Spartacus

Movie: Spartacus (1960)

AFI List #81 on the 2007 list, was not included on the 1998 list.

My List #29

Starring: Kirk Douglas, Peter Ustinoff, and Laurence Olivier

My rating: ˜˜˜˜

So, let me tell you a funny story. I had wanted to watch an AFI movie before I went away for a weekend. This was next in my list, and Netflix had already delivered it to my house. I figured I would be able to watch and maybe do a little packing while I was at it. Sounds fine, right? Well, I didn't start the movie until 10:30 pm, and what I didn't know was that the movie is a little over three hours long! But, did I let that deter me? Of course not! I plowed through.

But I liked this movie. I love underdog-hero-inspiring movies and this one not only had that, but included Peter Ustinoff, who I grew up watching in Disney's Blackbeard Ghost and Disney's Robin Hood where he's the voice of Prince John. He actually won an Academy Award for his performance in this movie too.

So, Kirk Douglas plays Spartacus, a rebellious slave who is sold to a gladiator training school run by Lentulus Batiatus (Ustanov). While he's in training, he meets Varinia and they fall in love, but then she is sold. As she is leaving, Spartacus starts an uprising of the gladiators and they over run the school, the city and the surrounding towns. Many local slaves join the uprising as well as Varinia and she and Spartacus are reunited. Sparacus' plan was to escape with all the slave by sea by making a deal with Cilician pirates.

But once they get to the coast they find out the Roman army (who has been chasing them since the rebellion) have paid off the pirates and the only choice Spartacus and his rebel army now has is to attack Rome. There is little chance of success, but Spartacus eloquently explained, "When a free man dies, he loses the pleasure of life. A slave loses his pain. Death is the only freedom a slaves knows. That's why he's not afraid of it."

The battle is horrific, and only a handful of the army remains. The Roman army leader, a conniving snake of a man, Crassus, has been hunting down Spartacus and wants him dead. The only problem is that he has no idea what he looks like. However, when he offers to let the survivors live in peace if they give up Spartacus, or if Spartacus gives himself up, every survivor, one by one, stands up and claims to be Spartacus. They would all rather suffer his fate than turn him over to the enemy. Wonderful scene. Crassus then takes his anger out on those surviving. There's more, but I'm not giving up the entire ending. You, yourself, needs to watch all three hours.

Overall, I liked it very much. There were some good, thoughtful, inspiring lines. "And maybe there's no peace in this world, for us or for anyone else, I don't know. But I do know that, as long as we live, we must remain true to ourselves."