Julian Ichen This is an excellent film but that is not at all a surprise considering it is directed by Stanley Kubrick and his movies are all incredible, at least the most famous of his movies are.Kubrick also shot this movie after he took over for his cinematographer but because he wasn't credited that cinematographer took home the Academy Award so that is an interesting bit of trivia and I bet he wouldn't be too happy about that! Ha ha.The fight scenes and "look" of the film are a bit dated of course but the writing and acting and direction of course are all still great and the movie holds up almost as good today.Kirk Douglas produced this movie so he could cast himself in the title role of Spartacus and that is probably the main problem of this movie. He is 45 here and obviously too old to be playing the young gladiator/slave Spartacus but if you suspend your disbelief it doesn't matter very much. He is actually quite good in this.This movie is worth watching just for the "I'm Spartacus!" scene alone. What a great ending.

LauraLeeWasHere I've watched this movie several times throughout my life but it was only extremely recently that I came to appreciate it for the triumph that it truly is. What is the difference? SUFFERING. Forget about the fact that as a smaller child I probably didn't comprehend the entire plot and what was happening, but it's when you start to understand what it means to truly suffer and what it takes to rise above it can you appreciate this film for all that it is. An entire lifetime of living in the "pit" of slavery is WAY beyond MY ability to understand. But I've watched several of my closest family members die in the past 3 years. Learned what it meant to not have a home or a friend. And to have sickness take away control over my own body. These elements are all found in this movie. They are all the true attributes of being a slave. Slavery: You own nothing; Not even yourself. Nobody to call your own. No home. Unable to even have a friend. As Spartacus says, "Death is the only freedom a slave knows". yet he ends that sentence with, " ... But that's why we'll win." Because a slave has no fear of death. And with that one spark of hope, the hope that there is something "better" than the life he's living. And that HOPE jumps to a flame when one life is given as a sacrifice. It's not actually Spartacus that starts the revolt. It's Draba! It's his life that is the catalyst for sudden and massive change. Back in the days when Rome was in control of the world and it had a god for everything (probably even a sneeze), Spartacus says, "I imagine a god for slaves ... and I pray. I pray for a son who will be born free". His hope isn't even for himself. And in my own "pit", my Christian hope burst forth and I finally understood why Jesus had to come as a meek and humble servant. So that we would know that there IS a God for slaves, because each of us is a slave to something. When Spartacus is "wooing" Varinia it is the simple touch of their hands and the first person to show concern for her ("Did they hurt you?") that breaks down the walls to her heart and allows her to give it to Spartacus. Would she have loved him as deeply if he wasn't a slave too? And so I watch Spartacus and comprehend it. Not just because I understand how it fits into history, but how it fits into ME. A God for slaves. Yes. A God who understands my slavery and woos me so I am free to love Him back. Not because He has power over me but because he understands what it means to be a slave BEFORE He came into power. Truly an epic that transcends all that is in the human heart. At last I "get it". Watch it again and glean your own hope knowing that someday the darkness will end and hope will reign. That is what makes this story an epic. transcendence. And know that there is most definitely a God for slaves and so ... you are understood. Sincerely, Laura-Lee

zevpiro-69947 **This review contains spoilers but I will warn you when they come up."He(Spartacus) was a man who began all alone, like an animal. Yet on the day he died thousands and thousands would have died in his place... He wasn't a god, he was a simple man, a slave"-Jean Simmons or Varia.Spartacus was Kubrick's 5 Movie and it holds up very much to Stanley Kubrick's legacy.At first glance the movie seems like just another slave movie, but as thee movie continues there's exponentiation growth in suspense, development and the evolution of Spartacus. Taking unexpected twists and turns. But before we go on and glorify Stanley's 5th movie I must point out the few flaws.The movie gets boring from time to time with some bad pieces of dialog and some very slow scenes, The 3 hour length of the movie is unwarranted, not once did i find myself checking the time. It would really help the movie to be say, a half an hour short. Now that that's over with I will glorify Stanley before the mob kills me. I cant stretch how much the plot amazed me it was simply a work of art that you don't come across often. The plot of the movie continues to make unexpected changes and the suspense only grows. The effects are in par or even better then allot of what you see today, the whole universe of the film was constructed ingeniously and crafted carefully. The music in the film reflects the scene, as you'd expect from Kubrick. Even though I said there's some bad pieces of dialog there are also some amazing and extremely quotable one to.**Now here comes the SPOILERS and the analysis skip this if you didn't watch the movie.As we know the character played by Kirk Douglas (Spartacus)starts out as a 'simple man',-notice the simple- a slave with no hope no will and no desire and while the character evolves and achieves unimaginable goals he always remains a slave throughout the film, I will explain. As the movie points out there are more Romans then slaves hence making slaves the normal ones and thus simple hence 'simple man'. Even when Spartacus has an army he is still in the query, the starting point of the film. Even in his death he died happy with a smile showing that hes not afraid of dying, the movie previously pointed out that that's a death of a slave "When a slave dies he is free,but when a free man dies he loses what he had" its a rough quote but it holds the same point. What I'm suggesting is that on the broad picture Spartacus seemed, changed but if you look at the details you find, that is simply not the case. Now, the obvious question remains "who is he a slave to". Hes a slave to himself, the fact is hes still in the query and still is "fighting to the death", but there's a difference hes not doing it for Rome and I think that's Kubrick's message. Its better to fight or to be a 'slave' for freedom then to be a slave for 'Rome'. Slave meaning citizen and Rome meaning any corrupt government that doesn't take there citizens seriously, as depicted in doctor strange love. **NO more SPOILERS** No wounder the movie won 4 Oscars. Spartacus is a timeless work of art that I hope wont be forgotten, because "people die, ideas don't"- V for vendetta. The movie is a great time though you need time to fully enjoy it I think its worth the time.Anyway this is my first movie critique whatever this is. I hope you enjoyed the read if you have any objections please reply and I hope you gained some more insight or respect for the movie.

irishm I went to Rome last fall and I'm now amusing myself by watching lots of movies set in Rome, both present-day and ancient-history oriented. I enjoyed "Ben Hur" and "Quo Vadis", but "Spartacus" was kind of difficult to sit through. Maybe it was too much of a Kirk Douglas overdose. Maybe it was Peter Ustinov (who I usually enjoy) hamming it up to the point where he was out-hamming Charles Laughton, a neat trick in itself. Ustinov apparently won an Oscar for his performance; personally I thought his humor was misplaced and overdone in this context, although he was certainly funny.I've read that up to 10,000 people were associated with this film, and I think I saw them all in one scene where the slaves are coming over the hills towards the Romans. For a moment I automatically thought the effect had to be CGI, but then of course I remembered this was 1960 and those were in fact real extras running down the hillside like thousands upon thousands of ants. That shot was absolutely breathtaking; I'm glad I saw the film just to be able to experience the awesomeness of that scene.One of my favorite character actors, Harold J. Stone, had a significant supporting role as one of Spartacus' advisers; it was fun to see him in his prime doing drama.I'm sure I would have gotten less out of the film if I hadn't had the "I was in Rome" focus to hang it all on. The sight of the crucified slaves, dozens of them, hanging all along both sides of the Appian Way was rather sobering, to say the least, since I couldn't help but recall the moments I spent walking along that same road.I've seen "Ben Hur" a couple of times and I would certainly consider watching "Quo Vadis" again, but I think once was enough for "Spartacus".