Here is a film that obviously tried to ride the coattails and cash in on the enormous success of Ridley Scott's magnificent GLADIATOR. Try as it might, however, at the end of the day it's still a low-budget, badly put together, half-baked movie.
The highlight of the film is that it stars two playmates: Lisa Dergan and Karen McDougal. While there is some gratuitous nudity, it is brief and not nearly as erotic as it could have been. However, as you probably imagine, both girls are lookers and have exquisite bodies (especially McDougal).
Beyond that, there is not a whole lot that is redeemable about this film. The script is absolutely horrid and the acting is not much better. Dergan has some decent facial expressions that could pass for acting, but everyone in the film looks like they're reading off of cue cards. Some of the scenes are so silly that I swear they came straight from Monty Python.
The story also fudges history a great deal. As indicated in the film, Rome was sacked in 410CE. However, I can assure you that gladiatorial games had nothing whatsoever to do with the impetus of this incident.
Rather, the real story was that the Visigoths were trying to escape from the Huns in the late 4th century. The Huns were sweeping westward and invaded the territory of the Visigoths. So, the Germanic tribe requested to come under the umbrella of the Roman empire for protection from the Huns.
The Visigoths were betrayed by the Romans and tens of thousands of them starved due to Roman empty promises. This led to furious resentment and ultimately a rebellion that overwhelmed the resources of Rome.
In the end, the Germans sacked Rome in 410, as is stated in the film. However, Rome did recover from being overrun and it was not officially "over" for the western half of the empire until 473CE. People who watch this DVD need to be aware that the story seriously fudges this so that history may cater to Corman's plot.
To be fair, there was one subtle aspect of the film that had undeniable historical veracity. In the final sequence, Dergan wears gladiator mesh that extends down her right arm. This was normal fare for gladiators as it protected their sword arm.
The Romans wanted the contests to last awhile, and one of the best ways of doing that was ensuring that the gladiator had maximum protection on the arm which held their sword. Otherwise, if the fighter lost the faculty of his sword he could do little to defend himself / herself (the Romans considered this to be very boring).
However, the filmmakers hardly went overboard in their familiarity with the games. While the trident / net was a common feature in the games, they would be apt to go up against fighters who had extensive armor. The point was to pit opposites together: one with light armor but a long reach vs. the other with lots of armor but a much shorter reach.
Also, one of the gladiators in the film has a shield that's about as big as a dinner plate. I'm pretty sure that was not normal fare in the gladiator arsenal!
When I purchased this film I figured I would be getting a poor man's GLADIATOR, and that's pretty much what I got. While there really were female gladiators in the Roman empire, I would think that any women who looked like Dergan or McDougal would have been spared the arena. Unless you have an insatiable curiousity about this movie, I would recommend that you spare yourself from ARENA as well.
