Review of Spartacus (1960) by Joey D — 10 Jul 2008

"Spartacus" is a classic tale of a man's quest for freedom and to tear down the tyrannical establishment that has enslaved him. It was just one in a long series of epics of its day, and it does pretty well at holding up its end of the bargain.

Kirk Douglas stars in the title role and is first seen as a rebellious slave under the watchful eye of Roman guards. After causing trouble, Spartacus is "made an example of" and tied up to starve in front of his fellow slaves. As luck would have it, it is at this point that a man buys Spartacus from the guards to take him to a gladiator training camp. Here he learns to fight for the entertainment of the rich and befriends Antonius (Tony Curtis). It is here that he meets his love interest, Varinia, (Jean Simmons) who is one of the female slaves.

One day, a group of aristocrats including Marcus Licinius Crassus (Laurence Olivier) visit the camp and, at the request of the women, demand to see some of the trainees fight to the death. Spartacus is chosen to fight a large Ethiopian slave who gains the upper hand but spares him at the expense of his life. The visitors also take a keen interest in Varinia and buy her to take with them. In the days following the visit, Spartacus sparks a revolt at the camp and is successful. He decides to go all through the Roman Empire freeing the slaves and getting them to join his revolt. He and Varinia are eventually reunited and marry. Antonius ends up under the employment of Crassus, who being bisexual, takes a special interest in him. A scene with the two of them in a bathhouse is one of the film's stranger sequences.

News of the slave uprising quickly spreads, and the Roman army soon takes up arms in order to counter the militia. It all boils down to an enormous battle in which Spartacus was forced into fighting. The film ends not in a way that's typical of others like it, but it is still suitable.

When "Spartacus" is referred to as "epic," it is exactly that. Everything from the cast, to the sets, to the costumes, and even the 3-hour-plus runtime makes this film larger-than-life. And about that runtime. This movie is very long. I almost think it may be too long. I'm not exactly sure that the plot or the action fills the time as well as other epics. Kubrick could've cut out some of the downtime and achieved the same effect.

I also was a tad let down by this being a Kubrick film. At this stage in his career (which was pretty early on), I feel that he hadn't really come into his element yet. I think the movie is kind of evolutionary and experimental for him. His trademarks that I've grown to love probably didn't even exist yet. Maybe he just needed to pay the bills. However, being a huge fan of his and movies in general, this one was obligatory for me to watch.

Overall, I enjoyed "Spartacus," but I've definitely seen better epics. The famous "I am Spartacus" scene is still classic and is one of the best sequences in the film. The story is somewhat inspirational, and the ending is definitely what makes this epic unique. If you're looking for a film with very high production values, great direction, and an A-list of actors performing well, then this is a good choice.