Review of Spartacus (1960) by Ayrton C — 18 Oct 2017

Spartacus is probably the best historical epic film I?ve seen. It tells a powerful tale of a man who inspired slaves to fight for freedom and who almost took down Rome in the process. Kirk Douglas is great despite the fact that he doesn?t have a ton of lines throughout the movie.

They make Spartacus rather soft-spoken most of the time, and only occasionally does he break out into big speeches. On the flip side there are superb actors as the Roman leaders who seemingly never stop talking including Laurence Olivier, Charles Laughton, and Peter Ustinov.

They all provide a great contrast to Douglas, and deliver something special. The visuals in this movie are also remarkable, including some battle scenes that are nothing short of miraculous, considering they had to do it all without special effects back in those days.

I thought the story had a nice build to it, and the movie never felt like it was overstaying its welcome, even if it was a bit overlong. Occasionally there were elements that were added to the story as subplots that didn?t need to be there, or should have been added in a way that would flow better with the main narrative.

However, despite any little missteps, Spartacus was a wonderful story with a number of great moments. It also pushed the boundaries of what was considered acceptable in the early 1960s, and possibly challenged audiences back in 1960.

The conclusion was a marvelous mix of happy and sad that fit the tone of the entire film perfectly. I?ll gladly watch Spartacus again any time, and certainly over most other sword-and-sandals movies I?ve seen.