It's disjointed and at times seeps with Hollywood, but you can see Kubrick's genius poking out here and there, Kirk Douglas' performance is excellent and the film is a joy to look at like most epics of the time, but it hasn't aged all that well either. That being said, it's hard to give it a lower rating simply because it's ridiculously entertaining and engaging from beginning to end. I still get weirded out by some of the more out-of-place gore effects, but it's a fun movie none-the-less.

One of the best pictures about ancient Rome for sure, but definitely not the best by Kubrick. We can feel the touch of the genius but it was always more Douglas' project after all. The film is saturated with memorable scenes and dialogues witch is really awesome to look at, but it's also kind of too long and far fetched, regarding the historical facts, depicted in the film. Anyway it will always remain in the top list of cinema history.

An excellent epic, I like that part of the history of Rome. But it's Kubrick's film, which seems less a movie of it.

A rare epic that is intelligent, focused and inspiring.

349

It doesn't much feel like a Kubrick film, and the stories of creative differences on the set seem to support that contention. Spartacus is a good movie and the scope is epic, but it's too long and the characterizations lack subtlety.