Spartacus (1960)

All Critics (49) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (56) | Rotten (2) | DVD (31)

This may be the most literate of all the spectacles set in antiquity.

May 8, 2007 Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

Asurprisingly apt companion piece to Paths of Glory in its consideration of the mechanisms of power.

February 9, 2006 Full Review | Comments (8)

Derek Adams

Time Out

Top Critic

It is a spotty, uneven drama.

May 9, 2002 | Comments (12)

Bosley Crowther

New York Times

Top Critic

The most courageous thing about it, from today's standards, is that it closes without an obligatory happy ending, and an audience that has watched for 187 minutes doesn't get a tidy, mindless conclusion.

January 1, 2000 Full Review | Comment (1)

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Top Critic

Kirk Douglas, while a little old in the role, makes a fine action hero, and Stanley Kubrick's still-accessible directing made the movie click.

July 30, 2012 Full Review

Kevin Carr

7M Pictures

Thrilling epic is too intense for the youngest.

December 28, 2010 Full Review

Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

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

August 1, 2010 Full Review

Dan Jardine

Cinemania

Douglas is terrific as the iron-jawed slave fuelled by righteous fury.

June 12, 2009 Full Review

James Christopher

Times [UK]

The great-granddaddy of Ridley Scott's Gladiator hasn't lost any muscle tone after nearly half a century, and Kirk Douglas's direct, unpretentious performance as the great slave-rebel Spartacus is more engaging than ever.

June 12, 2009 Full Review

Peter Bradshaw

Guardian [UK]

One of the greatest Hollywood epics.

June 12, 2009 Full Review

Philip French

Observer [UK]

It is in the observation of human detail, and in many memorable little scenes that the film scores most heavily over other epics, and in which it finds an inner strength.

June 12, 2009 Full Review

Sky Movies

One of the last truly great Roman epics.

June 12, 2009 Full Review

Total Film

Arguably the greatest sword 'n' sandal movie of them all.

October 3, 2007 Full Review

Film4

More than a standard good vs. evil drama, the movie is about a hero's inner struggle to persevere in carrying out an ideal that's almost certain to lead to his demise.

July 22, 2007 Full Review

Phil Villarreal

Arizona Daily Star

...a story of both inward and outward conflicts, common territory for director Kubrick and screenwriter Dalton Trumbo. (HD-DVD Edition)

November 8, 2006 Full Review

John J. Puccio

Movie Metropolis

...notable not only for its expected sword play and scenery, but for the genuine complexity of its characters, their relationships, and their political intrigues.

November 8, 2006 Full Review

John J. Puccio

Movie Metropolis

• 1. Julius Caesar: I thought you had no reservations about the gods.
  2. Sempronius Gracchus: Privately I believe in none. Neither do you. Publicly I believe in them all.
  – Submitted by The Vinh H (46 days ago)
• 1. Spartacus: He'll be back, he'll back and he'll be millions.
  – Submitted by Jesse K (2 months ago)
• 1. Varinia: And neither am I!
  – Submitted by Jesse K (2 months ago)
• 1. Spartacus: I'm not an animal!
  – Submitted by Jesse K (2 months ago)
• 1. Marcus Licinius Crassus: I shall not violate Rome at the moment of possessing her.
  – Submitted by Thomas Y (20 months ago)
• 1. Marcus Licinius Crassus (some scenes 1991 restoratio: Sneak out.
  2. Glabrus: As you wish.
  3. Marcus Licinius Crassus: And for heaven's sake, my young friend, try and see to it that you don't have to sneak back again.
  – Submitted by Thomas Y (20 months ago)