The Legend of Spartacus.

Rating: 8/10 (26 April 2006)

This is a Stanley Kubrick film and you know what that means.A film way ahead of its time. A film far superior than any swords and sandal epic you'll watch in the modern cinema. A powerful achievement. A film far better than the over-hyped ,produced ,cheesy and lame in terms of performances , but with glorious Production design and a chariot race,BEN HUR. Those 11 Academy awards should've gone to this film.
For 12 million dollars of budget it creates a film with a scale that is unimaginable.No CGI effects used for its spectacular battle scenes. Those who say that Stanley Kubrick films lack emotion should watch this film. There were many touching and emotional moments in the film especially towards the end. With Scenes that look like as if they were shot in present days with modern technology rather than in the 60's.
The Sets were elevating, and performances were strong.Kirk Douglas leads the whole film without trouble. At over 3 hours this film never feels like a boring film ,with the exception of some scenes that could've trimmed(Blame the writer).
It is Kubrick that enriches every film of his.He brings the utter realism and beauty to every shot and never makes it look like a cheesy 50's film.
This unrated Director's Cut is splendid and surpasses all swords and sandal epics we come across nowadays.Before there even was The Gladiator ,there was Spartacus.
Although it is a major disappointment that this film wasn't even given as much nominations or awards as Ben Hur got and that performances in that film were lame and weak.