| Overall Grade: |
A |
|
| Story: |
A |
|
|
| Acting: |
A- |
|
|
| Direction: |
A |
|
|
| Visuals: |
A- |
|
|
Outstanding historical epic
by James (movies profile)
Feb 18, 2007
5
of
5 people found this review helpful
Probably the best (along with Lawrence of Arabia) of the historical epics which were mainstays of the cinema in the late 1950's and 1960's, this movie tells the story of a slave revolt against Rome in the century before Christ. Some of the actors - Laurence Olivier, Peter Ustinov, and Kirk Douglas are outstanding, as are Stanley Kubrick's direction and Alex North's score. Along with stunning visuals, there is a lot of subtlety in the movie (particularly in the motivation of the characters) which is not apparent in the first viewing. Definitely see the recut version of the mid-1990's, which includes important cut material deemed too controversial but the censors in 1960, but critical to the movie's theme. |
My Public Profile 
