Kind of lame

Rating: 7/10 (28 June 1999)

Finally saw it and I've got to say, in a lot of ways it was pretty bad. The Roman power politics, and the final battle scene were great but not enough. Why would anyone follow Douglas' Spartacus? He doesn't appear to have been a very bright general, or even a particularly good gladiator. We keep hearing about the great victories his army wins, why don't we ever see one. Any scenes with Spartacus and Varinia were atrociously get-up-and-rummage-through-the-fridge bad. And the score was deadly, even embarrassing at times. Why put an extended version in the director's cut? I've got to assume Kubrick had little control, the music he chooses is usually fascinating and none of his touches caught my eye. The movie is all right, but aside from its scale, and Roman drama, nothing special.