Spartacus [Criterion Collection] [2 Discs]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Spartacus (Kirk Douglas) is a rebellious slave purchased by Lentulus Batiatus (Peter Ustinov), owner of a school for gladiators. For the entertainment of corrupt Roman senator Marcus Licinius Crassus (Laurence Olivier), Batiatus' gladiators are to stage a fight to the death. On the night before the event, the enslaved trainees are "rewarded" with female companionship. Spartacus' companion for the evening is Varinia (Jean Simmons), a slave from Brittania. When Spartacus later learns that Varinia has been sold to Crassus, he leads 78 fellow gladiators in revolt. Word of the rebellion spreads like wildfire, and soon Spartacus' army numbers in the hundreds. Escaping to join his cause is Varinia, who has fallen in love with Spartacus, and another of Crassus' house slaves, the sensitive Antoninus (Tony Curtis). The revolt becomes the principal cog in the wheel of a political struggle between Crassus and a more temperate senator named Gracchus (Charles Laughton). Anthony Mann was the original director of Spartacus, eventually replaced by Stanley Kubrick, who'd previously guided Douglas through Paths of Glory. The film received 4 Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actor for Ustinov. A crucial scene between Olivier and Curtis, removed from the 1967 reissue because of its subtle homosexual implications, was restored in 1991, with a newly recorded soundtrack featuring Curtis as his younger self and Anthony Hopkins standing in for the deceased Olivier. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 2
• Aspect Ratio: 2.20:1
• Audio: PCM Stereo, PCM Mono, 5.1
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Features:
  • Disc 1:
  • 16x9 transfer of the 1991 fully restored Super Technirama version
  • Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround soundtrack
  • 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
  • English subtitles
  • Restoration demonstration
  • Disc 2:
  • Rare deleted scenes
  • Vintage newsreel footage
  • 1960 promotional interviews with Jean Simmons and Peter Ustinov; 1992 video interview with Peter Ustinov
  • Behind-the-scenes "Gladiatorial School" footage
  • 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
  • Original theatrical trailer
  • Stereo
  • 2.2:1 aspect ratio

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Won Best Color Art Direction - 1960 (Russell A. Gausman, Eric Orbom, Julia Heron, Alexander Golitzen)
•     Won Best Color Cinematography - 1960 (Russell Metty)
•     Won Best Color Costume Design - 1960 (Bill Thomas, Irene Valles)
•     Won Best Supporting Actor - 1960 (Peter Ustinov)
•     Nominated Best Drama or Comedy Score - 1960 (Alex North)
•     Nominated Best Editing - 1960 (Robert Lawrence)

• Hollywood Foreign Press Association

•     Won Best Picture - Drama - 1960
•     Nominated Best Director - 1960 (Stanley Kubrick)
•     Nominated Best Original Score - 1960 (Alex North)
•     Nominated Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama - 1960 (Laurence Olivier)
•     Nominated Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Pictu - 1960 (Woody Strode, Peter Ustinov)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Kirk Douglas - Spartacus
       Laurence Olivier - Marcus Licinius Crassus
       Jean Simmons - Varinia
       Charles Laughton - Sempronius Gracchus
       Peter Ustinov - Lentulus Batiatus

• Director:

  Stanley Kubrick

• Producer:

  Edward Lewis

• Book Author:

  Howard Fast

• Screenwriter:

  Dalton Trumbo

• Cinematographer:

  Russell Metty, Clifford Stine

• Composer (Music Score):

  Alex North

• Musical Direction/Supervision:

  Joseph E. Gershenson, Alex North

• Editor:

  Fred A. Chulack, Robert Lawrence, Robert Sculte

• Production Designer:

  Alexander Golitzen

REVIEW:

• A remarkably expensive production for the time ($12m) that took 167 days to film, Spartacus has been lauded as the "thinking man's" epic because it lacks a happy ending and places as much emphasis on oration as action. The slave revolt storyline, penned in part by the blacklisted Dalton Trumbo, is clearly meant to parallel contemporary American political reality. The decadent Romans are grotesquely shaped versions of the Hollywood movie moguls gleefully leeching the talent, who come in the form of noble battling gladiators in the film. The optimistic liberal message is delivered with a heavy handed via speech spouting slaves, and led director Stanley Kubrick, who was not a big fan of the final product, to complain that the film "had everything but a good story." Kubrick was brought aboard after Kirk Douglas and the film's original director Anthony Mann clashed very early in the production. Although Douglas gives a strident and muscular performance, it is the supporting cast, led by Academy Award winner Peter Ustinov and Laurence Olivier who steal the picture. While it suffers from some of the flaws of epics of this era-such as an overly sanitized portrait of life at the time, and anachronistic visions of fashion and lifestyle-Spartacus also boasts some stirring action and intelligent dialogue. The final scenes of crucified rebel slaves lining the roads to Rome are unforgettably powerful. Propelled by Alex North's triumphant score and filmed in glorious "Super Technirama" 70mm, the wide screen format serves the stirring and spectacular action sequences, some of which used up to 8500 extras, very well. Oscars went to Ustinov, for best supporting actor, art direction, costume design and cinematography. ~ Dan Jardine, All Movie Guide

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