I like epics, but this wasn't among the best I've seen

Rating: 6/10 (24 March 2015)

I went to Rome last fall and I'm now amusing myself by watching lots of movies set in Rome, both present-day and ancient-history oriented. I enjoyed "Ben Hur" and "Quo Vadis", but "Spartacus" was kind of difficult to sit through. Maybe it was too much of a Kirk Douglas overdose. Maybe it was Peter Ustinov (who I usually enjoy) hamming it up to the point where he was out-hamming Charles Laughton, a neat trick in itself. Ustinov apparently won an Oscar for his performance; personally I thought his humor was misplaced and overdone in this context, although he was certainly funny.
I've read that up to 10,000 people were associated with this film, and I think I saw them all in one scene where the slaves are coming over the hills towards the Romans. For a moment I automatically thought the effect had to be CGI, but then of course I remembered this was 1960 and those were in fact real extras running down the hillside like thousands upon thousands of ants. That shot was absolutely breathtaking; I'm glad I saw the film just to be able to experience the awesomeness of that scene.
One of my favorite character actors, Harold J. Stone, had a significant supporting role as one of Spartacus' advisers; it was fun to see him in his prime doing drama.
I'm sure I would have gotten less out of the film if I hadn't had the "I was in Rome" focus to hang it all on. The sight of the crucified slaves, dozens of them, hanging all along both sides of the Appian Way was rather sobering, to say the least, since I couldn't help but recall the moments I spent walking along that same road.
I've seen "Ben Hur" a couple of times and I would certainly consider watching "Quo Vadis" again, but I think once was enough for "Spartacus".