Polygon.com / 26.07.25

Star Wars and Rocky had a baby, and it's a hidden gem you can stream for free

I am a devout follower of Shudder, the streaming service for all things spooky. But as a science-fiction dork, I am often found crying out for an SF/F companion to the horror streaming service. In the streaming era, whats replaced Sci-Fi Channel circa 1999? The closest answer I have found is Tubi, the ad-supported watch-for-free streaming service that, in an effort to compete with the majors, has accumulated a vast library of VHS-ready titles worthy of a mom-and-pop video store. This is where I watched Arena, a 1989 sci-fi movie I had never heard of that I will be recommending to my cult-film-fanatic friends for at least the next year. Produced in the late 1980s, but only dumped in the U.S. as a straight-to-video release in 1991, Arena stars Paul Satterfield as Steve Armstrong, a space-station-employee short-order cook who whips up the wrong order on and winds up on the wrong bruisers bad side. After surviving a brawl in the kitchen, Steve catches the eye of a boxing promoter who bel...
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