Spartacus

UPC: 025192142246

Studio: Universal Studios

MPAA Rating: PG13   Contains:[Violence, Adult Situations, Questionable for Children]

Summary: Spartacus (Kirk Douglas) is a rebellious slave purchased by Lentulus Batiatus (Peter Ustinov), owner of a school for gladiators. For the entertainment of corrupt Roman senator Marcus Licinius Crassus (Laurence Olivier), Batiatus' gladiators are to stage a fight to the death. On the night before the event, the enslaved trainees are "rewarded" with female companionship. Spartacus' companion for the evening is Varinia (Jean Simmons), a slave from Brittania. When Spartacus later learns that Varinia has been sold to Crassus, he leads 78 fellow gladiators in revolt. Word of the rebellion spreads like wildfire, and soon Spartacus' army numbers in the hundreds. Escaping to join his cause is Varinia, who has fallen in love with Spartacus, and another of Crassus' house slaves, the sensitive Antoninus (Tony Curtis). The revolt becomes the principal cog in the wheel of a political struggle between Crassus and a more temperate senator named Gracchus (Charles Laughton). Anthony Mann was the original director of Spartacus, eventually replaced by Stanley Kubrick, who'd previously guided Douglas through Paths of Glory. The film received 4 Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actor for Ustinov. A crucial scene between Olivier and Curtis, removed from the 1967 reissue because of its subtle homosexual implications, was restored in 1991, with a newly recorded soundtrack featuring Curtis as his younger self and Anthony Hopkins standing in for the deceased Olivier. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Category: Epic

Awards: Best Picture - Drama – null Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama – null Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – null Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – null Best Director – null Best Original Score – null Best Color Art Direction – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Color Art Direction – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Color Art Direction – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Color Art Direction – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Color Cinematography – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Color Costume Design – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Color Costume Design – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Editing – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Drama or Comedy Score – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Supporting Actor – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Original Score – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Director – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Picture - Drama – Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Spartacus

Format: Blu-ray

Release Date: 06/05/2012

Runtime: 197 Minutes

Dan Jardine

A remarkably expensive production for the time ($12m) that took 167 days to film, Spartacus has been lauded as the "thinking man's" epic because it lacks a happy ending and places as much emphasis on oration as action. The slave revolt storyline, penned in part by the blacklisted Dalton Trumbo, is clearly meant to parallel contemporary American political reality. The decadent Romans are grotesquely shaped versions of the Hollywood movie moguls gleefully leeching the talent, who come in the form of noble battling gladiators in the film. The optimistic liberal message is delivered with a heavy handed via speech spouting slaves, and led director Stanley Kubrick, who was not a big fan of the final product, to complain that the film "had everything but a good story." Kubrick was brought aboard after Kirk Douglas and the film's original director Anthony Mann clashed very early in the production. Although Douglas gives a strident and muscular performance, it is the supporting cast, led by Academy Award winner Peter Ustinov and Laurence Olivier who steal the picture. While it suffers from some of the flaws of epics of this era-such as an overly sanitized portrait of life at the time, and anachronistic visions of fashion and lifestyle-Spartacus also boasts some stirring action and intelligent dialogue. The final scenes of crucified rebel slaves lining the roads to Rome are unforgettably powerful. Propelled by Alex North's triumphant score and filmed in glorious "Super Technirama" 70mm, the wide screen format serves the stirring and spectacular action sequences, some of which used up to 8500 extras, very well. Oscars went to Ustinov, for best supporting actor, art direction, costume design and cinematography. ~ Dan Jardine, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Paul E. Burns  Actor 
Chuck Hayward  Actor 
Cliff Lyons  Actor 
Larry Perron  Actor 
Kay Stewart  Actor 
Frederic Worlock  Actor 
Carey Loftin  Actor 
Tap Canutt  Actor 
Joe Haworth  Actor 
Leonard Penn  Actor 
Tom Steele  Actor 
Louise Vincent  Actor 
Harold Kruger  Actor 
Dick Crockett  Actor 
Sol (Saul) Gorss  Actor 
Charles Horvath  Actor 
Bob Morgan  Actor 
Autumn Russell  Actor 
Joe Canutt  Actor 
Bob Burns  Actor 
Arthur Batanides  Actor 
Ted de Corsia  Actor 
Brad Harris  Actor 
Jill Jarmyn  Actor 
Harvey Parry  Actor 
Aaron Saxon  Actor 
Lili Valenty  Actor 
George Robotham  Actor 
Jerry Brown  Actor 
Vinton Haworth  Actor 
Gil Perkins  Actor 
Bob Stevenson  Actor 
Rube Schaffer  Actor 
Chuck Courtney  Actor 
Seamon Glass  Actor 
Hallene Hill  Actor 
Charles McGraw  Actor 
Chuck Roberson  Actor 
Carleton Young  Actor 
Jo Summers  Actor 
Buff Brady  Actor 
Terence de Marney  Actor 
Harry Harvey, Jr.  Actor 
Regis Parton  Actor 
Dale Van Sickel  Actor 
Anthony Hopkins  Actor 
Wally Rose  Actor 
James Griffith  Actor 
Eddie Parker  Actor 
Russell Saunders  Actor 
Ken Terrell  Actor 
Wayne Van Horn  Actor 
Harold Goodwin  Actor 
Kirk Douglas  Executive Producer 
Stanley Kubrick  Director 
Edward Lewis  Producer 
Alex North  Composer (Music Score) 
Dalton Trumbo  Screenwriter 
Kirk Douglas  Actor 
Laurence Olivier  Actor 
Jean Simmons  Actor 
Charles Laughton  Actor 
Peter Ustinov  Actor 
Tony Curtis  Actor 
John Gavin  Actor 
Nina Foch  Actor 
Herbert Lom  Actor 
John Ireland  Actor 
John Dall  Actor 
Joanna Barnes  Actor 
Harold J. Stone  Actor 
Woody Strode  Actor 
Peter Brocco  Actor 
Paul Lambert  Actor 
Robert J. Wilke  Actor 
Nick Dennis  Actor 
John Hoyt  Actor 
Dayton Lummis  Actor 

Country: USA