Rent Spartacus (1960)

Watch Trumbo first. A significant movie. - Spartacus review by BP

Long and a bit clunky but enjoyable, so long as the neat hairstyles don't irritate you.

More particularly, an extra ingredient is its significance from a 1940-60s USA political point of view - McCarthy etc, then black equal rights. Until I re-watched recently, then saw Trumbo, I hadn't realised what an important film it was, for its time. And still is, actually.

A useful antacid for the indigestion caused by the present USA political administration.

You'll have to devote an evening, as it is so long, but time does not drag and there's a useful half time to fetch the coffee and whisky!

Epic, Captivating Film - Spartacus review by GI

A stupendous Roman epic that never fails to entertain even after seeing it many times. It's a stirring story with a really touching love story at its heart, a fantastic huge battle scene and a tearjerker ending. This is a cinema at its most spectacular and if you ever get a chance to see this on the big screen then I urge you to take the opportunity. With a screenplay by Dalton Trumbo, who at the time was blacklisted for his communist sympathies, you'll find allegory to the McCarthyist witch hunts that plagued Hollywood in the 1950s. This film's success effectively lifted the blacklist once and for all. Kirk Douglas plays the title role in the story, set in 73BC, of a Roman slave who gets trained as a gladiator and leads a slave revolt which escalates across Italy forcing the Roman senate to send an army to destroy his slave army. This is led by Crassus, played by Laurence Olivier in a fantastic performance and the film has acting support from Peter Ustinov (who won an Oscar for his performance), Charles Laughton, Tony Curtis and Jean Simmons. There's wonderful Cinematography and the big set pieces are wonderful not least the climactic battle which for its time is quite realistic and bloody. There's political intrigue, romance, humour and gritty action in a wonderful epic of a film that everyone must see at least once. Brilliantly restored a few years ago with some lost scenes reinserted, including the infamous 'oysters and snails' conversation, this is a must see film. This is simply fantastic.

Classical Epic. - Spartacus review by Steve

This saga of the ancient Roman world remains relevant, unlike many contemporary historical epics, because its themes are timeless and universal. Spartacus (Kirk Douglas) was a slave and gladiator who went to war with Rome to gain the freedom of his class. When he rouses his army before the battle he is obviously also speaking to the emerging US civil rights movement.

And Dalton Trumbo's brilliant script references the McCarthy witch-hunt of the '50s. Trumbo was one of the Hollywood Ten who refused to co-operate with HUAC. The famous scene when the Roman general (Laurence Olivier) commands the survivors of the uprising to identify Spartacus and they all respond "I am Spartacus" must have gone straight to the heart of US audiences.

Douglas' performance is immense. He is matched by Olivier who evokes decadent cruelty without overacting or a flicker of camp. The whole cast is excellent. Peter Ustinov steals his scenes as an unctuous, mercenary slave merchant. Alex North's innovative score does a lot of the heavy lifting. The Roman world feels plausible, whether the intimate interiors or the huge hillside battle scene.

It's a grand spectacle which demonstrates that political miracles are possible. And it continues to inspire. This is the best film of its genre, not because of the epic scale but because of its powerful evocation of humanity and brotherhood. And Douglas' production broke the stranglehold of HUAC on American cinema, which may even be the film's greatest legacy.