Closed Captioned; Soundtrack English; Soundtrack French; English Subtitles; Dolby Digital 5.1 Re
Stanley Kubrick's SPARTACUS is the epic saga of the rebellious slave Spartacus, a Thracian who was born into slavery and becomes one of the notorious Roman gladiators. During what became known in history as the Servile Wars, he led an uprising against the mighty Roman republic that threatened to tear apart Italy.
SPARTACUS, based on Howard Fast's popular novel, is Stanley Kubrick's glorious masterpiece about a slave uprising in Rome in 70 B.C. Kirk Douglas, who also served as executive producer, stars as the title character, a man born of a slave woman and a slave master who has known nothing but chains his entire life. After being forced to put on a gladiator show--that almost leads to his death--for wealthy Romans (including a marvelously conniving Laurence Olivier as the power-hungry Crassus), Spartacus leads a slave revolt across Italy that soon has thousands marching on Rome. Meanwhile, he has fallen in love with the beautiful Varinia (an effervescent Jean Simmons), pledging his life to her.
Douglas assembled a fabulous all-star cast for the film; in addition to himself, Simmons, and Olivier, terrific performances are turned in by Charles Laughton as the curmudgeonly senator Gracchus, John Gavin as the young Julius Caesar, Tony Curtis as Antoninus (a "singer of songs," with all lines delivered in a beautifully thick New York accent), and especially Peter Ustinov, an Oscar winner for his portrayal of the businessman Batiatus, who always wants to know what's in it for him. Blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo's melodramatic script and Alex North's thrilling, soaring score add a majesty that helps make SPARTACUS one of the finest costume epics to ever come out of Hollywood.
Theatrical Release: October 7, 1960
Filmed in Death Valley, Spain, and Univeral Studios in Hollywood.
Estimated budget: $12 million.
Estimated shooting time: 167 days.
Estimated cast: More than 10,000.
When the film was restored in 1991, Anthony Hopkins dubbed in the voice of Laurence Olivier in the "snails and oysters" scene and Tony Curtis dubbed in his own voice, as the original soundtrack could not be used.
Anthony Mann started as the director of the film on January 27, 1959, but was fired on February 13. Kirk Douglas then brought in Kubrick, who had directed Douglas in PATHS OF GLORY a few years earlier.
SPARTACUS was the only film on which Kubrick was essentially a hired director, not involved with the development of the project from the start. Because Kubrick was never fully in control of the production, he essentially disowned the film, claiming it was not truly his vision.
Sabina Bethmann began production as Varinia, but Kubrick replaced her with Jean Simmons.
SPARTACUS was the first film to credit blacklisted figures--in this case, screenwriter extraordinaire Dalton Trumbo and actor Peter Bracco. Douglas insisted on crediting them in order to help break the blacklist.
Some of the crowd cheering was actually recorded at a Michigan State-Notre Dame college football game hosted by the Spartans.
Although the film is based on a true story, the real Spartacus did not suffer the same fate as the Hollywood Spartacus does.
Calder Willingham helped write the battle scenes.
The restored version was produced by James C. Katz, reconstructed and restored by Robert A. Harris, with original editor Robert Lawrence serving as the editorial consultant.
Richard Farnsworth (THE STRAIGHT STORY) was a stuntman in the movie and also appears as an extra.
The Legion of Decency had a number of scenes cut from the original--specifically, scenes it felt were too graphically violent and sexual. The scenes were restored for the 1991 edition.
Additional scenes photographed by Clifford Stine.
The fabulous title sequence was designed by Saul Bass.
Despite having a historical consultant review the material, the film takes many liberties with the facts of the story.
Spartacus Quotes/Excerpts:
"Do you eat oysters?"--Crassus (Laurence Olivier)
"When I have them, master."--Antoninus (Tony Curtis)
"Do you eat snails?"--Crassus
"No, master."--Antoninus
"Do you consider the easting of oysters to be moral, and the eating of snails to be immoral?...My taste includes both snails and oysters."--Crassus
"I am Spartacus."
Spartacus Reviews:
"...One of the last truly great Roman epics, the Kirk Douglas-starrer boasts a true cast-of-thousands battle..."-- Ceri Thomas, Total Film
"The entire film was an immediate hit with cinemagoers and the majority of critics....Unquestionably it is Douglas' film..."-- Angie Errigo, Empire
"A truly epic production with massive battles, iconic cinematography, and a legendary cast..."Premiere
"...Amazing depth-of-field....Terrific performances..."
-- Mike Clark, USA Today
Customer Spartacus Reviews Customer Spartacus DVD Reviews
Average Rating: (4.5 out of 5 stars)
Classic Excellent movie about Spartacus and the rise of the gladiators into an army of Gladiators. Kirk Douglas in one of his best movies. Submitted by wjhenry726 (Mishawaka, IN) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo
Great movie, a classic This is what movie making is all about. This is a classic movie with a all star cast. Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis are great in this movie. Submitted by jeffhopper (Humboldt, TN USA) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo This review is for a different format.
Spartacus Criterion Excellent movie. I bought because a big fan of Kubrick. He denounces this movie for a reason, and you can totally see it. The studio rather Kirk Douglas basically oversaw everything for the movie. So, the movie is basically his vision not Kubrick's. The movie kind of focuses on the love interest a little too much, the music's a little bland, but this should not change anyone's idea of buying this movie. There are a lot of scenes that make this a must see movie, especially the scenes of battle. Submitted by a reviewer (Phoenix, AZ) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo This review is for a different format.
Best Film Score I Ever Heard This restored version is very close to how the film looked when it was first released in 1960 (I was 15 at that time). I thought then, as I do now, that Alex North's score is probably the best film score ever--totally is one of the film's stars. Particularly exciting because the brass players get to do most of the work in the action scenes, while the strings work more in the romantic scenes. Excellent cinematography and fine dramatic performances by the entire cast. Best of all, the film is based on historical fact, and depicts the fight of mankind against physical slavery.
Submitted by jhltmod (Los Angeles, CA) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo This review is for a different format.
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Spartacus DVD
Spartacus DVD Features
Region 1 Keep Case Single Side - Dual Layer Letterbox - 2.35 Widescreen - 2.35 Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo - French Dolby Digital 5.1 English Subtitles - English (SDH), Spanish - Optional Interactive Features: Interactive Menus Text/Photo Galleries: Production Notes Biographies: Cast & Crew
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