Sometime in the future, a space station is hosting a fighting tournament where all alien species fight in an arena for a Galactic championship. Steve is a cook who gets into an argument with a dissatisfied alien customer and beats him up, gaining attention of sports manager Quinn who wants Steve to fight in the arena. When Steve’s friend, alien Shorty with four hands, steals money from casino owner Rogor, Steve accepts Quinn’s offer to pay off the debt. After winning several matches, Steve is seduced and poisened by Rogor’s girlfriend, but saved thanks to the intervention by the doctors. Steve thus wins in a match against Rogor’s fighter Horn.
Contrary to many other independent films that focus on real-life events, the director Paul Manoogian actually takes the hard way and opts for a lavishing science-fiction film with “Arena”, where he does wonders with the small budget at his disposal in this blend of “Rocky” and “Star Wars”. “Arena” is a rare example of a movie beyond ‘guilty pleasure’, since it boasts with surprisingly good practical effects of alien make-up, exotic set-designs of the space station and fairly well done camera work, which is why this small cult film should be granted more appreciation. The highlight is arguably the arena fight between Steve and Sloth, a 7 ft tall non-humanoid alien that looks like a torso of a lizard reversely attached to a rear of a giant grasshopper, and the editing is pretty good in that fight sequence. A few attempts at humor come across as refreshing, especially from cook Shorty who either argues with customers (“Easy, I only have four hands!”) up to a “Caddyshack” reference (“Last time I saw a face like that, it had a hook in it!”). Peculiarly, the film lacks the most in the character-building department, since Steve is a rather bland good guy without much personality, as well as some plot holes: for instance, why would Rogor be in such an opposition to Steve winning the tournament? Why not simply accept that and support him by betting on him? It seems the movie was more creative in its set-designs than its story and style, but even that former counts as a plus point. Micro budget, macro imagination: a small home run for Sci-Fi fans.
Grade:++
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