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Spartacus (1960)
DVD (2 discs
+ 1 features
)
Blu-ray (1 discs
)
Digital ✓
Genre: Action
Aspect Ratio: Wide
Sound: DD 5.1
Academy Awards:
4 Wins , 6 Nominations
Synopsis
Freedom is worth fighting for, even when the odds are overwhelming and the price is everything. Stanley Kubrick was just 31 when Kirk Douglas, who had starred in Kubrick's classic "Paths of Glory," brought him aboard to direct "Spartacus," the epic tale of a rebellious slave (Douglas) who leads an uprising against the decadent Roman Republic. Kubrick later distanced himself from the film because it wasn't a personal project - he was essentially a hired director - but it remains one of the finest of Hollywood's grand historical epics. Dalton Trumbo's intelligent screenplay, adapted from Howard Fast's novel, carries a message of moral courage and conviction that's still powerful today, and Trumbo's screen credit helped break the Hollywood blacklist that had kept him writing under false names. The all-star cast, including Charles Laughton in full toga, is full of entertaining surprises. Restored in 1991 with scenes cut from the original 1960 release, the full-length version is a sweeping cinematic marvel, featuring some of the most spectacular battles ever filmed and a performance by Douglas that's as tender as it is heroic. Jean Simmons plays Varinia, the enslaved woman who becomes Spartacus' wife, and Peter Ustinov steals the show with his frequently hilarious, Oscar-winning turn as a slave dealer who shamelessly flatters his Roman patrons. The restoration also returned a once-censored bathhouse scene in which Laurence Olivier's ruthless general Crassus makes veiled advances toward his young slave, Antoninus (Tony Curtis), with Olivier's missing dialogue re-recorded by Anthony Hopkins. The restored scenes push the running time past three hours. Despite a few forgivable lulls, it's a rousing, substantial drama that grabs and holds your attention. Breaking from tradition with sophisticated themes and a downbeat yet deeply noble ending, it's a thinking person's epic that rises above spectacle, and it won four Oscars, including Best Art Direction.
Cast
Kirk Douglas
Laurence Olivier
Peter Ustinov
John Gavin
Tony Curtis
Charles Laughton
Jean Simmons
Director
Stanley Kubrick
Awards & Nominations
- Oscar Nominee: Best Film Editing
- Oscar Nominee: Best Music, Original Dramatic Score
- Oscar Winner: Best Actor In A Supporting Role
- Oscar Winner: Best Art Direction-Set Decoration
- Oscar Winner: Best Cinematography
- Oscar Winner: Best Costume Design
Keywords
Academy Award Winners
AFI Top 100
AFI Top 100 Inspiring
AFI Top 100 Thrillers
Ancient Greece / Rome
Cult Film / TV
Drama
Thrillers
Technical Specifications
Audio Languages
English, French
Subtitle Languages
English, French, Spanish
Special Features
- Audio commentary
- Deleted/extended scenes
- Featurettes/Behind-The-Scenes/Documentaries
- Interviews
- Photo gallery
- Trailers/TV spots
- Audio Commentary by Producer/Actor Kirk Douglas, Actor Peter Ustinov, Novelist Howard Fast, Producer Edward Lewis, Restoration Expert Robert A. Harris, and Designer Saul Bass
- Screenwriter Dalton Trumbo's Scene-by-Scene Analysis
- Additional Alex North Score Compositions
- Restoration Demonstration
- Rare Deleted Scene
- Vintage Newsreel Footage
- 1960 Promotional Interviews with Jean Simmons and Peter Ustinov
- 1992 Video Interview with Peter Ustinov
- Behind-the-Scenes "Gladiatorial School" Footage
- The 1960 Documentary The Hollywood Ten Plus Archival
- Documents About the Blacklist
- Original Storyboards by Saul Bass
- Hundreds of Production Stills, Lobby Cards, Posters, Print Ads and A Comic Book
- Sketches by Director Stanley Kubrick
- I Am Spartacus: A Conversation with Kirk Douglas