Good for a Hollywood Film; Ehh for a Kubrick Film

Rating: 7/10 (5 October 2006)

Far, FAR better than "Ben-Hur," which came out the year before, "Spartacus" still doesn't quite shake some of the same epic movie shackles that made William Wyler's film such a dismal bore. The point of this film is the sets and costumes; the studios denied Kubrick the freedom to direct this movie in his instantly recognizable style, so while it's certainly solidly enough crafted and easy to sit through, it also feels anonymous, which wouldn't be so bad if you didn't know that someone as distinctly NON-anonymous as Kubrick helmed it.
Can you imagine how much better "Spartacus" would have been if Kubrick had been able to direct it in the same style as that other piece of eye candy he created, "Barry Lyndon?" Best not to think about such things that can never be.
Grade: A-