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Stanley Kubrick was only 31 years old when Kirk Douglas (star of Kubrick's classic Paths of 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 decadent Roman Empire. Kubrick would later disown the film because it was not a personal project--he was merely a director-for-hire--but Spartacus remains one of the best of Hollywood's grand historical epics. With an intelligent screenplay by then-blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo (from a novel by Howard Fast), its message of moral integrity and courageous conviction is still quite powerful, and the all-star cast (including Charles Laughton in full toga) is full of entertaining surprises. Fully restored in 1991 to include scenes deleted from the original 1960 release, the full-length Spartacus is a grand-scale cinematic marvel, offering some of the most awesome battles ever filmed and a central performance by Douglas that's as sensitively emotional as it is intensely heroic. Jean Simmons plays the slave woman who becomes Spartacus's wife, and Peter Ustinov steals the show with his frequently hilarious, Oscar-winning performance as a slave trader who shamelessly curries favor with his Roman superiors. The restored version also includes a formerly deleted bathhouse scene in which Laurence Olivier plays a bisexual Roman senator (with restored dialogue dubbed by Anthony Hopkins) who gets hot and bothered over a slave servant played by Tony Curtis. These and other restored scenes expand the film to just over three hours in length. Despite some forgivable lulls, this is a rousing and substantial drama that grabs and holds your attention. Breaking tradition with sophisticated themes and a downbeat (yet eminently noble) conclusion, Spartacus is a thinking person's epic, rising above mere spectacle with a story as impressive as its widescreen action and Oscar-winning sets. --Jeff Shannon
Product Description
Stanley Kubrick's star-studded, historical epic concerns the efforts of the slave-gladiator Spartacus (Kirk Douglas) to lead the slaves of the Roman Empire in a rebellion against their masters. The ranks quickly swell as the slave army makes its way across Italy towards the coast. But the despotic Roman senator Crassus (Laurence Olivier) determines to quell the revolt for his own selfish ends, and the stage is thus set for a tremendous battle.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase
The transfer isn't great, it's acceptable but not quite what you'd expect for a film of this magnitude! There is a lot of softness to some scenes and the blacks are poor. It states that it is a restoration that was done in 1991...maybe it's time they did a new one! This is a 5 star movie, let down by an average (out of date!) transfer. On the plus side Kirks chin dimple is generally sharp and well detailed. ;)
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Blu-ray
Like other epics such as 'Lawrence of Arabia' and 'Ben Hur', Spartacus is a movie that has gone through an interesting series of home releases. I say interesting because as is always the way with classic movies, they are often compromised to such a degree that you would wonder how they could ever get away being released in such an un-authentic state. Of course, it was astounding to see what can be achieved with a modern 8K restoration (Ben-Hur) and for 'Lawrence...' fans, the good news is that Sony are rereleasing the film this year with a similar 8K restoration. These are only two examples of the correct treatment such classics deserve, yet Spartacus appears to have gone unnoticed.
What we have here is a transfer from the 1991 print - what was at it's a time a seven figure sum paid to reconstruct the film in the most accurate way. The bulk of the work was done from black and white negative separations which don't fade, so the colours should be pretty much spot on to how the film looked originally. The problem with this Blu-ray, however, is that Universal have for some reason not invested a new digital restoration. This is just the 1991 print with some waxy and often careless DNR applied, meaning the resulting picture is incredibly soft and simply doesn't represent the Technirama format the movie was shot on. On top of this, little effort has gone in to using current technology for removing artefacts and colour fading throughout the film.
I focus on these technicalities because a movie as good as Spartacus deserves the same - if not better - kind of treatment that even lesser films have had on Blu-ray.
As a step up from the DVD release then you are going to notice more consistency in this viewing experience, but you certainly won't be overwhelmed. What a pity Universal will not be digitally restoring this film as part of its '100th Anniversary' releases.
What we have here is a transfer from the 1991 print - what was at it's a time a seven figure sum paid to reconstruct the film in the most accurate way. The bulk of the work was done from black and white negative separations which don't fade, so the colours should be pretty much spot on to how the film looked originally. The problem with this Blu-ray, however, is that Universal have for some reason not invested a new digital restoration. This is just the 1991 print with some waxy and often careless DNR applied, meaning the resulting picture is incredibly soft and simply doesn't represent the Technirama format the movie was shot on. On top of this, little effort has gone in to using current technology for removing artefacts and colour fading throughout the film.
I focus on these technicalities because a movie as good as Spartacus deserves the same - if not better - kind of treatment that even lesser films have had on Blu-ray.
As a step up from the DVD release then you are going to notice more consistency in this viewing experience, but you certainly won't be overwhelmed. What a pity Universal will not be digitally restoring this film as part of its '100th Anniversary' releases.
28 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Great to see another region 2 DVD of such excellent quality. The film itself is wonderful, (see other reviews for story etc) and the picture quality superb, even has a choice of DTS sound, more of that please! Loaded with extras and a short film called the Hollywood Ten. My only gripe is that the movie has been put onto two discs, which means getting off the couch at the intermission, though it is well worth the effort. This is a definite must have for any Stanley Kubrick fan.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent
Very good. Very quick, Very reliable. Very pleased . Super quick . No fuss. Very competitive price wise. Informed when Blu-ray was available straight away.
Published 12 days ago by Mr. Alan W. Beckley
5.0 out of 5 stars
spartacus
this was well worth buying on ble-ray ,the sort of film you watch over and over again ,and benefits from better sound etc.
Published 1 month ago by T. G. Parris
5.0 out of 5 stars
A slave to Spartacus
My late friend Howard had, when I first met him in 1969, seen Spartacus over twenty times (he was then all of 22) and had several different editions of Howard Fast`s superb novel... Read more
Published 1 month ago by GlynLuke
4.0 out of 5 stars
Works fine on US Blu Ray Player
Even though the specs list this Blu Ray as Region B/2, I took a chance and ordered it to play on my US blu ray player. It worked fine, no problems. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Ringcycle
4.0 out of 5 stars
Classic film
A fab film. It may be old but it's fab seeing ditch in the chin (Kirk Douglas) at his best.
Published 1 month ago by R. C. Stocker
5.0 out of 5 stars
spartacus
a exerlent film. i love roman history enyone who likes history of that time i would recomed it to them
Published 1 month ago by eileenbriggs
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent film!!!
The movie is just a classic. Nevertheless, I personally enjoy the series much more since it seems to be more realistic to what really happened.
Published 1 month ago by Juan Carlos (Madrid, Spain)
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good transfer, but not up to the standard of Ben Hur!
Considering it is 53 years old, this is a good transfer, but not up to the standard of Ben Hur! Don`t get me wrong, the picture is very good, as is the 5.1 sound. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Steveosnapper
5.0 out of 5 stars
Spartacus IS fine in blu-ray
It has taken me more than a year to upgrade to blu-ray with Spartacus, perhaps the best of the sword and sandal epics alongside "Ben-Hur" "King of Kings" and a few of the early... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Gerald Corper
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very Good product
The product was as expected.
I love special editions, and digibook Steelbook, taste and also the speed of delivery of special amazon.uk. Read more
I love special editions, and digibook Steelbook, taste and also the speed of delivery of special amazon.uk. Read more
Published 3 months ago by José A. Leme
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