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Click above to purchase "Spartacus: The Criterion
Collection" at amazon.com
Spartacus
The Criterion Collection
review by Anthony D.
Studio: Criterion
Running Time: 196 minutes
Starring Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons,
Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov, John Gavin, Tony Curtis
Written by Dalton Trumbo
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Retail Price: $49.95
Features: Audio Commentaries featuring cast members,
producer, designer, novelist, restoration expert,
screenwriter. Additional Music Cues, Deleted Scenes,
Newsreel Footage, Promotional Interviews, Behind the Scenes
footage, "The Hollywood Ten" Documentary, Storyboards and
Sketches, Production Stills, Lobby Cards, Print Ads, Comic
Book and Original Theatrical Trailer
Specs: 2.2:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, English Dolby
Digital 5.1, English Dolby Surround, English Subtitles,
Chapter Search
Gird your loins. Grab a bowl or two of oysters and/or
snails (or popcorn should your allergies be against
shellfish). Toss that disc of GLADIATOR into the trash bin,
and see for yourself exactly how Hollywood should make a
sword and sandal epic film. The Criterion Collection's two
disc set of 1962's historical epic SPARTACUS is all you'll
need for hours upon hours of entertainment, extras and
enlightenment. Without hesitation I would say that this
moderately priced two disc set is far and away the best DVD
release of a library title this year.
Produced by star Kirk Douglas, whose chiseled chin and
clenched teeth line deliveries are perfectly in pitch for
this role, SPARTACUS explores the issues of slavery in the
pre-Julius Caesar Rome. A riot at a gladitorial school,
stirred by the patrician elite's unquenchable desire for
blood, sets the stage for a long-running slave rebellion,
led by Douglas' Spartacus. The all-star cast includes Jean
Simmons as Spartacus' common-law-wife, John Gavin as Julius
Caesar, Peter Ustinov as the owner of the gladiator school
for slaves, Charles Laughton as a corpulent Roman senator,
John Dall as a centurion with dreams of power, Sir Laurence
Olivier as Dall's patron; a bisexual representation of the
debauchery that was Rome and in a believable performance:
Tony Curtis as Antoninus, a "singah of sahngs." Though
listed as director, Stanley Kubrick actually came aboard
after original director Anthony Mann bowed out. (Kubrick
later disowned SPARTACUS, and it stands as one of the few
films of warmth in the Kubrick filmography). Unlike any
other Kubrick film, this one allows us time to get to know
the characters, and actually develop a fondness for them; we
do care about the romance between Lavinia and Spartacus, we
are drawn to the delightful Batiatus (as were Academy Award
voters, giving Ustinov the Oscar® for his performance)
and Laughton cuts an imposing figure as a senator with a
hidden agenda. Tony Curtis may seem an unlikely casting
choice as the magician/poet Antoninus, but his charm not
necessarily his talent carries him through - - the same
charm that works even better in Blake Edwards' THE GREAT
RACE several years later. Laurence Olivier subtly slinks as
he seethes with sensuality, and the long-suppressed "bathing
scene," where Crassus unsuccessfully tries to seduce
Antoninus, is a classic display of subtextual acting (even
if most of Olivier's dialogue was looped in the restoration
by none other than Sir Anthony Hopkins). Even more overt is
a later scene with John Gavin's Julius Caesar in the Roman
baths which somehow skimmed right over the censors' heads.
The picture is a revelation in clarity and color. Very
few signs of the film's age are evident; and when there are
artifacts, ample explanation is given by restorer Robert
Harris, whose portion of the Audio Commentary takes
everything into account. Framed at a gargantuan 2.2:1 aspect
ratio (one of Kubrick's few wide, widescreen films), not to
mention being anamorphically enhanced, this transfer more
than adequately fills the frame with a delightful array of
hues which remain true to the director's intentions. Scenes
which take place in half-shadow - - Spartacus' first
encounter with Varinia - - bear little graininess in the
darkest areas, with contrast at close enough to reference
quality. Edge enhancement presents no problems. This being a
huge, cast-of-thousands epic, though, I heartily recommend
viewing on a very large screen. Detail, right down to the
infamous Kirk Douglas chin cleft, is top-notch as legion
upon legion of Roman soldiers fill the screen for the film's
climactic battle scene. From the impressive Saul
Bass-designed opening credits straight on through to the
miles of crucified gladiators, "Spartacus"
Super-Technirama-70 presentation is a stunning saga.
The quality of "Spartacus" is likely to please even the
most jaded of viewers, possibly raising a rousing cheer of
"I'm Spartacus" at the appropriate moment; or even a
whispered "I love you, Spartacus" at two other key plot
points. Listening to the newly mastered Dolby Digital 5.1
Surround presentation, Alex North's score rattles and booms
with distinction of instruments rarely heard. Dialogue,
thanks to the restorative efforts, is clean and precise,
never getting lost in the mix. Sir Anthony Hopkins'
re-dubbing of the late Laurence Olivier's lines pose no
problems, but unfortunately Anthony's contribution is pretty
much limited to the infamous "Snails and Oysters" scene, the
dialogue in which sounds reminiscent of pick-up lines that
Hannibal Lector might use. As with many films of this age,
the frontal sound stage is well-used, often with directional
dialogue. From the clashing of the swords, to the delights
of Dalton Trumbo's dialogue, this presentation, with its far
too infrequent use of the .1 channel, is a powerful use of
sound. A Dolby Digital Surround track is also included.
The second disc offers a true treasure trove of
information related to the film. A great deal of material is
dedicated to the Hollywood blacklist, and the repercussions
that roiled Hollywood when Dalton Trumbo (one of the
so-called Hollywood Ten) was finally given the benefit of
non-anonymity as a screenwriter by producer Douglas. There's
very little of the fluff material often associated with
"Special Editions" as the 1960 documentary "The Hollywood
Ten" proves. Told from the viewpoints of the jailed
Hollywood Ten, the documentary reminds us of the
contributions each and every one of the accused brought to
film making. There are additional text documents which give
a strong sense of the climate and history of the McCarthy
era.
Stars Kirk Douglas, Jean Simmons and Peter Ustinov are on
ample display in newsreel footage, and interview reels.
Douglas gives us a tour of the California-based "school for
gladiators," while Simmons and Ustinov are presented in
"open-ended" television interview segments. These black and
white interviews were done so that local television stations
could fool their audiences into believing they had exclusive
interviews with the stars, and we only hear the stars
responses, not the questions. The original re-release
trailer is included as well, in very rough condition. The
deleted scenes represented are actually alternate cuts, for
the most part, including an ending which eliminates all
shots of the crucified Spartacus along the Appian Way.
With the abundance of epic films reaching the dvd market,
SPARTACUS stands head and shoulders above the throng.
Other features include conversations, as an alternate
audio track, with a pre-stroke Kirk Douglas, Peter Ustinov,
Howard Fast (author of the source novel) whose our grapes
attitude is wearing, former blacklisted screenwriter Dalton
Trumbo (yet another alternate audio track) which is an
analytical account of the screenplay, credits' designer Saul
Bass, further exploration of Alex North's knockabout score
in several pages of text and four score variations which can
be accessed through the screen writer's analysis index, and
last, but certainly not least, a short but informative
demonstration of Robert Harris' worthwhile restoration work.
All of this, PLUS a comic book version of "Spartacus!"
Criterion deserves credit for not only chapter encoding the
film, but making the commentaries easily accessable through
their own specific indexes. Of these special features, the
interviews are holdovers from the deluxe laserdisc, also
from Criterion, set released at a hefty price tag nearly
three times as much as this set's asking price.
It seems that suddenly there is a glut on the market of
the grand epics of the early 1960's: "Ben-Hur," "The Bridge
on the River Kwai," "Cleopatra" and "Lawrence of Arabia" all
appeared on DVD within the span of a year! Each and everyone
of these titles demands a major time investment, and often
that time investment pays off big-time, as is the case with
"Spartacus." Comparisons are inevitable, but unnecessary:
"Spartacus" is the most "popcorn" movie of the bunch - - no
enigmatic hero, Spartacus is as up-front as the dimple on
Kirk's chin; no studio-enforced love angle, the affairs of
Spartacus and Varinia are organic; no "All About Eve"-like
witticisms, Dalton Trumbo's screenplay presents a believable
time and space inhabited by real characters who are
portrayed by a remarkable ensemble of actors, with no
cardboard acting at all. In terms of time and money,
"Spartacus," with its invaluable collection of features, and
its carefully preserved restoration, reins in head and
shoulders above the rest.
 (4.5/5 - NOT included in
final score)
 (5/5)
(5/5)
(5/5)
(5/5,
NOT an average)
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