The Arena is a 1974 Sword and Sandal Exploitation Film starring Pam Grier and Margaret Markov, their second film together after Black Mama, White Mama.
A Celtic priestess named Bodicia (Markov) and an African dancer named Mamawi (Grier) are captured by Roman soldiers, enslaved, and sold to the owner of a coliseum in the Southern Italian region of Brindisi. Initially forced to work as servants and prostitutes amongst several other enslaved women, a racist comment by another one of the slave women, Livia, starts a brawl in the kitchen between all the women.
Timarchus, the owner of the coliseum who has been struggling to draw in new crowds, is convinced by his assistants that female Gladiator Games would be a hit after seeing the mess in the kitchen. The women are trained in combat and do prove to be hit, but the comradery of the women and the resentment of being slaves is going to cause problems for Timarchus.
Other residents of the coliseum include Deidre, the clownish slave girl, Septimus, the arena's best fighter, Lucinia, Septimus' lover, Priscium, Timarchus' effeminate servant, and Cornelia, the sycophantic head slave.
The Arena provides examples of the following tropes:
- 0% Approval Rating: Timarchus doesn't seem to be liked by anyone except Cornelia. But what really turns everyone against him is when the crowd finds out one of the gladiator women is a Roman citizen, that's probably why they continue to cheer when Timarchus is thrown into the arena and killed.
- Camp Gay: Priscium, who repeatedly says he has no interests in any of the slave girls, lisps, minces, and wears eye shadow.
- Expy: Bodicia and Mamawi are similar Grier and Markov's characters in Black Mama, White Mama. Bodicia is a revolutionary leader in the making and Mamawi is initially out for herself but grows into a hero role.
- Gladiator Revolt: The girls instigate a revolt by taking out the archers and freeing the male gladiators, then escaping amidst the chaos.
- Historical In-Joke: Timarchus says he is reluctant to get more gladiators because he doesn't want another Spartacus slave uprising. May also count as a Shout-Out to Spartacus.
- Knightly Sword and Shield: Bodicia's weapon of choice.
- Prongs of Poseidon: Mamawi's weapon of choice, accompanied by a net.
- Revenge Before Reason: Septimus does not take Lucinia's death, and goes after Timarchus instead of helping the rest of the women escape.