One of the great epics

Rating: 7/10 (12 May 1999)

In 1960, "Spartacus" must have been a stunning achievement - it was one of the most magnificent, intellectual, daring epics since "Gone With the Wind" and dealt with important ideas like freedom and independence as well as spectacle. The unconventional ending denies the hero a happy victory, and he has to take solace in the fact that maybe the world will be better for his children as a result of his achievement.
In 1999, it still holds up well, especially the quality of the battle scenes and the subtle dance of sexual motivations. In particular, there is a key, daring scene which has been restored in the new version (it was cut by censors), where Olivier's Senator Crassus and a slave, played by Tony Curtis, share a bath. In that scene, the complex motivations of Crassus are made clear, and they are way ahead of their time - Crassus confesses, "I like both oysters and snails," and essentially reveals that he is a bisexual who sexual desires are a form of conquest and an outgrowth of his possessive nature.
Unfortunately, I also found to be a very restrained film. Writer Dalton Trumbo suffered at the hands of the Hollywood blacklisters (this is his first screen credit since he was blacklisted more than 10 years before), but he avoids any stirring speeches about freedom and revolution. Frankly, it isn't clear to me why the other slaves are so quick to join Spartacus in his largely personal rebellion, or why they follow him as a leader. The audience has to believe that the individual freedom we enjoy in 20th century America was universally and automatically something that the gladiators were willing to readily die for, on Spartacus' say-so.
Director Kubrick's later works (most notably "A Clockwork Orange") would rebel against authoritarian governments with much more passion than this film. In addition, the relationship between Spartacus (Kirk Douglas) and Varinia (Jean Simmons) is tender but restrained; they fall in love in the opening scenes of the movie even though they never speak, barely ever touch each other and never speak more than three words.
All that said, the film is a remarkable achievement. The performances are all superb, especially Ustinov's sly, Oscar-winning comic performance; Olivier's evil dictator; Laughton's wonderful work; and Simmons and Douglas as well.
The battle scene is one of the most spectacular ever filmed, with over 8,000 Spanish soldiers filling out the ranks of the slaves and the Roman army, in sharp contrast to those all-too-common ancient battle scenes in which fast cutting and close shots fail to create the illusion that the couple of dozen men fighting are two clashing armies.