Big moments

Rating: Null/10 (10 July 1999)

Overall, the film is pretty good. Kubrick made good use of a script that could have turned out to be horrible and created one of the most epic "Historical" pictures ever. It's authenticity is pretty good, although the American accents and glaringly "Hollywood-ized" dialog do hurt (as well as Jean Simmons' "slave-girl-with-the-hour-long-makeup-job" look). These burps are more than equaled by the spectacular battle near the end and the engrossing political games played in Rome. As far as actors go, it's a mixed bag. While all of the performances were good, I was never able to accept Kirk Douglas and Jean Simmons in their parts (mostly because of the above-mentioned Hollywood corruption). Still, it's proves that while Stanley Kubrick could make thoughtful and left-of-center films, he could also make huge mainstream epic ones as well. The film world will miss him.