Spartacus

Is it Kubrick's finest film? Well, frankly no it isn't. It's an interesting mishmash between Kubrick's detached, ironic style and Hollywood glitz. Spartacus is Kubrick for people who don't care for Kubrick's detached style. It doesn't measure up to Lolita, Dr. Strangelove, 2001 or A Clockwork Orange although it does compare favorable to the much darker Paths of Glory.

Kubrick stated that his intend at the time was to subvert the cliches of the genre. As a result, Kubrick manages to reinvent a genre that was in danger of becoming a parody of itself. As a collaborative effort, Spartacus is a great piece of entertainment and far more sophisticated than almost everything else that came out of Hollywood at the time.

The transfer is beautiful with much of Kubrick's bold use of color restored. The strong acting of most of the cast has always been a virtue of Sparatcus. The soundtrack has been meticulously transferred to 5.1 and Alex North's beatiful score has never sounded so sweet, tragic and powerful before. The audio commentary is the same one that was on the laserdisc version. It provides additional understanding about the complexity of making an independently produced project like Spartacus. Kirk Douglas' bold decision to produce the film himself (with Universal-International distributing)was a leap of faith in both the material and the talented director.

The second disc is stuffed with supplements that are found nowhere else.There's two older interviews with Peter Ustinov, Jean Simmons plus one that Ustinov did in 1992 for the laserdisc edition. It's delightful and he shares a number of funny stories about the picture. There's also a text overview of Kubrick's career and his involvement with the picture. Included also are sketches Kubrick made for the motion picture (artistically they're nothing special but they do provide insight into Kubrick's role in the visualization of the film). Included are some vintage newsreels and a promotional film originally made but unfinished for Spartacus that gives us a glimpse behind the scenes. The promotional film is missing it's soundtrack (in fact, it might have been lost if not for the forsight of a private collector) and has much from North's score. We also get to glimpse at Saul Bass' wonderful title design sequence.

Criterion has been both praised and criticized for their DVDs and laserdiscs before. While they tend to be expensive, this is the complete package. Occasionally Criterion will release a package that isn't up to their usual standards. Spartacus isn't one of them. Robert Harris (Harris restored the film along with Vertigo)evidently was also involved in the transfer to DVD. If you want a spectacular transfer of the film, loads of extras about the making and background of the project from those involved, this is the set to pick up.


DONT BOTHER wait for the criterion DVD   September 6, 1999
45 out of 57 found this review helpful

Dont buy this version, wait for the the new special edition coming from the CRITERION COLLECTION. Commentary, improved picture, improved sound, etc.


A MOVIE OF EPIC PROPORTIONS...   September 30, 2001
Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle)
22 out of 26 found this review helpful

Spartacus is a wonderful, bigger than life film, about a slave who led a revolt against the Roman Empire. Directed by Stanley Kubrick in a most unKubrickesque way, it is an epic about a struggle for freedom against great odds. It is a film that explores many themes, such as, love, power, freedom, hate, sexuality, political intrigue, loyalty, and friendship.

This is, first and foremost, the story of Spartacus, a slave and the son of a slave, a man who never knew freedom, until one day he was mad as hell and not going to take it any more. Kirk Douglas stars in the title role and plays Spartacus with manly fortitude, yet, at the same, with great tenderness, as demonstrated in his dealings with his friends and his wife, cooly played by the beautiful Jean Simmons.

It is also the story of the Roman Empire and the backroom political intrigues that would pit two wily roman senators against each other, the Patrician, played with malevolent exquisiteness by Laurence Olivier, and the Senatorial Proponent for the Roman Mob, played with droll slyness by Charles Laughton. These two manipulate those with whom they come in contact, as if they were chess grand masters.

Spartacus is toiling as a slave when, struck once too often, he fights back. Sentenced to die for his actions, a slave trader comes along who buys him, with the thought of turning him into a gladiator, as he is a fine, physical specimen. The slave trader, unctiously and obsequiously played by Peter Ustinov, who does a star turn with an often funny and drolly turned phrase and gives a wonderful performance, places Spartacus in his gladiator school, where he is trained to fight. There, he meets the woman of his dreams and future wife.

As the fates would have it, the Patrician Senator arrives at the gladiator school with an entourage, and for their pleasure it has been arranged that two pairs of gladiators would fight to the death. This is the beginning of the end for Spartacus, as the seeds would begin to be sown for the man he would one day become. Treated like an animal, he finds succor in his tender love for the woman who would soon be his wife.

Taunted once too often by his gladiator trainer, Spartacus leads a slave revolt for freedom, sweeping the countryside and gathering thousands under his banner. Meanwhile in Rome, the Senate is in a quandary, as the two rival Senators jockey for positions. Initially, Charles Laughton seems to have the edge, but as Spartacus seemingly succeeds in the field, Laurence Olivier himself takes command of the situation and trumps Laughton.

What happens, as the story unfolds, will keep the vewer riveted to the screen. The entire cast is magnificent and the ending is stunning and moving. They don't make them like they used to.


Spartacus Brilliant effort by Douglas, Kubrick   March 17, 2000
Gregory M. Smith (Fort Worth, Texas)
21 out of 26 found this review helpful

A vivid and well-acted display that is only enhanced by DVD. A controversial film in its day (it was written by blacklisted writers), it survives today as a classic and one of the best films of both Kirk Douglas and Stanley Kubrick.

Based on the true story of a slave rebellion that rocked the foundations of Rome itself, the picture follows the life of slave Spartacus (Douglas) from the rock quarries where he continuously attacks guards to the gladiator arenas to a final battle against a superior Roman army. The supporting cast includes Peter Ustinov (Best Supporting Actor), Anthony Hopkins, Tony Curtis, Jean Simmons, Laurence Olivier and Woody Strode, who provides the films pivotal scene. Strode, as Ethiopian slave Draba, battles Spartacus in the arena, but refuses to kill him, instead choosing to attack the Romans. His sacrifice prompts Spartacus to lead the slaves in rebellion. The fight scene had to be rehearsed for six weeks by Strode and Kubrick. All the hits and bruises are real. Even the scene where Strode cuts Douglas with the tip of his trident is real, requiring Strode to get it just right without opening Douglas up from kidney to kidney.

All in all, a great movie spectacle. Enjoyable on VHS, it is much better on DVD.


GREAT FILM BUT HISTORICAL RUBBISH   February 17, 2003
17 out of 18 found this review helpful

I would recommend "Spartacus" as excellent entertainment from the time when Hollywood could still produce epic films, and this one of course was directed by none other than Stanley Kubrick. However, the script is filled with historical innacuracies and is heavily influenced by the political leanings of author Howard Fast and screen writer Dalton Trumbo, who project 20th century ideologies onto people utterly different from ourselves.

Spartacus was a Roman, or at least an Italian, soldier who was probably enslaved for disciplinary problems and sold to a gladiatorial school. The term "Thracian" comes not from his geograpic origins, but from his fighting style in the arena; gladiators who fought with a short sword and small round shield were called "Thracians." No one but a Roman or Italian could have organized a force capable of defeating a legion, and one had to grow up in the right environment to imbibe the necessary ideas. Barely 50 years earlier, 20,000 Roman soldiers led by Gaius Marius had destroyed a Germanic army of over 200,000. If you weren't born in Italy, you wouldn't have had the chance to learn the necessary military science.

The film's opening narration refers to "The pagan tyranny that was Rome." Of course, everyone at that time (except the Hebrews) was "pagan," so no one would have resented the Romans for that fact. Also, compared to other governments of the day, Rome was a model of enlighenment. At least the Romans gave something in return for taxes (roads, aqueducts, etc.), whereas other rulers merely plundered their subjects to finance extravagant lifestyles and foreign adventures. If the Roams could be cruel, that was a trait shared by all their contemporaries.

One review refered to "decadence" and the "Empire." Rome was still a republic at this time, and far from being decadent, was about to create the world's first supranational state, which would last for almost four centuries (12 if one includes the Byzantine Empire). Had they been truly decadent, the Romans would have been incapable of such a feat.

On a lighter note, during a break in filming Kirk Douglas had arranged a trip to Palm Springs. He was persuaded to take a limousine as befitting his "star" status. He left the studio still in costume, and while driving through the desert fell asleep under a blanket until the driver stopped for gas. Kirk got out of the limo to stretch his legs, and the driver, thinking his passenger was still asleep, took off and left him behind. Kirk finished the trip by hitchiking wearing his tunic and sandals!

Watch this film for its' entertainment value and maybe a morality sermon on the values of courage and perseverance, but beware the political overtones. Oppression and sexual freedom are concepts unique to our time; the peoples of the ancient Meditarranean saw their world in terms defined quite differently from ours.