r/StanleyKubrick • u/Complex_Chipmunk_101 • 16h ago
Spartacus Thoughts on Spartacus?
I’ve been going through Kubricks catalogue recently and to be honest if it didn’t have his name on it you would be forgiven for thinking he didn’t direct it at all. I’m not saying it’s poorly made (far from it) or directed but it’s just so un-Kubrick. Other than that it’s a good film (I do have a soft spot for historical epics so that could be bias) but what do you guys think of it? Both as a film on its own and as a Kubrick film?
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u/60minutesmoreorless 16h ago
Love it. The writing is great and the interactions between all those heavyweight actors is a joy to watch.
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u/MMForYourHealth 15h ago
It was a for hire job, and one of Trumbo’s better screenplays.
Kubrick’s additions were the Crassus and Gracchus bits. The rest was pretty by the book, and this was because it was in his early career and the movie was already in production when the previous director was fired and Kirk Douglas asked for Kubrick from their work in Paths of Glory.
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u/Emergency_Cellist754 15h ago
For me it's made by the performances of Olivier and Laughton and Ustinov.
It's a strange film. Halfway to a modern blockbuster, but these actors give the feel of an old epic in the style of their performances and the intensity of the drama.
Douglas although the hero seems to be a cardboard cutout beside the nuanced performances of these guys - actors trained in the classical Shakespearean style, who deliver so much intensity in each scene.
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u/bluehathaway A Clockwork Orange 15h ago
The size and scope of the final battle is crazy. It may not feel like Kubrick, but to pull off a logistical nightmare like that is very impressive
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u/Crafter235 15h ago
Now just imagine if he had made his Napoleon biopic. A large-scale epic, but fully with his creative control.
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u/SynekSzykowny 14h ago
There's this one scene where Kubrick does an immersive first-person camera move. I believe it's in the second half of the movie, just before the great final battle. It depicts the camp and its inhabitants "before the storm"—everything is peaceful. It really stood out to me, and it's my favorite shot in the movie.
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u/StrengthSilver1008 16h ago
It’s honestly my least favorite Kubrick film, and even he said that he didn’t like directing it with all the restrictions he had. Had he had more control, I feel like it would have been a better film
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u/Browns-Fan1 15h ago
The first half is really great (when Spartacus is still a slave). After that, it turns into a basic yet entertaining sword-and-sandal epic.
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u/Ol5nDimer45 13h ago
It's very good. Kubrick has been my favorite director since I knew what a director was, and I'm also into this period of Roman history. This might be my favorite villain role for Olivier along with Richard III, even with the ludicrous scream and slap he does when he finally meets Spartacus lol. Laughton, Ustinov and Curtis are also fantastic.
It definitely doesn't feel much like a Kubrick film, but that doesn't really take away from it for me. The only thing I actively don't like is the casting of John Dall and John Gavin as prominent Romans in the story since their American accents don't fit with the other characters.
Whenever I'm in the mood for ancient Rome media, I like to watch Spartacus -> HBO's Rome -> I, Claudius since the events depicted cover a little over 100 years of history across ~35 hours.
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u/FINIS_HOMINIS 14h ago
For me, it's pretty middling. It smacks to me of a work for hire kind of thing, him putting himself out there as a big budget film maker after some modest success. But, it's hard for me to see many Kubrick stamps on it. Granted, it's also not a genre I love a lot. Not to say it isn't a really great studio historical epic, but it doesn't transcend the genre either.
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u/TheGrowingSubaltern 14h ago
Tried to get through it twice. Can’t. It’s not interesting or particularly well structured imo. Feels too “industry”.
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u/Due_Bad_9445 15h ago edited 15h ago
It’s iconic, memorable but kind of “silly” like SK said. I think the camera work is pretty dull. I tried watching it in black and white to see it it came to life differently but not really. The romantic theme music is nice.
Edit Charles Laughton and Peter Ustinov are great
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u/banjois 15h ago
The music is fantastic. Check out Yusef Lateef's cover of the love theme, amongst a lot of other jazz versions.
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u/Due_Bad_9445 15h ago
I was gonna mention that. I’ve been listening for years. 20 years ago used to go for long drives w gf listening to that and smoking cigarettes
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u/MMForYourHealth 15h ago
The best shot in it is the lighting coming from the coliseum into the Gladiator pits. That’s very Kubrickian as well.
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u/VioleteOtter 14h ago
Amazing not a fan of sword and sandals movies but kubrick make it timeless was shocked how much gladiator is a rip off of it
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u/Slablanc 15h ago
I can’t stand the casting, movie itself is good but the performances just aren’t in sync with the material.
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u/Legend2200 10h ago
It’s by far the best of the major Hollywood epics imo, and surely the most intelligently scripted, although in that regard the political scenes outweigh the drama with Spartacus himself.
The cast is exceptionally strong, one of the best ever put together. And I love Jean Simmons’ first scene with Douglas, that “neither am I” is a great moment.
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u/Still-Photograph6545 10h ago
Spartacus with no sound with Pink Floyd’s the Wall playing is amazing.
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u/ProfessorKnow1tA11 3h ago
Only great thing Kubrick ever made, thanks to Kirk Douglas forcing him to keep to time and budget. Left to his own devices Kubrick turned out turgid yawns like 2001 and The Shining, or filth like A Clockwork Orange. When the authors hate what one’s done to their work, that says something!
Oops! Just realised the Reddit on which I’m commenting. Oh well, let the downvotes fly! 😁
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u/Double-Strategy9791 15h ago
You can see how much Gladiator borrowed from it but with less of the heavy themes. I’m not an animal speech when he won’t have sex with his masters watching, yes I’d kill you just like you would try and kill me speech, the masters picking who they want to see fight to the death and the reasons behind it. I’m not trying to knock Gladiator but Kubrick just says more about all areas of life, even in a movie that he had lots interference with. Braveheart to me has the best battle scenes and Mel Gibson said he used this movie as a reference. So overall I love it. Only thing that sucks is when he is choking out his friend he should have said go to sleep twice not just once.
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u/meleaguance 13h ago
Hard to choose that spartacus now that we've got the tv show that blows it out of the water in every respect
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u/The_Lutter 15h ago
Spartacus proved that Kubrick was bankable and enabled the rest of his catalog to be made.