Imagine my excitement when I popped in my new DVD of The Arena and pressed play on the remote. I was shocked to see the opening credits of the film in a beautiful scope presentation that looked better than I ever could have expected. Now, imagine my disappointment when the film kicked into a full frame pan and scan transfer, once the opening credits ended. Now I'm pissed before I even had the chance to enjoy the first frame, sigh.

The Arena is basically a spin on the classic Women in Prison formula Roger Corman knows so well. Substitute the prison with a Roman times setting, and the jail cells with an open air coliseum type arena where women slaves are forced to fight to the death, sounds like fun, huh? Well, the answer is sometimes yes and sometimes no. The Arena stars the always fascinating Pam Grier and Margaret Markou (both had joined forces previously on the much more enjoyable Black Mamma White Mamma) as slaves forced to fight in the aforementioned Arena. The women start out as just servants after they are kidnapped, but after a joke filled test match between two of the slaves, the women "gladiators" if you will become a popular attraction. It isn't long before they are expected to fight to the death, just the same as the men. A few matches and one revolt later, you have The Arena, it's not too complicated to say the least, but what did you expect, this isn't Russell Crowe in Gladiator, sheesh.

Despite the fact that The Arena is presented Pan and Scan, the print used appears to be in decent shape, and is quite acceptable. There are some instances of print damages, including scratches, speckles, and some scenes exhibit washed out colors. No doubt that a scope transfer would have helped out in the washed out color dept. With the opening and ending credits widescreen, there really is no excuse for the feature not to be. The mono sound is also acceptable, with minor distortion, and a slight hiss in the background, nothing to distracting for a title of this caliber.

The extras on the other hand, almost make-up for the lackluster presentation of the film itself. For starters, we get a trailer for The Arena, widescreen no less, ARRRGHHHH! I'm OK, really. We also get 6 trailers for other New Concorde DVD releases, including; Eat My Dust, Big Bad Mamma, Humanoids From the Deep, Knocking on Deaths Door, The Big Doll House, and Deathrace 2000. Standard Bios are also present and 2 very cool, if not very short interviews with Roger Corman, interviewed by Leonard Maltin, of all people. Now for my fears. I fear that these are the same extras on all of the other New Concorde Releases. Sigh, well it was fun the first time around.

I'm feeling a mixed bag of emotions over this DVD release. It's an enjoyable slice of exploitation sleaze, and the under $10.00 price tag is the right ticket. The extras are cool, and the presentation isn't bad, considering the price point. I just wish they hadn't tempted me with the opening and ending two minutes in widescreen, damn the man!