TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Sexylocher Masterful Movie

Helllins It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Clarissa Mora The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

G Thomas Boston In 1960, Stanley Kubrick released his colossal, towering, gargantuan, monumental, epic blockbuster SPARTACUS!!!! Okay, it isn't that spectacular, but it is a pretty dang good flick.Spartacus stars Kirk Douglas as an impudent Thracian slave. Thracians, as depicted in the film, were a race of people known for a particular physical characteristic - they had chin dimples the size of walnuts.Because Spartacus is such an uppity wisenheimer, he is sentenced to a life as a gladiator. Not that it's all bad. He gets to work out a lot and is "whipped" into incredible physical shape. Also, he receives occasional visits from another slave who also happens to be a tasty dish named Varinia (played as a genteel aristocrat by Jean Simmons).Douglas does a fine job as the brooding gladiator. Other standouts include Charles Laughton as Gracchus; not to be confused with Crassus, a gourmet who likes both escargot and shellfish, played by Laurence Olivier. Peter Ustinov provides some Oscar-winning semi- comic relief as the sniveling sycophant Batiatus.Another major character in the film is Antoninus, played by Tony Curtis. Tony (which is short for Antoninus) is a "singer" of "songs". His "songs" are just poems spoken in a Bronx accent.During the course of the movie, Spartacus escapes from gladiator school and assembles a considerable army of fellow undergraduates. Spartacus is well-loved by his men, and this is illustrated in one particularly moving scene.When the Romans capture Spartacus and his men, Crassus threatens to kill them all unless someone betrays their leader (who Crassus believes is a communist). Spartacus - in a heroic effort to spare his men - stands up to reveal himself, but Antoninus beats him to the punch. He jumps to his sandaled feet and yells out, "I'm Spartacus." This sets off a chain reaction. Another guy stands up and shouts, "I'm Spartacus." And another, "I'm Spartacus." Another, "I'm Spartacus." And so on.The Romans were very frustrated by this, because now instead of one pesky Spartacus, they found that they had to deal with a whole slew of Spartaci.Legend has it that this event spawned an entire generation of scofflaws. Whenever a centurion confronted a non-Roman for some infraction - say a speeding chariot - the inevitable happened: "Name?" "Spartacus." "All right wise guy. Thirty days in the dungeon."Anyway, this is a very good film that I highly recommend. And, if I may, I'd like to close out this "review" with one of Antoninus' "songs":"When the blazing wind hangs low in the western sky when the sun flies away to the mountain when the "song" of the crow scares the locusts from the fields and maidens sleep in the sea foam at last at twilight time..."Or something like that.

LeonLouisRicci A Film Directed by a young Stanley Kubrick that is Unlike the Kubrick We Know and Love. He Surrenders (ouch) to the Conventions of the Time and seems to be more than Competent but Artistically Anemic.But Fulfilling His Contract Obligations Professionally He Delivered a Mammoth Movie that is Compelling and Timeless. That of Humans wanting to be "Free" from Bondage, Servitude, and Inhuman Evil Entrenched in Unenlightened Power and Corruption.The Movie is Corny and a Product of its Era, but is One of the more Intellectual "Epics" and Tries Mightily to be Progressive. It mostly Succeeds and when Viewed Today is full of Fun and Despite its Length is, along with Demille's "The Ten Commandments" (1956), a Glorious Entertainment, if Confined by a Hollywood System of Conventional Conservatism, Blacklists, and DemagogueryThe Cast is Stellar, the Cinematography Beautiful, and the Aching Caste System is its central Theme. Emotional to Extremes, it can't help but be, the Film has its Clunks and some Miscasting, but Never Fails to be Compelling, even as it Demonstrates its Obvious and Manipulative way it is Smarmy in the Love Scenes and Heavy Handed with its Staged Shots of the "Family Bonding" that Depicts Campfire Coziness among the newly Freed People.It was Defiant for its Time with an Unusual and Audacious, against the grain Rebellion from the Studio System. Kirk Douglas was Not to be Denied and this "Labor of Love" Movie Manages to Deliver its Message as much Pomp and Circumstance to be Audience Friendly and as much Anti-Establishment that was Allowed at the Time for a Film of this Magnitude.

gab-14712 It is really interesting to see why this film, Spartacus was made in the first place. Obviously, historical epics were massively successful during this time period. But this particular film was made as an answer to 1959's Ben-Hur. In fact, it was Kirk Douglas's answer to that movie. Douglas was originally set to star in that movie, but Charlton Heston was cast over Douglas at the last minute, giving Douglas a feeling of bitter resentment. Both films have a very common theme: one man rising against the mighty Roman Empire to fight for their beliefs. I think Ben-Hur is the better film, but there is much to admire about this film.The movie, based off the popular novel by Howard Fast, was written by Dalton Trumbo. Trumbo is a well-known screenwriter, not only for his writing talent but because he was blacklisted because of his associated ties with communism. Kirk Douglas and director Stanley Kubrick stood strong behind their screenwriter and they publicly announced Trumbo wrote their movie, instead of Trumbo hiding behind a pseudonym. I found that to be a very courageous move on the part of Douglas and Kubrick, because that could have easily hurt the movie's chance at the box office. Luckily, the film was a box office smash and was very popular with the critics and the audience alike.This film has a Roman slave named Spartacus (Kirk Douglas) as the film's central character. Spartacus is held at a gladiatorial school ran by the amusing Lentulus Batiatus (Peter Ustinov). One day, he starts a revolt because he became angered at the notion of fighting to the death for the entertainment of spoiled women. This revolt soon spread all across Italy, where thousands of slaves joined the cause. Their plan was for Silesian pirates to transport them away from Italy to new lands. Meanwhile in Rome, Senator Gracchus (Charles Laughton) schemes to have the slaves taken down by a Roman garrison. After they failed, his mentor Marcus Licinius Crassus (Laurence Olivier) decides to lead his own army against Spartacus's slaves. Now Spartacus must face the might and power of the Roman army.Now compared to other epics of the time, I didn't like this film as much. It's certainly not a bad film, not even close to being so. The problem is the movie is a tad overlong and the story drags at certain moments. Some of the dialogue was cheesy too. By today's standards, the dialogue does not hold up very well and some of the words are laughingly bad. These complaints dragged the movie down, but only to a very small degree.There are many things I did admire about the film. There are plenty of majestic battle sequences and I liked them very much. I loved watching how the revolt started and I was cheering for Spartacus the entire time. I liked the political backdrop of the movie. Obviously, Spartacus uprising has a major political undertone which is revolution, a very appropriate theme. We also get to go behind the scenes and see how Roman politics influenced the war. It's a common fact that Roman senators always schemed against each other. The film also did something different, when compared to other epics. These other epics usually provide the normal happy ending. Well, that is not much the case with this film. If you follow history, you'll know the fate of Spartacus. But I'm not going to spoil anything for those who don't know. But the ending was very powerful and memorable. Speaking of powerful, my favorite scene was when a Roman general asked Spartacus's army where Spartacus was. Each soldier stood up and said, "I'm Spartacus." A very powerful scene showing the loyalty the slaves had for Spartacus and his cause.This film was the first big film of Stanley Kubrick's career. He was 30 when he directed the film, but he already had 4 feature films under his belt before this film. He masterfully directed the film, but it is publicly known that he disowned the film. It's his most straightforward film, and it was nominated for 6 Oscars (and won 4 of them). But Kubrick didn't like the film he made. He is one of my favorite directors, and you'll see more reviews of his films down the line.The film features fine performances from everyone involved. One of Kubrick's strengths is getting the very best out of his actors. Kirk Douglas portrayed Spartacus as a strong man driven by perseverance. Peter Ustinov, who won Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars for his role as Batiatus, does a wonderful job. He is consistently funny and he has a great screen presence whenever on screen. Laurence Olivier delivers a deep performance as Crassus, who is identified as bisexual in the movie. Jean Simmons does a good job as Varinia, the wife of Spartacus. She delivered some emotional performances. Just watch the ending of the movie to see why I say so. Also, keep an eye on a meaty supporting turn by Tony Curtis as Antoninus, the man who loves Spartacus like a brother. Finally, Charles Laughton is great as the soft-hearted scheming Roman Senator, Gracchus.Overall, I liked Spartacus, but I didn't really love it much. It runs into some boring stretches and parts of the movie such as the dialogue and costumes don't hold up well. But I liked how the film strived to be more historically accurate than previous epics. This is a nice film to learn something about Ancient Rome. The film does feature wonderful, bold performances, great direction, good production design, and spectacular battles. Not the greatest epics ever made, but good enough.My Grade: B

g-bodyl Spartacus is a historical epic that follows amongst the footsteps of prior historical epics such as Ben-Hur and the Ten Commandments. I have to admit this film is not nearly as great as those, but I am certainly not bashing this film. The fact is, the film is a tad overlong and the dialogue does not hold up well by today's standards. I can appreciate the fine performances, especially Ustinov's Oscar-winning performance, as well as the steady direction of a legend, Stanley Kubrick. The film has some great action sequences and as a history student, I can appreciate the historical aspect of this film. I also like, unlike other films of its time, where we are not stuffed the obligatory happy ending. Thus, that makes me appreciate this epic even more.Kubrick's film talks about a slave uprising during the Roman era. Spartacus is a slave who does not take pleasure at the fact he is being used to fight at a gladiator school only to receive spoiled girls. He and the rest of the slaves revolt which causes other slaves in the countryside to do the same. Crassus, who is aiming to become a dictator, decides to meet Spartacus and his men in battle.I really enjoyed the performances in this film. I liked Kirk Douglas's strength and perseverance as Spartacus. I liked the comedic timing in Peter Ustinov's performance as the head of the gladiatorial school, Batiatus. Jean Simmons gives a mighty fine performance as Spartacu's lover, Varinia. Finally, I really liked Laurence Olivier's deep, intense performance as Crassus, who wants nothing except for political power.Overall, Spartacus is a fine, entertaining historical spectacle. It features some majestic battle sequences and many fine, if perhaps a little outdated performances. The screenplay was excellent, as it was written by none other than the black-listed screenwriter, Dalton Trumbo. Compared to today's quality, the film doesn't live up to it. But I had a fun time watching this historical epic. Not Kubrick's best, but that doesn't stop it from being a fun watch.My Grade: B+