Kubrick's Hollywood Calling Card

Rating: 8/10 (16 May 2016)

Kubrick's films are sleepers. Not that Spartacus didn't make money on it's initial release in 1960. It was successful, both critically and commercially, but I had little interest in the film when I first saw it on TV when I was young. Much like 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining and Full Metal Jacket, Kubrick's films, for whatever reason, took a while to grow on me, and I'm not alone in this. Spielberg, Scorsese and other film making legends agree. But my local cinema had a season of Kubrick, playing 2001 and Spartacus. For the first time I saw them on the big screen, with the strident, thundering score, the amazing battle scenes and incredible cinematography, and I now love this film. 2001 as well.
Kirk Douglas is great as the title character. Peter Ustinov's performance was fantastic, his Oscar win was well deserved. The most well known scenes are of course, the "I am Spartacus!" scene and the gladiator fight. But there's so much more to this film. Is it Kubrick's best? No. Kubrick disliked the film, and later disowned it, citing studio interference and what he considered to be a dumb script as the reasons why. I don't disagree, it is a flawed film, but still thoroughly enjoyable.
Is it his most personal? No, but it is better than Ben- Hur and a lot of films from that era, and it's aged a lot better than other sword and sandals epics from the 50s and 60s. And the reoccurring themes in his films where man is made into a killing machine would reappear in Full Metal Jacket. Kubrick's films are in my opinion, some of the greatest ever made, they just take a while to creep under the skin.