Thanks again to my friend Hoss for finding this one - early Mark Lester is not easy at all to track down!

Lester was able to get a bunch of stunt drivers - Dusty Russell, Buddy Love, Gene Drew, Dutch Schnitzer, Speed Stearns, Ed Ryan, Big Tim Welch and Dan Carter - and instead of making just a clip collection of stunts, he created a narrative around all the car damage.

Lester told The Pink Smoke, "I was at the Sacramento River on vacation, just river rafting. I ran into a group of guys there who looked like Hell's Angels. And I said 'What do you do?' They said "We're the Circus of Death." They traveled the circuit putting on shows. So I went to some of those and just thought, "Wow." Originally I wanted to make it as a documentary, then I realized "I know all the real people, I'll just write a narrative around it.""

He also called this movie a post-Vietnam parable, with gladiators in cars. Kind of like Knightriders, except eight years earlier and no one holds Lester in the same esteem as George Romero. Well, you know. Except me.

I really dug the rambling nature of this film, as well as the open ending. If you can find it, take the time to enjoy it.

With a cast of real professional daredevils and enough damaging demolition, STEEL ARENA is an amusingly fun time with a simple plot. The focus is on true-life daredevil Dusty Russell, who risks his life and limb by attempting record-breaking divebombs in his career. And he successfully does them, too! Amazing! There's some exciting (although brief) stunts like the infamous "T-bone" and rollover crashes and the fire ring. Watch Dusty attempt to jump 100 feet into the air! Don't expect this to be a documentary, though. At least the daredevils can act alright. I had no idea whether Dusty survived the film's last stunt or not, for the end is quite solemn. There hasn't been a film like it, with the possible exception of EVEL KNIEVEL. It may have been aged, but it's definitely worth seeing wherever you can find it.

Steel Arena is truly a one of a kind film. It is the only film I can recall seeing where all of the actors do their own stunts and these are truly death-defying stunts! Dusty Russell, Buddy Love, they're all great! The film is about Dusty a great stunt driver taking a job with the Circus of Death along with his friend Buddy Love. Crash (another stunt performer) gets jealous and tries to undermine Dusty in his stunts. The movie has an open-end where Dusty tries to break a world record by diving 100 feet in his car! You should try to rent it if you want to find out what happens. This movie is a masterpiece.