Arena Photos

View All Photos (8)

Cast

Kellan Lutz
as David Lord

Samuel L. Jackson
as Logan

James Remar
as Tall Man

Nina Dobrev
as David's Wife

Daniel Dae Kim
as Taiga

Katia Winter
as Milla

Johnny Messner
as Kaden

Derek Mears
as Brutus

View All

Critic Reviews for Arena

Audience Reviews for Arena

• Dec 01, 2014

  Human trafficking is one of the most heinous crimes imaginable, but what if it was used for something other than sex or slavery? The story of Arena is of a rich millionaire, who wanted to blend the UFC with Roman gladiators. The people taken are all men in excellent shape, who believe they're about to have sex with a beautiful woman, when they are kidnapped, and forced to fight to the death on a highly popular internet site. Everyone from the rich to college kids bet on the fights and then determine the fate of the loser. To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from a film like this, but the story far exceeded my expectations. There is a huge back story to their most recent acquisition, a firefighter from Denver who is dubbed as Death Dealer. Kellan Lutz plays him and is one of these OC, Twilight, model types, who gives a surprising performance. This guy must have some kind of special fight training and portrayed this scary dude, who just wasn't going to give up. He's paired with the legendary Samuel L. Jackson, who was his usual hilarious, twisted self. Jackson is one of these guys who is just at a point in his career where everything he does is worth watching, and in a relatively small role, he really adds a lot to this film. Arena was a little better than I expected, until it reached it's conclusion. At the end of this film, there was a huge twist that would have made M. Night Shamalyan proud. I really didn't see it coming and the ending changes the whole theme of the movie. It's the kind of ending that makes you want to watch the film again, after you know the ending, to see if there were clues to figuring out the truth earlier than it was revealed. Arena is far from an award winning film, but it's got much more going for it then I ever would have expected. It's got some crazy violence, but there is also has a pretty compelling story, with an ending that will absolutely blow your mind.
  Todd S Super Reviewer
• Jan 04, 2014

  This is another film I only saw on TV so I missed much of the bloody scenes. I think I have seen this before but I cannot quite remember. It was not good but it was entertaining enough to hold my attention. Just putting it out there, I think Kellan Lutz could make a good Finnick Odair (still, Sam Claflin's Finnick is perfection).
  Maymay A Super Reviewer
• Jan 04, 2013

  This action straight-to-DVD film brought good cinematography and performances but lousy fight scenes - full of violence, gore, blood and sex like the following TV series, "Spartacus". The good things about it is the cinematography and the acting, the bad thing about it is the action sequences which are fight scenes with poor choreography and camera effects involving a lot of flashes, quick cuts and slow motion for when our would be fighters strike a nice pose. As other reviewers have pointed out the plot isn't very original or very good but oddly enough the cast pull off good performances, Samuel L. Jackson obviously must have done this just for fun because he looked like he had a field day with his role and yet he gives a good performance like always so he definitely didn't slack despite the material he was given and Kellan Lutz despite being a bit stiff, is okay as the leading hero.
  Dean M Super Reviewer
• Jan 01, 2012

  Derivative mess that even Samuel Jackson can't lift up. If you're bored, go for it. Better yet, watch a Van Damme film instead.
  Steve K Super Reviewer

Arena Quotes

Movie & TV guides