Crash-Sploitation? Check Out This Clip From The 1973 Cult Classic ‘Steel Arena’


Crash-Sploitation? Check Out This Clip From The 1973 Cult Classic ‘Steel Arena’

Prior to this moment we had never heard of the 1973 cult classic movie Steel Arena which appears to be centered around the high stakes and glamorous world of demolition derby action. Ok, the stakes may be low and the glamour may be lower than that but one thing that makes this interesting is that our hero has entered the derby not with a 1950s sedan like everyone else but rather with an old late 1930s business coupe.

There are some legitimately cool shots and some big hits in this one. The moment where one car climbs another and the drive wheel is basically through the windshield of the second machine is pretty interesting and the sheer amount of damage that these things stand up to is incredible as well. One car has nearly all of the front sheetmetal ripped off and it is still battling!

Lastly shooting this scene must have been interesting. We have no idea how many times they had to start and stop to get what they wanted. Being that it is hard to stage the hits and make them look real it seems like they recorded the majority of the action how it actually happened and then tweaked the ending to make their story work.

We know it can be painful seeing some of this old iron get hammered but hey, all in the name of filmmaking right?

Watch the big action scene from the 1973 movie Steel Arena –


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One thought on “Crash-Sploitation? Check Out This Clip From The 1973 Cult Classic ‘Steel Arena’

  1. 69rrboy

    My cousin used to run a 56 Chebby 2 door post car on a 1/4 mile dirt oval in the mid-70s. The straightaways seemed like they were about 50 feet long. They were running small blocks with 6:17 gears so they were only on the gas for about a 2 count on each straight. The RPMs were amazing.

    Seemed like every car on the track was a 55-57 Chebby back then. i don’t remember seeing a single Mopar EVER but I’m sure there were probably some Fords I didn’t notice.

    Sometimes he’d get body parts out of a junkyard that were like brand new. Then he’d turn them into garbage within seconds of the green flag. I bet they wish they had all those cars and parts back.

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