Review of Spartacus (1960) by Ryan K — 26 Mar 2009

Sticking with the epic "swords and sandals" movies from the 50's/60's, I saw this movie after "Ben-Hur" and "Ten Commandments" and if evaluating all three I would put this somewhere in between. Although shorter than the aforementioned (still over 3 hours) "Spartacus" let's the audience know they are in for a lengthy spectacle with an introductory overture and middle intermission. With such a vast time frame, there is plenty of epic struggle that main character (played famously by Kirk Douglas) encounters as he evolves in character. In this case he turns from humble slave to the Romans, to the charismatic leader of a revolution.

With Kubrick at the helm, you can usually expect some different artistic flavors as he pushes forth his unique visions, but this movie is played out pretty conventional, but worth noting is some intense music, especially during some of the famous gladiator scenes, and some surprisingly lovely poetic moments that fill in between some of the action. To go along with the main story of rebellion there is a love tale between Spartacus and fellow slave Virinia (Simmons) that makes survival and ensuing victory even more desperate and hopeful. Even though it is forced and under developed at first that portion is able to stand up pretty well and is vital to the ending. The weakest part of this film is the political story between treasonous Crassus and other members of the Senate who look to squash the uprising. While a necessary component, some of it lacks intrigue and seems somewhat unfocused at times.

As a whole, there are no major gripes and there features several classic scenes including a powerful ending which has helped to garner it's classic status.