Scanialara
You won't be disappointed!
ChanBot
i must have seen a different film!!
Grimossfer
Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%
eabdss
For younger people, not that young any more, used to Micheael Douglas' career, it is interesting to see his dad in action. Protagonist with traces more like Daniel Craig or Russel Crowe in our days. This epic shows Hollywood effort before technological resources of special effects. We can notice in scenarios, artificial or natural, and in extras use, the effort of creation of remarkable landscapes. With perceptive and pragmatic script, the movie chooses posterity instead of clichè. Its greatest merit is, in my opinion, reinforce that the conquest of freedom and relative peace of today were not natural, but result of profound clashes. Plus, it portraits the transition from democracy to authoritarianism of Rome.
Daniel Ross
Kubrick's films are sleepers. Not that Spartacus didn't make money on it's initial release in 1960. It was successful, both critically and commercially, but I had little interest in the film when I first saw it on TV when I was young. Much like 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining and Full Metal Jacket, Kubrick's films, for whatever reason, took a while to grow on me, and I'm not alone in this. Spielberg, Scorsese and other film making legends agree. But my local cinema had a season of Kubrick, playing 2001 and Spartacus. For the first time I saw them on the big screen, with the strident, thundering score, the amazing battle scenes and incredible cinematography, and I now love this film. 2001 as well. Kirk Douglas is great as the title character. Peter Ustinov's performance was fantastic, his Oscar win was well deserved. The most well known scenes are of course, the "I am Spartacus!" scene and the gladiator fight. But there's so much more to this film. Is it Kubrick's best? No. Kubrick disliked the film, and later disowned it, citing studio interference and what he considered to be a dumb script as the reasons why. I don't disagree, it is a flawed film, but still thoroughly enjoyable.Is it his most personal? No, but it is better than Ben- Hur and a lot of films from that era, and it's aged a lot better than other sword and sandals epics from the 50s and 60s. And the reoccurring themes in his films where man is made into a killing machine would reappear in Full Metal Jacket. Kubrick's films are in my opinion, some of the greatest ever made, they just take a while to creep under the skin.
LauraLeeWasHere
I've watched this movie several times throughout my life but it was only extremely recently that I came to appreciate it for the triumph that it truly is. What is the difference? SUFFERING. Forget about the fact that as a smaller child I probably didn't comprehend the entire plot and what was happening, but it's when you start to understand what it means to truly suffer and what it takes to rise above it can you appreciate this film for all that it is. An entire lifetime of living in the "pit" of slavery is WAY beyond MY ability to understand. But I've watched several of my closest family members die in the past 3 years. Learned what it meant to not have a home or a friend. And to have sickness take away control over my own body. These elements are all found in this movie. They are all the true attributes of being a slave. Slavery: You own nothing; Not even yourself. Nobody to call your own. No home. Unable to even have a friend. As Spartacus says, "Death is the only freedom a slave knows". yet he ends that sentence with, " ... But that's why we'll win." Because a slave has no fear of death. And with that one spark of hope, the hope that there is something "better" than the life he's living. And that HOPE jumps to a flame when one life is given as a sacrifice. It's not actually Spartacus that starts the revolt. It's Draba! It's his life that is the catalyst for sudden and massive change. Back in the days when Rome was in control of the world and it had a god for everything (probably even a sneeze), Spartacus says, "I imagine a god for slaves ... and I pray. I pray for a son who will be born free". His hope isn't even for himself. And in my own "pit", my Christian hope burst forth and I finally understood why Jesus had to come as a meek and humble servant. So that we would know that there IS a God for slaves, because each of us is a slave to something. When Spartacus is "wooing" Varinia it is the simple touch of their hands and the first person to show concern for her ("Did they hurt you?") that breaks down the walls to her heart and allows her to give it to Spartacus. Would she have loved him as deeply if he wasn't a slave too? And so I watch Spartacus and comprehend it. Not just because I understand how it fits into history, but how it fits into ME. A God for slaves. Yes. A God who understands my slavery and woos me so I am free to love Him back. Not because He has power over me but because he understands what it means to be a slave BEFORE He came into power. Truly an epic that transcends all that is in the human heart. At last I "get it". Watch it again and glean your own hope knowing that someday the darkness will end and hope will reign. That is what makes this story an epic. transcendence. And know that there is most definitely a God for slaves and so ... you are understood. Sincerely, Laura-Lee
GusF
Based on the 1951 novel by Howard Fast rather than the events of the Third Servile War directly, the film depicts Spartacus' slave rebellion with all the flair and grandeur that 1960s Hollywood could muster. Directed by Stanley Kubrick, it is a thrilling story of freedom, political machinations and love set in the ancient world. It is a very well written film with often marvellous dialogue.At 43, Kirk Douglas was perhaps a little old to play the title character but he is very good as the dignified, principled man who wishes to free every last slave in Italy. Like Charlton Heston, he has a face that looked as if it was chiseled from marble which gave him the perfect look for historical epics. More importantly, Douglas' performance effectively communicates Spartacus' intelligence and courage and I never doubted why so many would be willing to follow him anywhere. To his followers, he is a symbol of hope or even a Messiah but, for the audience, he is humanised through his relationship with Varinia, played by Jean Simmons. They meet in Batiatus' gladiator training school and soon fall in love. It is a gentle, tender love story and Douglas is at its best in these scenes. He and Simmons have great chemistry. One of the most gifted actresses of her generation, Simmons excels as the proud, brave and intelligent Varinia. As good as she is in her scenes with Douglas, her best moment is the scene towards the end of the film after she is recaptured and sold to Crassus, played by Laurence Olivier, in which he threatens to kill her newborn son if she does not submit to him. Varinia realises that he is afraid of Spartacus and disturbed by the fact that he inspired so much love and devotion, not least of all from her. Simmons, who previously played the Ophelia to Olivier's Hamlet, plays this scene wonderfully and we get a real sense of Varinia's strength.Speaking of Olivier, he is characteristically excellent as Crassus, one of Rome's greatest generals and one of the wealthiest men to have ever lived. A patrician from a very old Roman family who despises the mob, he is an extremely shrewd military and political strategist who manipulates the threat posed by Spartacus to substantially increase his own political standing. He is eventually named Consul of Rome with Julius Caesar as his protégé, thereby beginning the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. On the battlefield, he manages to defeat Spartacus by forcing him to march on Rome where not only his own legions but those of Pompey and Lucullus are waiting for him. Crassus is a very dangerous man of fierce intelligence, which makes him a very compelling character. In his penultimate film before his death in 1962, the great Charles Laughton is wonderful as Gracchus, the (fictional) leader of the Senate and Crassus' hated rival. Gracchus is an interesting character who is even more shrewd than Crassus. He does not believe in the gods but worships them publicly and is perfectly willing to make deals with criminals, namely the Cilician pirates, if he believes that doing so is in the interests of Rome. He is part of the corruption that plagues the Roman Republic but considers that better than a dictatorship and I certainly can't disagree with him there. Gracchus is not a particularly good man but he is a far better one than his rival.As strong as the film's cast may be, it is the one and only Peter Ustinov who steals the show as the slave trader Batiatus. He won the first of two Best Supporting Actor Oscars for the role, the only actor to win an Oscar for a Kubrick film. Batiatus is scornful of Crassus in private but extremely obsequious to him whenever they meet. He has a very strong sense of self-preservation or, to put it another way, he is a complete coward. This is best demonstrated when Crassus orders him to remain in camp the night before the final battle with Spartacus so he can identify him. When Batiatus asks what will happen to him if Spartacus wins, Crassus tells Batiatus that he has no doubt that he will help Spartacus to identify him. This is one of Batiatus' best scenes as it perfectly illustrates that his first loyalty is most definitely to himself. He possibly becomes a better man after being flogged on Crassus' order but he never comes to regret his earlier actions and only agrees to transport Varinia and her son out of Rome in exchange for two million sestertii. Tony Curtis is good as Antoninus and I love the father-son relationship that develops between him and Spartacus but he is underdeveloped, making him the least interesting of the major characters. With his tough guy image, Curtis may have been miscast as a singer and poet with no practical experience of fighting before joining Spartacus' army. The only weak links are Charles McGraw as Marcellus and John Dall as Marcus Glabrus but neither of them have particularly big roles.Overall, this is an extremely intelligent film. Spartacus is crucified, meaning that it lacks a traditional Hollywood ending but there is still a great sense of hope as his son has been granted his freedom. My main historical area of interest is about 2,000 years after Spartacus' death but I think that the film sticks to the general thrust of events while admittedly taking quite a few liberties here and there. However, these are only minor issues which in no way detract from a brilliant film, one of the best of the historical epics which dominated 1950s and 1960s Hollywood.
