SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

The movie Spartacus is a great movie about love and struggles. Why struggles you may ask? Because in this film, Sparticus is taken in as a slave along with hundreds of other men (called gladiators) and women who have to fight to the death, just for entertainment of the people in the city. And while in captivity he finds a women who he comes to love and eventually marries. Later in the movie, one day the enslaved men come together one day after getting tired of training day in and day out and fight against the guards, killing them all, and fighting any army that gets in their way, because they want to earn their freedom. The message gets all over the country, and all the enslaved people fight their owners to join Spartacus' army. But in the end the gladiators army begins to fall apart, and that is when their efforts to fight for freedom falls too. Although they finally get their freedom but only a few lived on not including Spartacus's, but his wife and child survived.

Spartacus was the kind of mini-series that I just knew would be good from the start. Spanning a two day special on USA I watched the first part and just couldn't wait for the second half. Spartacus is played by Goran Visnjic from the TV series ER and shows he can be a tough guy too.The film starts with Spartacus being bought by a wealthy Roman to be a gladiator. Spartacus excels quickly and learns to be an excellent fighter but soon sees the horrible life he faces along with the other gladiators. After his friend is killed by Roman guards for refusing to kill him, Spartacus rebels against the cruel family that owns him and quickly crushes them. Now Spartacus is on a quest, along with other gladiator rebels, to overthrow the Roman Empire and abolish the gladiator games. Along the way, Spartacus must deal with insubordination of his soldiers, betrayal, and love. The battles are well done but just don't show the overwhelming victories Spartacus actually achieved in his quest. Goran Visnjic is exceptionally strong as Spartacus and really has some great sword work in battle. This is a superb mini-series with good drama, good action, and fine acting.Spartacus. Starring: Goran Visnjic, Alan Bates, Angus Macfadyen, and Rhona Mitra.4 out of 5 Stars.

This movie presents the story of Spartacus a Thracian slave that leads gladiator slaves out of a slave camp at Capua. The battle scenes are great reenactments and they show the brutality of the ancient world.The actor that portrays Marcus Crassus plays the aristocratic stuck up general quite well and his rivalry with fellow senator Agrippa keep the plot moving throughout the entire movie. Not only does this movie show you how these ancient people fought, but it also shows the brutality that the Romans had against there opposing armies. This movie contains all the elements of a good war movie: fighting, rivalries, and romance. Overall this movie is one of my favorites and Goran Visnjic was the perfect guy for the job.

There's some confusion about this Spartacus miniseries and the 1960 epic movie Spartacus. The stories are very similar because they both use the Howard Fast novel as a basis. The Kirk Douglas movie had another mission though as it was one of a group of movies made to regain the public's interest in the cinema with lavish spectacle. The scale of its production is much higher than the miniseries. What the miniseries has going for it is more historical accuracy; the gladiator/rebel army marched up Italy, got to the Alps and changed its mind (very puzzling), marched down to Italy's toe hoping to escape by boat but was foiled and was trapped for a time. They broke out only to quarrel amongst themselves and break up into at least two groups. This proved their undoing as the Romans first massacred the smaller group of Gauls and then defeated Spartacus in turn. Spartacus' body was never identified, but many were crucified along the road all the way to Rome. Spartacus and his army made the Romans pay in much blood and defeat leading up to his and their ultimate defeat, though, requiring 15 or 16 legions to chase them down. Spartacus is a favorite hero of the Communists, BTW, being the working stiff rising up against the ruling class, etc...The 1960 epic is short on accuracy, instead showing the rebel army defeating the garrison of Rome and another legion or 3 along the way to Brundusium, only to turn back and get overwhelmed by multiple Roman armies. It was a closer match to the actual scale of events, as the rebels numbered around 90-100,000. But they both have the same love story tacked on along with treachery in the Roman Senate by ahistorical Roman Senators, and a Crassus obsessed with possessing the strength of Spartacus by possesing his woman.The 1960 remains my favorite version simply because its a well-done big movie (I wouldn't want to be the one to reprise Olivier's Crassus!)although it was good to see a more accurate portrayal of the course of events shown in the miniseries. The acting was pretty good, with Spartacus' Visnjic a good choice for the title role.