All Rise...

He is Judge Jim Thomas!

Editor's Note

Our reviews of Spartacus: Criterion Collection (published July 3rd, 2001), Spartacus (Blu-Ray) (published May 24th, 2010), Spartacus: The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (published October 24th, 2014), and Universal 100th Anniversary Collection (Blu-ray) (published November 26th, 2012) are also available.

The Charge

They trained him to kill for their pleasure, but they trained him a little too well.

The Case

I have a confession to make: This was the first time I've ever seen Spartacus all the way through. Growing up, I saw bits and pieces, and managed to see larger chunks following the release of the 1991 restoration. But I had never managed to watch the entire film, beginning to end in one go. That is, until Universal's new Spartacus (Blu-ray) Restored Edition fell into my lap.

In 73 BC, the Roman Empire is heavily reliant on slave labor. A Thracian slave, Spartacus (Kirk Douglas, The Villain), repeatedly disrupts work and gets himself a full scholarship to gladiator school in Capua for his troubles. Giving a troublemaker extensive combat training quickly proves counterproductive, as Spartacus leads a slave uprising. The revolt is relatively small at first, but political infighting within the Roman Senate, particularly between Marcus Licinius Crassus (Laurence Olivier, Marathon Man) and Sempronius Gracchus (Charles Laughton, Mutiny on the Bounty), prevents Rome from mounting an effective response. By the time they realize that Spartacus may be a force to be reckoned with, Spartacus has assembled and trained a formidable army. Along the way he meets fellow escaped slave Varinia (Jean Simmons, Guys and Dolls) and romance quickly ensues. He also meets fellow escaped slave Antonius (Tony Curtis, The Great Race); bromance quickly ensues. All Spartacus wants to do is get to the coast and leave the Roman Empire forever; Gracchus, ever the pragmatists, is willing to provide some help on the sly; Crassus, however, sees the defeat of the slaves as a stepping stone to greater power. Alliances are made, alliances are broken, and all the forces come together for a battle for the ages.

My fragmentary viewing had left me with a good appreciation of the acting, the cinematography, and the massive scope of the film; but this last viewing let me appreciate the pacing of the film. Kubrick, brought in after a few weeks of shooting after Anthony Mann clashed with Douglas one time too many, directs with a deliberate pace, but never an indulgent pace. Too many epics get caught up in letting you know that they are By God and Cecile B. DeMille FREAKING EPIC, and they're more than happy to toss in interminable shots of unsurpassed scope to hammer the point home (Cleopatra's arrival in Rome springs to mind). Not here, though. Dalton Trumbo's script focuses on plot and character more than spectacle, and the result is a 3+ hour film that never loses its narrative momentum, alternating skirmishes, political intrigue, and romance with dexterity. A few scenes may play out a bit too long here and there. The infamous bathhouse scene between Olivia and Curtis is one of those, as everyone tries to carefully make sure the audience gets the sexual metaphors; it was scandalous at the time. The scene was cut from the initial release, then restored for the 1991 release. These days, it comes across as quaint.

Douglas won his only competitive Oscar for the role, and it's not hard to see why, as his trademark intensity is well served as Spartacus the man, the soldier, and the legend. The romance between Spartacus and Varinia is well earned, but strong chemistry between Douglas and Simmons. Both the romance and the bromance pay off magnificently in the conclusion, with a pairs of very different yet equally heart-wrenching scenes. Of the major players, surprisingly it is Olivier who has one of the weaker performances, as he is too consciously playing the villain. John Gavin (Psycho) has a small but pivotal role as Crassus protégé, fellow by the name of Julius Caesar.

The 2010 Blu-ray release suffered from a relatively weak transfer. For this release, the film was painstakingly restored from the original film elements. The film was shot in Super Technirama, a 35mm format that runs the film through the camera horizontally to create a larger frame (for reference, IMAX uses a similar format, but at a much higher frame rate). So you start with a film that has more detail than most; it was then scanned at a whopping 6K and then transferred down to 4K. The results are beyond stunning, representing a new level of achievement for film restoration. Textures, flesh tones, landscapes—everything is rendered impeccably. There may be some imperfections here and there, but you'll have to work to spot them. The audio only lags marginally behind the video in quality, with a lossless 7.1 DTS-HD mix mastered from the original six track audio. Unlike most remixes of older films, you get good surround imaging, with strong balance and frequency response.

If this Spartacus (Blu-ray) Restored Edition falters, it is only in the relatively weak slate of extras. New for the disc is a 9 minute interview with Kirk Doulas as he reminisces about the production…as he was both the star and the producer, he has a lot of information. His speech is still somewhat slurred from his 1996 stroke, but the interview is subtitled. The other new extra is a nine minute examination of the restoration. The remaining extras were retained from the previous Universal release. There are some deleted scenes, some vintage newsreels, productions stills, and a trailer. Sadly missing in action are the commentary track and several featurettes from the 2001 Criterion release.

A stunning restoration of a solid film. If you have the Criterion, hang onto it for the extras.

The Verdict

Not Guilty.

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