Arena Wars

One thing that TV show producers knows worldwide is to be able to hold good ratings you need a TV show that people would want to watch. For example in America one of the shows that had a lot of viewers is America´s Got Talent where people have a chance to show their talents no matter if they are good at singing, doing magic tricks, dancing or any other way to perform a number on stage. In Europe we do have similar shows but you also have some other TV shows that go in a different direction, especially when it comes to reality TV shows. Here in Sweden one very popular reality TV show is called Bonde Söker Fru ( Farmer Looking For A Wife ) that´s been going on for 16 seasons where the idea is that ordinary farmers living across Sweden get hand written letters from people who is looking for marriage with a farmer. It is like a softer version of the American reality TV show The Bachelor but it´s not about looks it´t more about a personal connection between two people. I am surprised myself how popular this reality show is still today, but clearly people enjoy watching people falling in love at a farm house. However, back in the 80´s they realised that we have to have a very cool show that everyone will turn on for sure, a TV show like no other where you never know what will happen. And that TV show is called The Running Man and takes place in a dystopian future, a game show where criminals have to try and survive in each episode from different armed mercenaries called "stalkers" to earn a government pardon and tropical vacation. This is taken from the 1987 classic sci fi action film The Running Man with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead role as the character Ben Richards. What makes this film so special is the game show itself that you have to fight for survival while the audience watches. So even if you are killed the audience get to see everything live on TV, quite a bizarre scenario right? The film is directed by the creative film maker Paul Michael Glaser ( who also directed the odd 1996 family comedy Shazam with basketball legend Shaquile O´Neil ) and i think he did a really good job combining a futuristic look with a game show and at the same time almost making a violent satire of family weekend TV entertainment. Speaking of being very creative film makers i think we have seen for several years now that film producer brothers Sonny Mahal and Michael Mahal have managed to put out several entertaining films such as Attack Of The Uknown, Bridge Of The Doomed, Night Of The Tommyknockers and many more titles. This summer their latest release Arena Wars seems to be a futuristic action film with some similar ideas as The Running Man. Being a fan of previous films from producers Sonny Mahal and Michael Mahal i was curious to see what Arena Wars would bring to the table. Is this one of the best action films of this summer or is this not as good as i was hoping it would be?

In 2045 convicted criminals are given the oppurtunity to compete on the #1 televised sporting event known as Arena Wars. They must survive 7 rooms and 7 of their most vicious killers in the country. If they win they regain their freedom.

It comes to no surprise that Arena Wars might have been inspired by similar films such as The Running Man but i feel that this film manage to stand on it´s own. It doesn´t try to copy arena fighting films in the past but actually tries to upgrade it on a more modern level by using the right kind of characters to make the action scenes more effective. While you had unique characters in The Running Man i can definetely say that Arena Wars have taken a step in a different direction and really tries to capture the danger of this event with some of the most lethal characters we have seen in a long time. Just look at what kinds of weapons some of these characters use while fighting for survival combined with their fighting costumes. In some ways Arena Wars reminds me as well of the 1992 Cannon Group classic American Samurai with legendary martial art actors David Bradley and Mark Dacascos. In that film they also battle against each other inside an arena for survival with weapons and it becomes very clear that Arena Wars definetely tries to bring back that feeling of old school VHS violence we don´t see very often these days. Is there something specific that makes Arena Wars such a fun movie experience? I would say the violence is perhaps the part where the film find the right balance to make the audience entertained. The more violent the fighting scenes are the more Arena Wars manage to find it´s rightful place in a futuristic world where we love to see violence and murder. Let´s talk about the arena killers and my personal favourite evil character in this film is defintely Cutie Pie ( Maria Bova ). She feels like a futuristic version of Harley Quinn with som really lethal qualities. I also enjoy the chainsaw maniac Master Blaster ( Edward Stachyra ) who clearly likes to have a good time. When it comes to the other cast it´s really fun hearing TV hosts Samson and Moses played by legendary actors Michael Madsen and Robert Donavan presenting each battle. Robert LaSardo is in here of course from CSI: Miami and i do enjoy his performance as Perez. I have to mention John Wells as the tough character Luke Bender, he matches perfect as a convict and a fighter in this arena. There are several actors i could talk about but let´s get into one detail i feel didn´t feel as important for this film. There are some more dramatic dialogue scenes and i understand they were probably meant to capture the prison mentality. For me personally i prefer just pure action scenes in a film like this but i understand if you need to mix it up a bit. Director Brandon Slagle and the whole film crew give the audience an action feast with Arena Wars that´s especially made for fans of futuristic action movies. If you have good memories from your local VHS rental store in the 80´s and 90´s then i guarantee Arena Wars will lead you on a similar path.

Rating: DDD