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Storyline
Two thousand years ago, the people of Rome are so blasée, so used to violence, that entertaining them becomes a political problem. Someone suggests, after a hectic girl fight in a kitchen between a Nubian and a Viking slave, as a joke, that they should fight in the arena, instead of male gladiators. The idea is approved, though - and a female "Spartacus" theme follows. Written by
Artemis-9
Plot Summary
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Plot Synopsis
Taglines:
Black slave, white slave.
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Did You Know?
Connections
Referenced in
Josie's Castle (1972)
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Women in prison movies have long been a popular subgenre amongst fans of exploitation fare. Well, The Arena is another one of those movies, with the main difference being that the action is transported to ancient Rome.
Margaret Markov is Bodicia and Pam Grier is Mamawi and some other women are . . . . . . . . . . some other women in this tale of gladiators and gladiatrixes.
There's plenty of laughable dialogue, numerous moments of gratuitous nudity, a lot of bloodless violence and just enough to entertain lovers of lowbrow schlock.
Steve Carver directs with a minimum level of competence but he takes the story through the required beats of the particular subgenre while making sure that the strong women stay front and centre.
Writers John William Corrington and Joyce Hooper Corrington know that they're not adapting Shakespeare here but they could have made everything feel as if just a little more care was taken.
The cast? Well, the women are strong and sexy. Well, they're supposed to be (was Deirdre REALLY a name used in Roman times?). The men are mostly, as expected, pigs and abusers though Silvio Laurenzi (aka Sid Lawrence) is a hoot as the effete Priscium and Pietro Ceccarelli (aka Peter Cester) is enjoyable as Septimus.
So you get Pam Grier, Margaret Markov, some gratuitous nudity, a small helping of casual racism and a large helping of casual sexism and battle scenes that occasionally make use of a trident - which makes for a fun time for some people. I just thought it was okay.