Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

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.

In 1960, Stanley Kubrick released his colossal, towering, gargantuan, monumental, epic blockbuster SPARTACUS!!!! Okay, it isn't that spectacular, but it is a pretty dang good flick.Spartacus stars Kirk Douglas as an impudent Thracian slave. Thracians, as depicted in the film, were a race of people known for a particular physical characteristic - they had chin dimples the size of walnuts.Because Spartacus is such an uppity wisenheimer, he is sentenced to a life as a gladiator. Not that it's all bad. He gets to work out a lot and is "whipped" into incredible physical shape. Also, he receives occasional visits from another slave who also happens to be a tasty dish named Varinia (played as a genteel aristocrat by Jean Simmons).Douglas does a fine job as the brooding gladiator. Other standouts include Charles Laughton as Gracchus; not to be confused with Crassus, a gourmet who likes both escargot and shellfish, played by Laurence Olivier. Peter Ustinov provides some Oscar-winning semi- comic relief as the sniveling sycophant Batiatus.Another major character in the film is Antoninus, played by Tony Curtis. Tony (which is short for Antoninus) is a "singer" of "songs". His "songs" are just poems spoken in a Bronx accent.During the course of the movie, Spartacus escapes from gladiator school and assembles a considerable army of fellow undergraduates. Spartacus is well-loved by his men, and this is illustrated in one particularly moving scene.When the Romans capture Spartacus and his men, Crassus threatens to kill them all unless someone betrays their leader (who Crassus believes is a communist). Spartacus - in a heroic effort to spare his men - stands up to reveal himself, but Antoninus beats him to the punch. He jumps to his sandaled feet and yells out, "I'm Spartacus." This sets off a chain reaction. Another guy stands up and shouts, "I'm Spartacus." And another, "I'm Spartacus." Another, "I'm Spartacus." And so on.The Romans were very frustrated by this, because now instead of one pesky Spartacus, they found that they had to deal with a whole slew of Spartaci.Legend has it that this event spawned an entire generation of scofflaws. Whenever a centurion confronted a non-Roman for some infraction - say a speeding chariot - the inevitable happened: "Name?" "Spartacus." "All right wise guy. Thirty days in the dungeon."Anyway, this is a very good film that I highly recommend. And, if I may, I'd like to close out this "review" with one of Antoninus' "songs":"When the blazing wind hangs low in the western sky when the sun flies away to the mountain when the "song" of the crow scares the locusts from the fields and maidens sleep in the sea foam at last at twilight time..."Or something like that.

Though it's a fairly long historical epic, this essential drama features some terrific performances and huge battle sequences in the movie-making era before CGI, which enabled such scenes to become more commonplace.Directed by Stanley Kubrick with a screenplay by Dalton Trumbo, based on the novel by Howard Fast, and featuring Kirk Douglas in the title role, the film includes Best Supporting Actor Peter Ustinov as a droll self-interested gladiator-owner-businessman Lentulus Batiatus; it also won for Color Art Direction-Set Decoration, Cinematography and Costume Design and was nominated for Editing and Alex North's Score.Laurence Olivier as Crassus and Charles Laughton as Gracchus provide the Roman Senate political backdrop as they alternatively manipulate the younger more naïve among them: John Gavin – as Julius Caesar – and John Dall, the less capable Glabrus. #62 on AFI's 100 Most Heart-Pounding Movies list. #44 on AFI's 100 Most Inspiring Movies list.Spartacus (AFI's #22 hero) is a proud, combative slave that's saved from death when he's picked by Batiatus to become a gladiator. After being trained by Batiatus' ex-slave gladiator-trainer Marcellus (Charles McGraw), he's forced into a ring "fight to the death" with Draba, another slave-gladiator (played by Woody Strode), for the pleasure of some visiting Roman 'royalty': rich Crassus, Glabrus and their women (Nina Foch and Joanna Barnes).After losing to but being spared by Draba, who chooses to take out his anger futilely against the Romans, Spartacus leads a revolt of the gladiators against their captors, which becomes an insurgency and then a quest for freedom by all of "slave nation".The major subplot involves the slave leader's love for the slave woman Varinia, played by Jean Simmons. Later, she too becomes a pawn in the Senators' manipulations. John Ireland plays Spartacus' loyal right- hand man Crixus; Harold J. Stone plays the silent David, another loyalist.Tony Curtis plays Antoninus, a slave gift to Crassus that's scared away by his master's advances, runs away to join Spartacus and, with his 'singing' and other entertainer talents, adds a culture to the uneducated slave clan as they revel in a freedom that must inevitably end. Herbert Lom plays a negotiator on behalf of some Sicilian pirates that were to join the slaves' rebellion against Rome.The memorable scene in which Antoninus and each of the other slave survivors claim - "I'm Spartacus" - to keep their Roman conquerors from identifying their leader is nowhere near the end of the story.

**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.