Arena appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. When a movie opens with a disclaimer related to its transfer, that acts as a warning not to expect visual greatness.
This proved true for Arena. Though more than watchable, the image came with a lackluster presentation overall.
Sharpness became one of the problematic elements. While the movie offered generally good delineation, it never felt particularly well-defined, and wider shots leaned soft.
No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects emerged, and I saw no edge haloes. Grain seemed heavy, but no print flaws materialized.
The film’s palette leaned toward a mix of blues and reds. Though the disc replicated them in a competent manner, they tended to feel a bit pale and without a lot of vivacity.
Blacks could seem dense and crushed, while shadows appeared a little thick. Again, the movie always looked adequate, but it rarely rose above that level.
Similar ups and downs came from the movie’s LPCM stereo soundtrack. On the positive side, Arena boasted a good soundscape.
This mean nice stereo spread for the music, and effects broadened across the front well. Elements meshed smoothly and created a fine sense of the settings.
Unfortunately, audio quality proved more problematic, mainly due to a lot of distortion. Though the score occasionally showed appealing clarity, music too often came across as shrill.
Effects followed suit. This meant elements that often appeared harsh and rough.
Music and effects did show decent low-end at times, and dialogue felt decent. Some edginess interfered there, though, and while the lines remained intelligible, they could seem a bit reedy.
On one hand, the movie came with a good soundfield. On the other hand, quality seemed substantially subpar, even for its era. That inconsistency left this as a “C-“ soundtrack.
As we move to extras, we launch with an audio commentary from director Peter Manoogian with film critics Matty Budrewicz and Dave Wain. All three sit together for this running discussion of Manoogian’s career and aspects of the Arena production.
Like prior Wain/Budrewicz commentaries, this one occasionally refers to the movie’s action, but those remarks occur too infrequently to call this a “screen-specific” piece. Also like the other tracks, we don’t get a ton of information about the film itself.
Actually, we find more material of that sort than occurred with the Dungeonmaster and Cellar Dweller tracks. Nonetheless, listeners should expect a more general focus than one highly centered on Arena.
Does that make this a bad commentary? Not in the least, as Manoogian delivers a mix of good notes.
That said, I’d like something that deals more with Arena. That feels like the point of commentaries, doesn’t it?
Fans can watch the movie via the 1.85:1 version discussed above or an Alternative Fullframe Presentation. This crops the image for 1.33:1 – don’t expect “open matte” here, as the transfer just chops off the sides of the picture.
Why? To accommodate for nostalgia of people who initially saw Arena on VHS, I guess. Presented standard-def, the movie doesn’t look good and the cropping makes it a mess.
Two featurettes follow, and Not His Arena goes for 14 minutes, 44 seconds. It brings an interview with screenwriter Danny Billson.
The program looks at aspects of Billson’s career as well as his work on Arena. Billson proves engaging and honest, as he expresses no affection whatsoever for his Arena experiences in this brisk and informative chat.
Empire of Creatures spans 16 minutes, 21 seconds. It gives us a chat with special make-up effects artist/actor Michael Deak.
He tells us about his work on Arena. Expect a nice array of insights.
Trailers offers ads in both 1.78:1 and 1.33:1 ratios, and we finish with two Image Galleries: “Behind the Scenes” (9 elements) and “Posters and Stills” (27).
A sci-fi variation on the classic athletic underdog tale, Arena shows promise. Unfortunately, the end result becomes far too focused on various effects and it fails to develop its narrative and characters in a compelling manner. The Blu-ray brings erratic picture and audio along with a mix of bonus features. The effects hold up pretty well but the movie itself lacks spark.
Note that this release of Arena comes only as part of a five-film package called “Enter the Video Store: Empire of Screams”. In addition to Arena, it brings four other movies from Empire Pictures: Dungeonmaster, Dolls, Cellar Dweller and Robot Jox.
The set includes non-disc-based elements as well. According to Arrow, it comes with “double-sided posters featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ilan Sheady; 15 postcard-sized reproduction art cards; an Arrow Video store "membership card"; an 80-page perfect bound book featuring new writing on the films by Lee Gambin, Dave Jay, Megan Navarro, and John Harrison, plus select archival material.”
My review copy lacked these components. Nonetheless, I figured I should mention them.
