Spartacus
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Movie Reviews of Spartacus
Movie Review: A Great Underrated Spectacle
Summary: 5 Stars
This is another wonderful Hollywood spectacular that is visually stunning, predating the dreadful grossly exaggerated CGI effects in most genre movies today. All the thousands of extras are REAL! Not as appreciated in its initial release as it deserved to be, the film stands tall today among the best Hollywood epics. Kirk Douglas is remarkably reserved in this role that he could easily have gone over the top with phony heroics. I especially enjoyed Laurence Olivier's deliciously evil performance as Marcus Crassus, Spartacus' prime Roman antagonist. There's a great battle of scene stealers between Charles Laughton and Peter Ustinov. Ustinov got the oscar for best supporting player. Two other major assets are the fabulous film score by Alex North and Dalton Trumbo's screenplay which is both literate and entertaining without ever getting dull. Only Tony Curtis as "a singher of songhs" strikes a sour note. His Greek slave is straight out of Brooklyn. Although director Stanley Kubrick disavowed the film because of his differences with Exec. Producer Douglas, this film is among his greatest achievements. While The History Channel may take exception to some of the dramatic details (Spartacus had no "wife" of record and his demise differed from the movie) this is still NOT to be missed!Movie Review: Spartacus Brilliant effort by Douglas, Kubrick
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
Movie Review: A Classic
Summary: 5 Stars
The storyline, musical score, acting, and sets in this epic Roman saga are fantastic. The depiction of Roman society and values, the political intrigue of Rome itself, and the way they viewed slavery all combine to make this movie extremely insightfull. That being said, however... their were aspects of the film that seemed less than perfect: mainly the action sequences. Speaking as your average undiscerning movie viewer, the battles seemed bland and uninspired, at least from a modern standpoint. (Although i do realize that for the time they were considered state of the art.) So if what you are looking for is an action packed blockbuster with breathtaking special effects and digitally created wonders, watch Gladiator. If you are willing to accept the dearth of good battles normally associated with epics of this kind in exchange for its other more subtle aspects then I would highly recommend this movie.
Although as a teenage male, i certainly would have enjoyed a few rousing fight scenes, i think that the plot and acting more than make up for the lack. Thus i still gave it five stars. How you would like it, though, depends on how heavily you weigh action versus plot and characters.
Movie Review: A Real Classic
Summary: 5 Stars
I can't believe that out of the many times this has been on TV I had to rent it to watch it all the way through. This movie is a real classic.
I loved watching every minute of it. I can't really say much bad about this film. It is slow, but the film was made in 1960 and that can't be counted against it when put up to modern films like Gladiator(which in 40 years will probably be slow for that audience.) Sometimes the acting can be a bit over the top, but it doesn't happen enough for that to be counted.
This movie is fun and interesting from start to finish. You're sucked into the movie from the very beginning. The people chosen to work on this film put their hearts into it and it does pay off. I laughed whenever Batiatus(Ustinov) was on screen. He does an amazing job. Douglas does a very good job playing the title character Spartacus. The whole acting cast is top notch.
Not only are they good, but the sets are beautiful and the detail is there too. The music is perfect for this film.
This is a must see movie. You're in for a treat.
Movie Review: Great Transfer to DVD JOB
Summary: 5 Stars
Just finishing watching this DVD after having watched the First Season of Starz "Spartacus: Blood and Sand". Was feeling quite nostalgic, and as my girlfriend had never seen this old epic, as I had several times back when, and I decided to pick it up for a watch once again. It might seem quite tame by todays standards, but we found it quite enjoyable, and feel they did an awesome job in the transfer to DVD. As noted, it is fully restored and presented uncut. Only downside I could find (nit-pickin actually, lol), was the lack of a scene selection menu. So either you watch it through one sitting, or if you want to go back and find a particular scene in the movie, you have to use the fast-forward, or skip button to locate it. I won't bother reviewing the movie, or comment on it, as others have already done that here. I just found it a pleasure to watch the "original" as I remembered it, and would definitely recommend picking up this DVD if you are curious, or nostalgic to see Stanley Kubrick's Academy Awards (4) winning tale. Make some popcorn and Enjoy!