Spartacus (1960)
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
The rebellious Thracian Spartacus, born and raised a slave, is sold to Gladiator trainer Batiatus. After weeks of being trained to kill for the arena, Spartacus turns on his owners and leads the other slaves in rebellion. As the rebels move from town to town, their numbers swell as escaped slaves join their ranks. Under the leadership of Spartacus, they make their way to southern Italy, where they will cross the sea and return to their homes.
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What critics compared Spartacus to
In a story that borrows heavily from The Ten Commandments, with generous sprinklings of Braveheart and Spartacus thrown in, Crowe plays Maximus, the winningest Roman general since Julius Caesar.
The late Oliver Reed is fine as the gladiator overseer, a nod to the great Peter Ustinov in Spartacus, but is never allowed to let 'er rip comically.
We are trapped not in the grim paranoid future of "Blade Runner" but in a turbulent past: the Roman Empire, which, with all its gaudiness and corruption, has continuously fascinated moviemakers from the first great spectacle movie, Italy's "Cabiria" (1914), right up through the '60s, with Stanley Kubrick's "Spartacus" and Federico Fellini's "Satyricon."
Forty years ago they would have cast Kirk Douglas in this kind of action epic, as they did in "Spartacus".
On the inevitable comparison scale of Roman epics, where "Spartacus" and "Ben-Hur" (both 1926 and 1959) are 10s and that debacle of a "Cleopatra" miniseries from last year is a zero, "Gladiator" is about a five.
It's impossible to watch Stanley Kubricks Spartacus (1960), William Wyler's Ben-Hur (1959), or even Mario Bava's Hercules in the Haunted World (1961) without a silly grin on your face.
Lacking Kevin Costner-liberal-revisionist tendencies or Spartacus screenwriter Dalton Trumbo's overt politics, outside of celebrating violence, freedom, liberty, and the rights of the people against the uncaring nobles -- all as extremely broad and nonspecific concepts -- Braveheart offers no real vision.
Like Kirk Douglas' slave leader in "Spartacus," Wallace unites and inspires disorganized troops, brings out their best qualities, constantly surprises his decadent enemy by catching them off-guard, and is crucified for his efforts.
By his own admission, Reeves has drawn inspiration for War from the obvious likes of Apocalypse Now and Bridge Over The River Kwai to Spartacus and even more Biblical epics such as The Ten Commandments.
Elements of Spartacus are skillfully added as well, as when the captured apes carry out an uprising against the threat of crucifixion.
Krennic, however, always draped in white, looks interesting—holding the veneer of a futuristic Roman senator—and Mendelsohn plays the role with an awkward authority that gave his brand of villainy a human touch reminiscent of Laurence Olivier’s Crassus in Spartacus (1960).
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His character's zest may be in a broader vein than Peter Ustinov 's peerless turn in "Spartacus."
…it breathes the same air as old school Hollywood epics like “Ben-Hur” and “Spartacus”…
Not every sword-wielding epic needs to have lines meant to reach the heavens like in Spartacus or even The Lord of the Rings…
It is basically the sibling rivalry of Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments” (1956) meets “Spartacus” (1960), but without as much colorful pageantry, more wooden dialogue and zero theatricality.
…one, “I am Spartacus” scene…
“Spartacus” (1960)…
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Stanley Kubrick’s “Spartacus” came close, but that sweeping epic took place centuries ago, long before the pilgrims hit the shores of Massachusetts and our European forefathers began an unwritten policy of treating people of nonwhite pigmentation like pests and livestock.
In that sense, he has a point; one thinks of Laurence Olivier's famous line in Spartacus about snails and oysters, or that moment in Gladiator when Oliver Reed casually asks Russell Crowe whether he wants a girl or a boy.