SPARTACUS (1960) 
RATING: 
By Shawn McKenna
Date Reviewed: October 18, 1997
This is the epic to watch between The Ten Commandments and Lawrence of Arabia. It is not superannuated like DeMille's The Ten Commandments and it is not as sagacious as Lawrence of Arabia. It was filmed in 1960 while Demille's picture was filmed in 1956 and David Lean's picture was filmed in 1962.
It is interesting to watch an earlier film by Kubrick. This movie lacks the master's touch such as seen in his next decade of work including Dr. Strangelove (1964), 2001 (1968) though it is better than his contemporary pieces.
There is much to be proud of in this work. There is no cliched happy ending. There is a black hero (Woody Strode) who inspires Spartacus. A lot of footage is shot outside the studio. Peter Ustinov deserved his oscar for his sublime performance as Batiatus. There is an interesting bisexual tone performed by Olivier. The battle scenes are inspired. They seem to have had an influence on Braveheart. What does not work is that much of the dialogue seems dated. The romance of Varinia (Jean Simmons) and Spartacus (Kirk Douglas) does not seem natural.
Spartacus is a slave. He is picked to be a gladiator because of his physique. There he leads a revolt against the gladiator school after he is forced to fight against the black gladiator. The black gladiator actually defeated Spartacus but refused to kill him and was killed himself for disobeying and attacking Crassus. Spartacus then leads his newly formed army to the southern seaboard to find freedom by escaping in pirates boats. The pirate leader then double crosses Spartacus and Spartacus is forced to try to take on Rome. I feel this was a tactical mistake since there was probably about a dozen ways he could have increased his army, over time, to help defeat the Roman army. This led to an ending that if you know anything about history than you know this ending.
This movie is dated, but still worth watching. It is especially worth watching if you are interested in cinematic history. Spartacus not only won several oscars it is also one of Kubrick's earlier films. It was popular in its day and it still has respect among many movie critics. Watch Lawrence of Arabia first and then watch this. Just not necessarily in the same night.
SPARTACUS (1960)
| Spartacus | Kirk Douglas | | Crassus | Laurence Olivier | | Varinia | Jean Simmons |
| Gracchus | Charles Laughton |
| Batiatus | Peter Ustinov |
| Julius Caesar | John Gavin |
| Antoninus | Tony Curtis |
| Black Gladiator | Woody Strode |
| Director: | Stanley Kubrick | | Screenplay: | Dalton Trumbo | | Produced By: | Edward Lewis |
| Running Time: | 187m. | | Rated: | PG-13 (on rerelease in 1991) | | Genre: | drama/epic | | Country: | USA | | Widescreen: | Super Technirama 70(2.2:1 70mm.) |
Other Critics:
Roger Eberts Rating
***
Leonard Maltin's Rating
***½
Awards, Facts, and Oddities Academy Award for Art Direction, Costume Design, and Russell Metty's Cinematography.
Peter Ustinov won Best Supporting Actor Oscar. In restored print, Anthony Hopkins dubbed Crassus's voice in cut bathing scene with Tony Curtis.
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