This movie deserves to be #1 on any list!

Rating: 10/10 (15 May 2004)

What surprised me was to see this movie #160 on this list... What a shame!!! The taste of public is really rotten to the core! When I compare old Hollywood movies and first of all, Spartacus, with contemporary remakes or new movies about ancient world I feel like I compare pure 100% gold with a fake one where is nothing but color left but essential qualities of good old movies which made them masterpieces are not there... What makes such movies like Spartacus true masterpieces is a combination of everlasting ideals, brilliant performance, personalities of actors, and a strong feeling of LIVING AMONG the characters at the same time when they lived... The idea of slavery and freedom is at the core of this movie and is present in almost every scene and every dialog. These two phenomena do not belong to our past: even in economical sense slavery is still a reality in some countries. And in much wider sense slavery is still a problem among humans: whether it a straightforward behavior of a superior suggesting a complete power over the subordinate, or a mental slavery, a submission to some ideas, noble or false and anti-human... Each word of each character in this movie carries a load which contributes to a powerful effect it produces on an attentive viewer. And if each word is uttered in such a brilliant way by Kirk Douglas, Jean Simmons, and other great masters against the perfectly designed background, all of it makes this movie an indelible experience... I agree with others who mentioned that K. Douglas deserves an Oscar for his stellar performance. It is, however, neither first nor the last time when injustice has been committed in this world...