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This then is the remake of Spartacus, a classic Kirk Douglas movie based on the novel by Howard Fast, and, the obvious question is, given how popularly and critically acclaimed the original movie was, why bother with a remake?
After all, the original had Olivier and Douglas slugging ... Read review
Stanley Kubrick was only 31 years old when Kirk Douglas (star of Kubrick's classicPaths of ... more
Glory) recruited the young director to pilot this epic saga, in which the rebellious slave Spartacus (played by Douglas) leads a freedom revolt against the decad...
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This presentation of the powerful film classic features an additional five minutes of ... more
footage cut from the film's original release, plus the original overture and extended soundtrack.Director Stanley Kubrick tells the tale of Spartacus (Kirk Douglas), ...
Stanley Kubrick was only 31 years old when Kirk Douglas (star of Kubrick's classicPaths of ... more
Glory) recruited the young director to pilot this epic saga, in which the rebellious slave Spartacus (played by Douglas) leads a freedom revolt against the decad...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Once a slave. Forever a legend. Sentenced to spend out the rest of his adult life ... more
labouring in the harsh deserts of Egypt Thracian slave Spartacus gets a new lease on life when he is purchased by the owner of a Roman gladiator school. Moved by the de...
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They trained him to kill for their pleasure... But they trained him a little too well... ... more
Stanley Kubrick's film tells the tale of Spartacus the bold gladiator slave and Virinia the woman who believed in his cause. Challenged by the power-hungry Gene...
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Stanley Kubrick was only 31 years old when Kirk Douglas (star of Kubrick's classicPaths of ... more
Glory) recruited the young director to pilot this epic saga, in which the rebellious slave Spartacus (played by Douglas) leads a freedom revolt against the ailin...
Postage & Packaging: Check Site. Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Advantages: Shiny swords! Disadvantages: There's no budget, no script editor and stunningly average acting.
...to have the story of Spartacus told to you with talking pictures, then it's the Kirk Douglas movie all the way. It's got a better script, bigger budget and far, far better actors. There really isn't the faintest need for a remake, especially such a poor one as this. If, however, you can be sold on a good-looking guy strutting about all oiled and not wearing many clothes, and some neat sword-fights (um, so if you're like me then) you might enjoy it, ... more
It is a somewhat embarrassing fact that I like this movie (ostensibly a mini-series, but given that the length is shorter than the average Harry Potter film, that seems a bit odd) and, worse, my reasons for liking it are shallow in the extreme. It stars Goran Visnjic, otherwise known as the Best Looking Doctor In ER Ever. And he is half-naked a lot of the time.
I am a terrible, terrible shallow person.
But, in a vague attempt to be objective, it's pretty bad. Really bad. But, happily, in quite an entertaining sort of way. Nobody completely screws up their performance, but clearly the script editor credit is a bit of a fib, and they ran out of money after the first ten minutes.
This then is the remake of Spartacus, a classic Kirk Douglas movie based on the novel by Howard Fast, and, the obvious question is, given how popularly and critically acclaimed the original movie was, why bother with a remake?
After all, the original had Olivier and Douglas slugging it out, a massive budget and an epic scope that somehow managed to overcome all the production problems it was faced with. The remake fails to live up to almost any of this, and its one advantage is its supposedly greater faithfulness to the original novel. And that's about it really.
The story concerns Spartacus, a slave in the mines of Egypt who is bought by a gladiator school and trained to fight other men to the death for the amusement of the citizens of Rome. After several bloody battles, falling in love with another slave, Varinia, and learning about The True Meaning of Life, he decides he's none too keen on this whole Being A Slave thing and leads a revolt which shakes the Roman Republic to its core, paving the way for the Principate and the Emperors of Rome.
To say something in its favour (cause I'm not going to say very much in that direction) it is more faithful to the book, just about. There are still massive changes, but a great deal more of the dialogue is the same and the Romans themselves are a great deal more unpleasant than in the original movie, much as they are in the book.
That's smashing, really, for the message of the novel (it's a communist one, by the way) but it does play havoc with this other thing that might be considered important by some. It's called Historical Accuracy. Because it isn't here. At all. The Romans were an extraordinarily advanced, immensely civilised culture. They had a highly developed legal system (which remains the basis of Western legal systems to this day) and one of the most developed areas of this system was in slave law.
The Roman belief was that slavery was a temporary state, that all men were born free and that freedom was the natural state of man. Indeed, whilst the conditions of slaves were vastly different, the Romans were very keen on freeing slaves and making them citizens (something that the Greeks, for instance, hardly ever did) and, in fact, most slaves had the opportunity to have some financial independence through a convention known as the peculium, which was treated as the slave's own property to do with as they wished. Indeed, many slaves rose to high ranks within the Roman state and it was a common occurrence to release slaves before they reached the age of thirty.
All this, the complexity of the system, the realities of the system, are quite forgotten. The Romans are evil at worst, misguided at best, and the slaves are true and good fellows to a man. And a lot of the dates are wrong.
None of this, of course, is, alone, enough to stop a good movie. I liked Braveheart, I loved Elizabeth and they take just as many liberties with historical facts. Sadly, the script and our handsome star are also quite happy to drop the ball. For lovely as Visnjic is to look at, he's not the most compelling actor and, in the lead role of such a complex character as Spartacus, is horribly out of his depth.
Almost as bad is Rhona Mitra as a rather vapid Varinia (and, random trivia, in the book Varinia is Germanic, in the original movie she's from Britain, whilst here, she's from Gaul. Why these changes? I know not, nor dare to guess.) And I'm also forced to enquire where these Roman slaves got their swishy hair products from. Cause I want me some of those.
Things do pick up in the old acting department when we get to the floor of the Senate. It's not Olivier calibre, but there is the fabulous Alan Bates playing Agrippa, the moral senator, who recognises the sickness that Rome has become infested with. And he's playing against Angus MacFadyen, who successfully manages not to chew the scenery for a good eighty percent of the time (kudos to the director), as the power hungry Crassus. Their verbal sparring is the highlight of the show, but probably not worth the price of admission.
Ian McNeice, a favourite actor of mine, is playing Batiatus, the owner of the gladiator school and, sadly, does not impress. It's not wholly his fault though, because the part was previously played perfectly by Peter Ustinov, and he simply doesn't compare to that stunning performance. That, and he seems to be channelling the character he played in the Dune mini-series, the Baron Harkonnen. Batiatus may be many things, but a wannabe Emperor of the Galaxy he is not.
However, the most amusing piece of casting is Ross Kemp as the gladiator trainer, cheerfully proving that he really does only play one part, and does it best when he's in Eastenders.
Trite dialogue and sledge-hammer characterisation are the watchwords for the scriptwriter here. Many of the lines are, frankly, appalling and it would take a truly remarkable actor to save them. It's Romans Are Evil, No, Really, They Are forced down your throat like so much cold porridge. It's a painful experience. I wouldn't say that the script editor should be shot. But if this were the sort of world where script editors were shot for messing up, he'd be up in front of the firing squad.
The budget appears to be approximately a big pile of swords and this shiny halfpenny piece. Witness the glory of Rome and its one street! See armies fight in epic battles of dozens! Marvel at sets that will stand the test of one good solid kick, if they're lucky! It's pretty bad, but at least they seem to have spent money on a decent choreographer. Because the sword-fighting's generally pretty good and one of the most entertaining things the movie has to offer. Also there is blood. Not a lot, but it's definitely there. In inoffensive quantities.
And since it's on DVD, you might expect extras, but there aren't any. Not a sausage. Disappointing indeed.
So, really, if you want to have the story of Spartacus told to you with talking pictures, then it's the Kirk Douglas movie all the way. It's got a better script, bigger budget and far, far better actors. There really isn't the faintest need for a remake, especially such a poor one as this. If, however, you can be sold on a good-looking guy strutting about all oiled and not wearing many clothes, and some neat sword-fights (um, so if you're like me then) you might enjoy it, but don't expect it to be any good. Fun at best, if you're in the mood for historical mockery and popcorn entertainment.
Advantages: Stands up well even by today's production standards Disadvantages: Plays fast and loose with actual history at times
...while the current remake of Spartacus was in production. The original film, based as it was on Fast’s novel, takes many liberties with history. The characterisations of Spartacus’ early days with Varinia, for example, are mere speculation. The course of the slave-army progress through Italy is similarly an invention made for easier poetic rendering – the slave-army in fact wandered throughout Italy in a much different fashion, with different results ... ...revolt in Roman history, and Spartacus and his band of gladiators drew strength and inspiration from the Sicilian and southern Italian revolts of the then not-too-distant past.
However, the main object of Fast’s novel, and Stanley Kubrick’s realisation of such in cinema, was the story of the quest for freedom against oppression and tyranny. There are echoes of the cold war here, to be sure – the autocratic Crassus threatening the freedom of a great ...
frkurt 19.04.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Spartacus (DVD)
...put on a decent show, Spartacus organises the other trainee gladiators and revolts against the school, then setting about the countryside liberating and recruiting slaves into an ever-growing army which he hopes to march on Rome to liberate all enslaved men. Standing in his way are the tyrannical patricians, in particular Crassus(Laurence Olivier) who orchestrates the fury against this uprising in the senate and the full might of the Holy Roman Empire. ... ...alike, although completely falsified for Spartacus himself was hacked to death in battle - but this wouldn't have been dramatic enough of course... ;o) Recently, some extra scenes were restored to the movie which had previously been cut for being too risque as the movie tried to stick closely to the debauchery that was Rome...one scene for example sees Crassus trying to seduce Antoninus(Tony Curtis) with thinly veiled references. (Incidentally Oliviers ...
wampyrii 21.07.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Spartacus (DVD)
Advantages: All round family feature. Disadvantages: None.
...some ways even more, as Spartacus is based on the true story of a slave who became not just a Gladiator, but also a historical hero.
The film in it's original form dates back to 1960, though now you can buy it on DVD with extra footage that had been cut from the cinema version. Along with various DVD extras like Biographies, Production Notes, The Original Trailer and much more, you also get the quality, both in sound and vision due to the digital ... ...a much more grown up Spartacus is working as a slave, a fellow slave collapses and Spartacus steps in to help only to be punished because he has stopped working. In retaliation he attacks the Roman guard and is subsequently sentenced to death by starving as an example to others. Anyway a slave trader passing by decides to buy him, hence his life is spared.
The slave trader takes Spartacus to a Roman training camp to sell on for the purpose of becoming ...
Trev1000 26.04.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Spartacus (DVD)
Advantages: Great script, superb acting, cinematography, score, battle scenes Disadvantages: pace falters at times, 20 mins too long, some very obvious scenes filmed in studio
...against seemingly impossible odds!
Spartacus is a classic amongst the classics. Not quite so pompous as Ben Hur; not so overdone as Ten Commandments. Spartacus offers a comfortable middleway between being a cultured and a populist movie.
Stanley Kubrick's direction has never been better, especially during the final battle scenes, and the rather subtle & discreet scene between Laurence Olivier & Tony Curtis sharing a bath together - a lot of the ... ...to spare the life of Spartacus (Kirk Douglas). Kubrick knows how to tap the best out of some actors, and here is no exception.
Of course the true honours are shared by Olivier and Douglas. In a way the characters they play is like a metaphor of their real acting abilities & achievements.
We have in the red corner, Laurence Olivier, playing the sweeping & majestic Crassus, leader of Rome (in all but name), who rides his white horse with an air of ...
dreamstar70 25.01.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Spartacus (DVD)
Advantages: The best epic of them all. Disadvantages: Tony Curtis's accent.
This is unquestionably the best and most intelligent historical epic yet made - possibly because no other similar films had such a fine and intelligent movie maker as Stanley Kubrick at the helm. Apart from being a hugely compelling study of the central character and his story (based on truth) it also boasts many of the best performances in any similar film, notably Charles Laughton and Peter Ustinov who manage to steal every scene they're in even ...
JSpencer 24.08.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Spartacus (DVD)
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Looking back in his autobiography, 'Climbing the mountain', Kirk Douglas had a lot to say about 'Spartacus'. I can see why because it was a huge movie with lots of gladiators forming an army to challenge even the mighty Romans. However, a film of his from the 50s that I loved dearly but which he hardly mentions, was 'The Vikings''. I like it more than 'Spartacus'.
Directed by Richard Fleischer, 'The Vikings' was released when I was four way back in 1958. It did the rounds of cinemas quite regularly in Birmingham in the following years which is how it was that when I was eight I found myself, wide-eyed and in awe of this movie. Why? Because the world it depicted was colourful, exciting and filled with larger than life ...
The epic story of a slave who fights for freedom. Set in the time of the Roman Empire in 72 BC, a young boy witnesses his father's murder before becoming a slave to the Rome. Years later he leads a rebellion.
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
UNIVERSAL PICTURES UK; UNIVERSAL MUSIC OPERATIONS, SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT; CINRAM LOGISTICS, UNIVERSAL PICTURES UK; CINRAM LOGISTICS (SWINDON)
Theatrical Trailer, Production Notes, Cast And Filmmakers Biographies, Production Notes, Trailer, Interactive menu
Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0, Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 English Dolby Digital 2.0 French German Italian Spanish, Dolby Digital 5.1 English Dolby Digital Stereo French German Italian Spanish
Award information
OSCAR
Best Actor In A Supporting Role 1961 (Peter Ustinov)
This television production stars Goran Visnjic (ER) as the titular gladiator in this television adaptation of the same 1951 Howard Fast novel that spawned Stanley Kubrick's 1960 film classic. While living out his life as a slave the deserts of Egypt, Spartacus is bought by a trainer of gladiators and forced to fight for the amusement of the Roman masses. There, he spearheads a slave uprising which rocks the very foundations of Rome. Alan Bates co-stars as Lentulas Agrippa in his final screen role.
![Spartacus [DVD] [2004]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78499916.jpg)
![Spartacus [DVD] [1960]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78506738.jpg)
![Spartacus [DVD] [1960]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/81326162.jpg)
