Bullet Points: Steel Arena
I have always thought being a daredevil was one of the coolest things you could do for a living. From the like of Evel Knievel to Super Dave to Spanky Spangler, I will watch them all. I thought I had seen most movies about daredevils until I came across the 1973 movie Steel Arena starring real life daredevils as themselves. Is Steel Arena a success or does it crash and burn?
- Dust and Bones – Steel Arena stars Dusty Russell in the role he was born to play… Dusty Russell. Ignoring the fact that Dusty Russell wasn’t his real name, but his daredevil stage name. We first meet Dusty hitchhiking into a town and his first stop is the local watering hole. The opening action of Steel Arena hinges on Dusty not being able to pay his bar tab of a grand total of $1. It would have only been 50¢ but he lost a double or nothing wager on a dice role. I know it was the 70s but a shot of Kentucky bourbon was only 50¢ and our boy Dusty was indigent. It does force Dusty to take a job driving for the bootlegging bar owner so let the vehicle mayhem commence.
- Demo Derby – So bootlegging and whiskey running sounds like a great movie, but the opening car chase was just to introduce us to Dusty, his good buddy… Buddy Love, and his main squeeze Jo-Ann. Buddy has the entrance fee to a demolition derby (although they choose to call it a destruction derby and I am not having it) and now Dusty has a car thanks to his bootlegging. The whole opening was a cockamamie way to introduce the audience to the world of daredevils but Steel Arena got to it in the end. I hope you like daredevils as much as I do because that is the rest of the movie.
- Hell Drivers – After being victorious in the demolition derby, Dusty and Buddy are asked to join the traveling daredevil show, all played by the real life world famous Hell Drivers. These gentlemen are true daredevils and certainly not professional actors and it gives Steel Arena some realism. We get to see tons of stunts. I hope you like cars jumping into the air into other cars. Guys sitting on hoods of cars going straight into walls. A man sliding on his ass through a ring of fire. Or my favorite, the at least 60 year old Mr. Atom blowing himself up in a box surrounded by dynamite. It is all awesome and I don’t mind that we see the same stunts multiple times.
- Plot? – What I have described is the plot of Steel Arena, pretty much straight car stunts. Ok, there is a little drama with one of the daredevils getting jealous at the success of the newcomer Dusty. Jealousy that he takes a little too far. Buddy is also sick of the daredevil life because he is stuck sliding on his ass, can’t say that I blame him. And poor Jo-Ann has nothing to do, so she finally gets sick of the daredevil lifestyle. Dusty is living the high life, even setting a record for longest jump.
Steel Arena is all about daredevils and car crashes and the plot is almost non-existent. We get a little bit of drama and some no good bikers get what is coming to them and we see the finality that can come with being a daredevil, but in the end, nothing happens. In a classic 70s movie fashion, Steel Arena just kind of ends with little resolution and I couldn’t tell you if it is a happy ending or not. I can tell you that the Steel Arena Bullet Points will have a happy ending with the Steel Arena Bonus Bullet Points.
- Debutant – Steel Arena was the first film directed by Mark L. Lester, probably more famous for directing a little action movie known as Commando, but don’t sleep on Class of 1984, Class of 1999, Showdown in Little Tokyo, or Extreme Justice.
- If You Ever… – Wanted to see Dusty Russell feed beer to a horse, then Steel Arena is for you.
- Tight Five – Dusty and Buddy have a quality set on mosquitos that is pure cold and adds a little levity to the proceedings.
