Classicist here! This movie actually is not that accurate, for starters, sources as Plutarch suggest that Spartacus was actually born into Thracian nobility but was enslaved because he deserted the roman army, and also, historically, the gladiatorial army first went north, almost escaping to the Alps, but for unknown reasons they did not, this is not shown in the movie. As for costuming ands such, I think that most of it, while very romany-looking and very pretty is a byproduct of Hollywood, and also, in the weapons used, in the combat between Dabra and Spartacus in the fist act is not quite right, trident and net gladiators were not a thing until the time of Augustus. As for the political intrigues depicted, Gracchus did not exist and certainly, Crassus never became a dictator. Also, but most importantly, this move is based in Howard Fast´s novel, Spartacus, which he wrote in 1951 while imprisoned in the U.S for being a communist, so many of those filler scenes, which are personally my favorite, are actually meant to critique the U.S government in a subtle way, one example of this being when Marcellus tells Spartacus that intelligence is dangerous in a slave.
1) You forgot to mention Charles Laughton as part of the cast. The best scenes in the movie are anything involving him, Ustinov, and/or Olivier. 2) I don't know why Mel Gibson gets so much flak for "historically inaccurate" movies when that's hardly out of the norm in Hollywood. Is it because the "wrong people" like his movies? 3) Spartacus is a good example of a movie with tons of lefty messaging that is still enjoyable thanks to the talent of the people involved. The Spartacus legend itself became a favorite amongst socialists/communists in the 19th century; this movie was based on the novel by Howard Fast, a man who associated with communists if not one himself, and Trumbo, as you mentioned, had ties to communists. The difference between a movie/show like Spartacus, and movies/shows made today, is that media used to understand subtlety and tact. The messaging in Spartacus is specifically tailored to Boomer sensibilities about freedom, slavery, etc. A character like Gracchus, shady but "for the right things", is someone who left-liberal Boomers may tolerate, but not their millennial or Zoomer counterparts. Such is the lack of subtlety today that this movie seems "apolitical" by comparison. For example, think of any show/movie from ABC Family/Freeform over the past two decades, which had tons of social commentary, yet little of it presented with the same skill or acting as Spartacus. Even when the messaging may not even be that dissimilar.
I would be curious to know your opinion on the movie Quo Vadis (1951) ! I love this one, crazy Nero and superb Petronus
I'll have a look at it when it is possible, thank you for the suggestion.
What A Cast Legends, So Sad But So So Good 🙏💖💯😁😁
Kirk Douglas and Kubrick also made "Paths of Glory" maybe the Best Ant-War film ever.
Another good one is Breaker Morant..
Classicist here! This movie actually is not that accurate, for starters, sources as Plutarch suggest that Spartacus was actually born into Thracian nobility but was enslaved because he deserted the roman army, and also, historically, the gladiatorial army first went north, almost escaping to the Alps, but for unknown reasons they did not, this is not shown in the movie. As for costuming ands such, I think that most of it, while very romany-looking and very pretty is a byproduct of Hollywood, and also, in the weapons used, in the combat between Dabra and Spartacus in the fist act is not quite right, trident and net gladiators were not a thing until the time of Augustus. As for the political intrigues depicted, Gracchus did not exist and certainly, Crassus never became a dictator. Also, but most importantly, this move is based in Howard Fast´s novel, Spartacus, which he wrote in 1951 while imprisoned in the U.S for being a communist, so many of those filler scenes, which are personally my favorite, are actually meant to critique the U.S government in a subtle way, one example of this being when Marcellus tells Spartacus that intelligence is dangerous in a slave.
1) You forgot to mention Charles Laughton as part of the cast. The best scenes in the movie are anything involving him, Ustinov, and/or Olivier.
2) I don't know why Mel Gibson gets so much flak for "historically inaccurate" movies when that's hardly out of the norm in Hollywood. Is it because the "wrong people" like his movies?
3) Spartacus is a good example of a movie with tons of lefty messaging that is still enjoyable thanks to the talent of the people involved. The Spartacus legend itself became a favorite amongst socialists/communists in the 19th century; this movie was based on the novel by Howard Fast, a man who associated with communists if not one himself, and Trumbo, as you mentioned, had ties to communists.
The difference between a movie/show like Spartacus, and movies/shows made today, is that media used to understand subtlety and tact. The messaging in Spartacus is specifically tailored to Boomer sensibilities about freedom, slavery, etc. A character like Gracchus, shady but "for the right things", is someone who left-liberal Boomers may tolerate, but not their millennial or Zoomer counterparts. Such is the lack of subtlety today that this movie seems "apolitical" by comparison.
For example, think of any show/movie from ABC Family/Freeform over the past two decades, which had tons of social commentary, yet little of it presented with the same skill or acting as Spartacus. Even when the messaging may not even be that dissimilar.
Just a sacrifice to the algorithm so you can get visibility. Nice ideas, work on production value.
And Pronunciation .... If he watched the film he should be able to pronounce the names correctly.