rubber suit (a technique recently revived for the atrocity that was Alien Vs Predator). The script is badly written, and does no credit to what is actually a pretty good premise for a sci-fi action movie. There are certainly some interesting ideas. Perhaps a remake should be considered?
jdb111001 I stumbled across this movie one of the 5 million times that HBO showed it my Junior year of College...If you like cardboard cutouts in the crowd...wrestling moves that are supported by visible wires...and a plot that a monkey could write...then rent this movie...Terrible...awful...but not the worse...there is always Congo...where you want to make an ash tray out of the stupid monkeys head...but that is another rant...If you want to see a good action space movie...that is brainless...see the motion picture classic and guilty pleasure Starship Troopers...lead by Doogie Howser...stay away from this piece of garbage that could of been shot in someones garage...