SpuffyWeb
Sadly Over-hyped
Alistair Olson
After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.
Payno
I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
Boba_Fett1138
Well, honestly did you expected this made for TV-version to be better than the Stanley Kubrick 1960 movie starring Kirk Douglas? Fact is that for a TV-movie this one is about as good as they can get! It's a well made one that is also good looking. What a nice surprise this movie was!I understand it needed to be sellable as a two part or more TV-movie, but that doesn't take away the fact that some of the sequences remain overlong. It also takes a whole for the movie to really start off. I understand the movie wanted to show a lot of gladiator moments, of course especially considering the success of "Gladiator", but nevertheless it takes longer then really necessary. Also toward the end the movie tends to be overlong in parts.It's a well directed movie, that creates a nice balance between the action of the movie and the more personal dramatic and political aspects. Even though the movie is overlong at times, the movie still at all times remains a well paced one. Director Robert Dornhelm has lots of experience directing made for TV-movies and he has some good vision and obviously knows what he is doing. I'm interested at what he can do with more resources and a bigger budget.The movie is definitely good looking and by no means cheap or clumsy, as you most likely would expect from a made for TV-movie about the story of Spartacus. OK the special effects to recreate large Roman cities obviously aren't the greatest but for instance it's no worse than in a "Rome"-episode. The movie has some surprisingly large and good looking battle sequences. Also the entire choreography of the sword-fighting is done in a great way. The movie also isn't afraid to show blood and violence, something TV-movies are normally reluctant to show.Goran Visnjic was a surprising good choice for the main lead. He at first hand doesn't seem like the most logical or best choice but he handles the lead really well and is believable in the action sequences as well. The entire cast is filled with mostly TV-actors, but this by no means mean that the acting in this movie is below par. On the contrary really.7/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/
ballinlife1025
The movie Spartacus is a great movie about love and struggles. Why struggles you may ask? Because in this film, Sparticus is taken in as a slave along with hundreds of other men (called gladiators) and women who have to fight to the death, just for entertainment of the people in the city. And while in captivity he finds a women who he comes to love and eventually marries. Later in the movie, one day the enslaved men come together one day after getting tired of training day in and day out and fight against the guards, killing them all, and fighting any army that gets in their way, because they want to earn their freedom. The message gets all over the country, and all the enslaved people fight their owners to join Spartacus' army. But in the end the gladiators army begins to fall apart, and that is when their efforts to fight for freedom falls too. Although they finally get their freedom but only a few lived on not including Spartacus's, but his wife and child survived.
bandalho-1
It's as simple as this: Why try to do a remake of an incomparable masterpiece as Kubrick's Spartacus, even if you're gonna add new twists to the story? And if you do try, where are you gonna find actors like Olivier, Ustinov, Douglas and Laughton again? This new movie just doesn't work. That Goran guy who plays Spartacus is a horrid actor; the guy who played Crassus is not as bad as Goran, but it's plain sad to see him reprise the role made famous by King Olivier. Rhona Mitra is sexy and gorgeous, which is fine for me, but it's pathetic to imagine that sex goddess as a poor roman slave.The only good (and sad) thing in this film is the presence of the wonderful Alan Bates. In his last movie role, Bates kept his inner glow, his charm and those beautiful blue eyes.That's it. Go watch Kubrick's version and forget about this dumb TV version.
LBytes
There's some confusion about this Spartacus miniseries and the 1960 epic movie Spartacus. The stories are very similar because they both use the Howard Fast novel as a basis. The Kirk Douglas movie had another mission though as it was one of a group of movies made to regain the public's interest in the cinema with lavish spectacle. The scale of its production is much higher than the miniseries. What the miniseries has going for it is more historical accuracy; the gladiator/rebel army marched up Italy, got to the Alps and changed its mind (very puzzling), marched down to Italy's toe hoping to escape by boat but was foiled and was trapped for a time. They broke out only to quarrel amongst themselves and break up into at least two groups. This proved their undoing as the Romans first massacred the smaller group of Gauls and then defeated Spartacus in turn. Spartacus' body was never identified, but many were crucified along the road all the way to Rome. Spartacus and his army made the Romans pay in much blood and defeat leading up to his and their ultimate defeat, though, requiring 15 or 16 legions to chase them down. Spartacus is a favorite hero of the Communists, BTW, being the working stiff rising up against the ruling class, etc...The 1960 epic is short on accuracy, instead showing the rebel army defeating the garrison of Rome and another legion or 3 along the way to Brundusium, only to turn back and get overwhelmed by multiple Roman armies. It was a closer match to the actual scale of events, as the rebels numbered around 90-100,000. But they both have the same love story tacked on along with treachery in the Roman Senate by ahistorical Roman Senators, and a Crassus obsessed with possessing the strength of Spartacus by possesing his woman.The 1960 remains my favorite version simply because its a well-done big movie (I wouldn't want to be the one to reprise Olivier's Crassus!)although it was good to see a more accurate portrayal of the course of events shown in the miniseries. The acting was pretty good, with Spartacus' Visnjic a good choice for the title role.
