Spartacus

Plot synopsis:
In the 1st century BC, the Roman Republic has slid into corruption, its menial work done by armies of slaves. One of these, a proud and gifted man named Spartacus (Kirk Douglas), is so uncooperative in his servitude that he is sentenced to fight as a gladiator. He is trained at a school run by the unctuous Roman businessman Lentulus Batiatus (Peter Ustinov), who instructs Spartacus's trainer Marcellus (Charles McGraw) to not overdo his indoctrination because he thinks "he has quality". Amid the abuse, Spartacus forms a quiet relationship with a serving woman named Varinia (Jean Simmons), whom he refuses to rape when she is sent to "entertain" him in his cell.
Batiatus receives a visit from the Roman senator Marcus Licinius Crassus (Laurence Olivier), who aims to become dictator of Rome. Crassus buys Varinia on a whim, and for the amusement of his companions arranges for Spartacus and three others to fight in pairs. When Spartacus is disarmed, his opponent, an African named Draba (Woody Strode), spares his life in a burst of compassion and attacks the Roman audience, but is killed by an arena guard and Crassus. The next day, with the school's atmosphere still tense over this episode, Batiatus takes Varinia away to Crassus's house in Rome. Spartacus kills Marcellus, who was taunting him over this, and their fight escalates into a riot. The gladiators overwhelm their guards and escape into the Italian countryside.
Spartacus is elected chief of the fugitives and decides to lead them out of Italy and back to their homes. They plunder Roman country estates as they go, collecting enough money to buy sea transport from Rome's foes, the pirates of Cilicia. Countless other slaves join the group, making it as large as an army. One of the new arrivals is Varinia, who escaped while being delivered to Crassus. Another is a slave entertainer named Antoninus (Tony Curtis), who also fled Crassus's service after the Roman tried to seduce him. Privately, Spartacus feels mentally inadequate because of his lack of education during years of servitude. However, he proves an excellent leader and organizes his diverse followers into a tough and self-sufficient community. Varinia, now his informal wife, becomes pregnant by him, and he also comes to regard the spirited Antoninus as a sort of son.
The Roman Senate becomes increasingly alarmed as Spartacus defeats the multiple armies it sends against him. Crassus's populist opponent Gracchus (Charles Laughton) knows that his rival will try to use the crisis as a justification for seizing control of the Roman army. To try and prevent this, Gracchus channels as much military power as possible into the hands of his own protege, a young senator named Julius Caesar (John Gavin). Although Caesar lacks Crassus's contempt for the lower classes of Rome, he mistakes the man's rigid outlook for nobility. Thus, when Gracchus reveals that he has bribed the Cilicians to get Spartacus out of Italy and rid Rome of the slave army, Caesar regards such tactics as beneath him and goes over to Crassus.
Crassus uses a bribe of his own to make the pirates abandon Spartacus and has the Roman army secretly force the rebels away from the coastline towards Rome. Amid panic that Spartacus means to sack the city, the Senate gives Crassus absolute power. Now surrounded by Romans, Spartacus convinces his men to die fighting. Just by rebelling and proving themselves human, he says that they have struck a blow against slavery. In the ensuing battle, after initially breaking the ranks of Crassus's legions, the slave army ends up trapped between Crassus and two other forces advancing from behind, and most of them are massacred. Afterward, the Romans try to locate the rebel leader for special punishment by offering a pardon (and return to enslavement) if the men will identify Spartacus, living or dead. Every surviving man responds by shouting "I'm Spartacus!" (an idea from Fast's novel, not documented by history). As a result, Crassus has them all sentenced to death by crucifixion along the Via Appia.
Meanwhile, Crassus has found Varinia and Spartacus's newborn son and has taken them prisoner. He is disturbed by the idea that Spartacus can command more love and loyalty than he can and hopes to compensate by making Varinia as devoted to him as she was to her former husband. When she rejects him, he furiously seeks out Spartacus (whom he recognizes from having watched him in the arena) and forces him to fight Antoninus to the death. The survivor is to be crucified, along with all the other men captured after the great battle. Spartacus kills Antoninus to spare him this fate. The incident leaves Crassus worried about Spartacus's potential to live in legend as a martyr. In other matters, he is also worried about Caesar, who he senses will someday eclipse him.
Gracchus, having seen Rome fall into tyranny, commits suicide. Before doing so, he bribes his friend Batiatus to rescue Spartacus's family from Crassus and carry them away to freedom. On the way out of Rome, the group pass under Spartacus's cross. Varinia is able to comfort him in his dying moments by showing him his little son, who will grow up without ever having been a slave.

Tags: violence

Review:
The TV miniseries opens in Gaul 72 B.C. where the Romans put an end to Varinia's world making her a slave Meanwhile Spartacus (Goran Visnjic) is free from the hell of the gold mines of Egypt to be trained as gladiator in the establishment of Lentulus Batiatus (Ian McNeice).Most of "Spartacus" contains many of the miniseries' best moments The operation of the gladiatorial school and its training program is impressive and expressive; the apprentice gladiators are treated like special animals, tutored to perform in the arena as spectator-sport-killers, and occasionally rewarded with a woman in their cellsIn this degrading manner Spartacus meets Varinia (Rhona Mitra) and it is his love for her and his hatred for his captors that brings about his decision to escape and lead revoltParticularly effective is the scene in which Marcus Crassus (Angus Macfadyen) and his bored entourage visit the establishment and request for a private showing at its best of a pair of Thracians Crassus wanted to see courage, passion, and above all finalitySpartacus is matched with the African Draba in a fight to the death, but Draba (maybe rather than live as a beast) chooses to die as a man, attacking his spectatorsThe scene summarizes the iniquity of the situation, the cruelty of bondage, and the subsequent uprising of gladiators in Capua becomes a triumph easy to understand Director Robert Donrhelm did a decent job, carrying the grandeur and the decay of ancient Rome.
Truer to the Howard Fast Novel - New take on great movie.
This is primarily a war movie and the war is a fight for freedom by slaves against the Roman empire.
Most important in this the Draba character, the black gladiator who fights Spartacus.
This would make a nice DVD because the photography is good, the costumes detailed, the acting/casting good, and the story excellent.It is just not the same movie as the 1960 version.
It's more like Howard Fast wrote it originally than what Hollywood made of it in 1960.The 1960 version is superb, but it's not the same as this movie.
The 1960 version of Spartacus remains one of the best historical epics ever made but this new film rates very well beside it.
It is more historically accurate and much more faithful to the original Howard Fast novel on which both films were based.All the actors did a good job.
Goran Visnvjic was an effective Spartacus and Rhona Mitra a feisty Varinia very much in keeping with the book.
Alan Bates is at his best in the role of a senator playing a behind the scenes role in trying to stop Crassus in his drive for power over the Roman state.
I guess that Lawrence Olivier who played Crassus in the 1960 movie is a hard act to follow.The battle scenes are competently performed but the armies look much smaller than the historical record said they were.
Everything seems to be done right, from the first battle when the slaves abseiled down the cliffs of Vesuvius to attack the Roman camp to the splitting up of the slave army when Crixus and Spartacus had a falling out.
The gladiator scenes are just as good as the original too.All in all, a great movie that even die-hard fans of the Kirk Douglas version should enjoy..
Spartacus died in his last battle with Marcus Crassus, which is how the 2004 version is shot.
The 2004 version also shows the fact that Pompey, a popular Roman General called upon by the Roman Senate to help stop the slave revolt, took credit for defeating Spartacus when in fact it was Marcus Crassus who actually defeated Spartacus and his army.
If there is one thing I would have liked added it would be some sort of trailer language that described the remaining years of Marcus Crassus as he was a main character in the movie but the movie sort of left him "hanging" in the end.
In truth, Marcus Crassus never achieved the glory he desired for himself and eventually met a very horrible end when he battled the Persian Army years after the defeat of Spartacus.
Instead of the superhero-style portrayed by Kirk Douglas (which I happened to LOVE that movie), Goran added more depth to the character ...
I also liked how the show developed his skills as a gladiator by having him do some real fighting rather than how it was done in the original.Crassus (played by Angus MacFadyen) was likewise very three-dimensional.
If that character had been born in our century, he'd be king of our country by now.And there were surprisingly strong performances by others in bit-parts, like George Calil as Pompey, Ben Cross as Glabrus, and Henry Simmons as Draba.
And Rhona Mitra was a wonderful Varinia; she and Goran made a perfect couple for the love story in this action picture.The action was exciting, and I'm glad that Goran and the other actors playing gladiators did their own fight scenes.Flipping through a book on Roman history as I watched, I was also surprised to find how historically accurate this version is in both the characters and the events that took place.I loved it!
Highly recommended, especially for fans of Roman history who want a more accurate representation of the real event..
All in all, Spartacus was, in this humble writer's opinion, one of the most fascinating, beautifully choreographed and acted, and, most likely, underrated and unseen mini series of all time..
Spartacus and his army made the Romans pay in much blood and defeat leading up to his and their ultimate defeat, though, requiring 15 or 16 legions to chase them down.
Spartacus is a favorite hero of the Communists, BTW, being the working stiff rising up against the ruling class, etc...The 1960 epic is short on accuracy, instead showing the rebel army defeating the garrison of Rome and another legion or 3 along the way to Brundusium, only to turn back and get overwhelmed by multiple Roman armies.
But they both have the same love story tacked on along with treachery in the Roman Senate by ahistorical Roman Senators, and a Crassus obsessed with possessing the strength of Spartacus by possesing his woman.The 1960 remains my favorite version simply because its a well-done big movie (I wouldn't want to be the one to reprise Olivier's Crassus!)although it was good to see a more accurate portrayal of the course of events shown in the miniseries.
The acting was pretty good, with Spartacus' Visnjic a good choice for the title role..
Directed by Robert Dornhelm and writing credits to Howard Fast for the novel, and Robert Schenkkan for the teleplay, it is an exciting war of the slaves against the Romans.
This is different from the original because the love story is expanded; Spartacus fathered two children by Varinia; one is killed by Crassus, but the other lives after the crucifixion.
Spartacus is played by Goran Visnjic, Lentulas Agrippa is Alan Bates, Pompey is George Calil, and Varinia is Rhoma Mitra.
Spartacus is played by Goran Visnjic from the TV series ER and shows he can be a tough guy too.The film starts with Spartacus being bought by a wealthy Roman to be a gladiator.
Goran Visnjic is exceptionally strong as Spartacus and really has some great sword work in battle.
Starring: Goran Visnjic, Alan Bates, Angus Macfadyen, and Rhona Mitra.4 out of 5 Stars..
Goran Visnjic was perfectly cast as Spartacus, the Roman Slave turned Gladiator who leads a slave revolt that shakes the foundation of the Roman empire.
Goran Visnjic delivers a compelling and convincing performance as Spartacus and in my opinion no one could have done it better.
As Ebert and Roeper said recently in their review of another movie "not only is he (Goran Visnjic) a handsome leading man but a great actor."  The History channel aired a history of "The Real Spartacus" shortly after the airing of the mini series.
Without giving anything away as to the plot (for those who haven't yet seen it) one of the differences between the history and the mini series is in the scene where Spartacus is given a horse as a gift from his men.
In the history of "The Real Spartacus" he supposedly takes out his sword and kills the hore instead of setting it free.
Spartacus - a great story of a slave.
Any remake of this story begs comparisons to Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece and when you come up against greats such as Olivier, Ustinov, Douglas and the old dude who played the fat senator you are going to come up short.
Kirk Douglas was too old and too "Anglo" to play the real Spartacus.
Crassus refers to Spartacus' slave army as "terrorists", talks about a "New World Order" and even uses the phrase "you're either with us or against us".
i just love it (above all, goran visnjich is really handsome as "spartacus", isn't he?) Today i bought the roman from howard fast: "spartacus" and i'm going to read it immediately.
i don't know if the film with kirk douglas is really better than this, because i've read a lot in the internet about people saying the actors act worse and there are too many bloody scenes but i don't think so.
For some reason, many people on this board seem to associate the name Spartacus only with Kubrick and Douglas and assume this is a remake.
It uses the base of what is known about Spartacus and adds fiction like the girl (by the way, I'm a big Rhona Mitra fan, she is sssmokin'), and the love story and so on.
Fast book or not but if this series is treated as another re-interpretation of the story rather than a remake of the old movie I think people would enjoy it a lot more.That said, I thought that this series is really well done, as are many mini-series of this kind such as the Dune ones or Merlin.
It was apparently a remake of the Kirk Douglas version of Spartacus which I saw this week.
The only good part of this movie is Rhona Mitra who played as Varinia and is really beautiful.
Great war movie about the slave revolt led by Spartacus.
This movie presents the story of Spartacus a Thracian slave that leads gladiator slaves out of a slave camp at Capua.
The battle scenes are great reenactments and they show the brutality of the ancient world.The actor that portrays Marcus Crassus plays the aristocratic stuck up general quite well and his rivalry with fellow senator Agrippa keep the plot moving throughout the entire movie.
Not only does this movie show you how these ancient people fought, but it also shows the brutality that the Romans had against there opposing armies.
Overall this movie is one of my favorites and Goran Visnjic was the perfect guy for the job..
The novel by Howard Fast deservedly works as a source for the story of Spartacus on the screen.
This resulted in a fabulous motion picture, a cult Roman epic, the last great production of the period; yet, that is the movie which, for more than half a century, has stood on its own as a more independent production rather than a good novel adaptation.
Robert Dornhelm's SPARTACUS is no remake, which makes all comparisons fruitless but its great challenge of adapting the novel to the modern expectations leaves many factors open for analysis.
The slaves (no human rank within the Roman society) are at the core, the slaves are the 'heroes.' Therefore, at the very beginning when Varinia and Spartacus are equally introduced to us, we feel the very spirit that is so unique in the novel: human stories, simple stories with no king, no hero.
The faithfulness to the novel is expressed in the development of characters, including Spartacus and certain aspects in scenes like the 'soul' blowing between Varinia and Spartacus, the true reason for the revolt in Batiatus' school at Capua, the ill ambitions of 'noble' Marcus Crassus, finally, the rescue of Varinia and the baby.
And that beautifully addresses the novel buffs.Second, unlike the novel built upon flashbacks (beginning with the actual crucifixions of slaves and young adventure seekers' journey for Capua), the linear content in Dornhelm's SPARTACUS better resembles the spirit and manner of epic productions.
performances.Goran Visnijic, to a great extent, emphasizes Spartacus' humanity.
He has little of a great superhero's features - Visnijic's Spartacus is sympathetic, he does not distort the image that was incorporated in the novel – a good husband, a good gladiator and a good 'father' for his peoples.
There is nothing about her that makes you think of Jean Simmons but Ms Mitra is indeed closer to the Varinia described by Howard Fast – a simple girl from Gaul, an emotional girl, a 'savage' girl that makes the proud Roman leader beg her for her love and a Roman senator say "You shame us." All those facts, however, do not justify Robert Dornhelm's SPARTACUS for its flaws that appear to be striking at certain moments.
First, it refers to the character of Draba and the viewers of Draba vs Spartacus fight – the key character and the key moment in the whole story.
You will not find one Gladiator from the Bronx, like the Tony Curtis character in the Kirk Douglas version, saying "I luv ya Spa-da-gus." Instead this excellently acted version of Spartacus is compelling and realistic.
It follows the history of the real Spartacus more closely than the Hollywood version.
Goran Visnjic's portrayal of Spartacus is the best.
PLUS, the lead role gladiators all did their own stunts in the gladiatorial arenas and on the battlefields -- loved the "twirling sword" action (like twirling a six gun.)  There was a second airing a few days back and I watched it again.
It's as simple as this: Why try to do a remake of an incomparable masterpiece as Kubrick's Spartacus, even if you're gonna add new twists to the story?
That Goran guy who plays Spartacus is a horrid actor; the guy who played Crassus is not as bad as Goran, but it's plain sad to see him reprise the role made famous by King Olivier.
Rhona Mitra is sexy and gorgeous, which is fine for me, but it's pathetic to imagine that sex goddess as a poor roman slave.The only good (and sad) thing in this film is the presence of the wonderful Alan Bates.
MacFadyen, who played an equally milquetoast Robert the Bruce in Mel Gibson's wonderful Braveheart, downplays Crassus to the point of reducing him to a two dimensional roman farcic play actor playing at Crassus, while Alan Bates (may he rest in peace) does his best to underplay Agrippa although he'd like to act MacFadyen into the ground, but is too weak physically or just doesn't care.
And as much as I sometimes tire of Kirk Douglas's over-the-top acting, his raw power in the original Spartacus was a world-away more convincing..
Goran Visnijic really isn't up to carrying a movie, and when you're playing a strong role like Spartacus, you need to do more than brood.
The film's strongest point was that it closely followed "The True Story of Spartacus", as shown on the History Channel.
Well, honestly did you expected this made for TV-version to be better than the Stanley Kubrick 1960 movie starring Kirk Douglas?
I'm interested at what he can do with more resources and a bigger budget.The movie is definitely good looking and by no means cheap or clumsy, as you most likely would expect from a made for TV-movie about the story of Spartacus.
The movie has some surprisingly large and good looking battle sequences.
Marvellous epic version about Spartacus existence with exciting drama and overwhelming battles.
This is a new version about the true story of gladiator Spartacus (Goran Visnjic), formerly adapted by Kubrick in a famed masterpiece.
Sword cross, drama, gladiators fights abound in this spellbinding adaptation on audacious Spartacus existence , one of the most rebels in the history.
Although redundant to original movie , is a fitting description of Spartacus character, however is sometimes a shot for shot recreation but it doesn't insult the viewer's intelligence.
The movie will like to people enamored for historic deeds and epic feats..
Overall, I was not overly disappointed with this version of the Spartacus story - that of the Roman Gladiators Revolt.
At points it actually was more factually correct than the 1960 Kirk Douglas version and played at a more rudimentary level than the glorified Hollywood original.What I did find strange and not so surprising (here comes the spoiler part - although I don't think so) is the imagery created by the crucifixion and closing dialogue of the David character.
Anyone that knows the original movie or the actual events that inspired them knows that Crassius crucified the captured slaves along the Apian Way. As far as I know there is no factual basis for the character of David a Jew that revolted along with Spartacus from the Gladiator school.
I have always loved the original Spartacus.
I liked David, the Jewish gladiator,s in this movie, with more of an expanded role; Crassus was equally good, but didn't have as much seriousness to him as Laurence Olivier.
With this plot change, the movie loses several of the greatest emotional parts ever written or filmed: the famous, "I am Spartacus" scene, the fight between Spartacus and Antoninous, each trying to kill the other out of love, and the scene with Spartacus on the cross, and his last words to his wife.Although this remake was good, the original will live on forever.7 out of 10..
The movie Spartacus is a great movie about love and struggles.
Because in this film, Sparticus is taken in as a slave along with hundreds of other men (called gladiators) and women who have to fight to the death, just for entertainment of the people in the city.