Forget "Gladiator" and "Ben Hur" - this is truly a taste of pure Roman Epic.
Directed by the late great "slave driver" that is Stanley Kubrick, "Spartacus" follows the tale of lowly slave of the same name (Kirk Douglas) through a rebellion of the Roman Empire.
Douglas is superb as Spartacus (No - I'm Spartacus etc.) and the supporting cast of Sir Laurence Olivier, Peter Ustinov and Tony Curtis are tremendous, but it is the Academy Award winning cinematography that is the real star - who need CGI when you can just use paintings! Due to the beautiful filming, this is one of those films that MUST be seen in the widescreen format.
Glad to see that the video and DVD now include the deleted bathing scene between Olivier and Curtis - "Do you prefer oysters or snails?" Incidentally Olivier's voice in this scene was dubbed by Anthony Hopkins.
"Spartacus" remains as one of Kubrick's and Douglas's best movies. It is just a pity it is over-shadowed by the modern "Gladiator"
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Outstanding
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