Spartacus
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Actor: Alan Bates, Angus Macfadyen, Goran Visnjic, Ian McNeice, Rhona MitraBrand: VISNJIC,GORAN
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Dubbed); Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 174 minutes
Published: 2004-10-01
DVD Release Date: 2004-10-26
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Universal Studios
Product features:
- Condition: New
- Format: DVD
- AC-3; Color; Dolby; Dubbed; DVD; Subtitled; Widescreen; NTSC
DVD Reviews of Spartacus
DVD Review: Decent History. Good Screenplay. Bad Acting. Poor Script.
Summary: 2 Stars
This new rendition of 'Spartacus' provides a more accurate depiction of the Roman Slave Revolt that took place between 73-71 B.C. but is horribly lacking in script and acting: something to be expected from a TV miniseries I suppose.
Goran Visnjic as Spartacus simply fails to leave any memorable impression. His voice is so passive and unengaging, and his face so placid, that he hardly passes for a charismatic leader who commanded over 100,000 people. The character follows the positive comments by classical sources on the real Spartacus as having been a skilled commander and humane leader. There is little information on Spartacus however and really no information on his origins. Rome had been in an ongoing civil and foreign wars in which slaves were routinely used as auxillaries. Such auxillaries were commonly used to carry out indiscriminate massacres by their leaders such as Sulla or Marius because they were more expendable if popular sentiment became too hostile. Being an adult in these times, Spartacus may have been among such groups of men and not so much the saintly Marxist hero fighting for the laborer portrayed by Fast. As for Crassus, Angus Macfadyen is diappointing but the fault lies more with the screenplay and script. He plays Crassus as if he were a rich snob who's obsessed with power. Marcus Licinius Crassus was very rich but hardly a snob. Plutarch describes Crassus as affable and modest: a man who would talk to persons high and low with tact and politeness. Generous to others, he acquired influence by his vast wealth, being a court advocate, and giving loans without interest to important upstarts like Caesar from whom he could also ask for payment on demand (a traditional Roman practice seen as normal.) This often allowed Crassus to get political favors from the debtor instead of money: a valuable political advantage. Although he was avaricious, he was not a miser and kept his home open to any one who was in need. He was very much the precursor to the modern professional banker/bailbondsman all rolled into one: tactful, polite, generous, and accomodating enough to make you want to come back and do business again. As in the original 'Spartacus', Crassus' motives for accepting the command against Spartacus are portrayed as a sinister attempt at undermining the Republic whereas the historical facts do not support that conclusion. Crassus was ambitious just like every other patrician noble and, although his popular politics were akin to some of Caesar's, he was generally a conservative populist and his desire to crush the slave revolt was compelled by a true sense of duty. Historical sources give no indication that he sought to establish himself as a dictator such as with Caesar crossing the Rubicon. The primary motivation for his politics was his desire to outmaneuver Pompey the Great, his arch-rival, in the military and political spheres. Unlike Caesar who eventually shought permanent dictatorship, Crassus prefered a republican oligarchy as a political system and so was the main party in forming the First Triumvirate with Pompey and Caesar. All historical records show that the policies of Crassus at the time were typical of other moderate populists (e.g. restoring the power of the tribunes; including the equestrian order in jury selections; and later seeking to enfranchise northern Italy.) The film instead portrays the character as a dictatorial megalomaniac with a personal grudge against Spartacus.
The depiction of the campaign is pretty accurate in comparison with the original film. As the film shows, Crassus had encircled the slave army near Rhegium with an extensive rampart and Spartacus was able to flee only after a desperate and hard fought breach of the pallisade. Crassus then caught up with Spartacus' army north of Brundisium and finished off most of it including Spartacus. Pompey's arrival and gloating over the capture of 6000 fugitive slaves infuriated Crassus because he claimed that he had won the war while Crassus had only won the battle. As with his relative Lucius Licinius Lucullus who was commanding the war in Asia Minor, Crassus thought of Pompey as nothing more than a carrion bird who cirles safely above to later swoop down and feed on prey killed by others. His loathing for Pompey was probably another reason why he had 6000 slaves crucified from Capua to Rome along the Appian way. Spartacus' crucifixion and sight of his child is poetic license: Spartacus' body was never retrieved from the final battle and all accounts indicate that he died fighting. Another error is the presumption that Spartacus was from Thrace because he was nicknamed 'The Thracian.' This nickname most probably came from his training as a 'Thracian' gladiator where he wore limited armor using a short Thracian sword and a small circular shield. The book making him a son of Thracian slaves is pure fiction. The name Spartacus indicates instead that he was from Greece (probably Sparta) and perhaps even taken as a slave or auxilliary by Sulla in his wars against the Greek city states in the Mithridatic War 20 years before. He may later have been taken by Sulla to fight as an auxillary against Marius before the Servile War depicted in the film only to be enslaved/re-enslaved after Sulla had surpressed the Marian plebiscite. Such a scenario would explain his hatred for Rome and his keen knowledge of the sophisticated infantry tactics used by the Roman legions. His defeat of the Italian legions had also more to do with his skilled command of a large host fighting an ill-trained enemy with poor logistics. The Roman forces Spartacus initially fought were principally raw legionaires who had remained in Italy while all of the seasoned legions were committed to extended wars in Spain and Asia Minor under the command of Rome's best generals. At the same time, Italy was barely recovering from civil war and economically devastated. Under these circumstances, Spartacus' probable service as an auxilliary, the size of his army, and the poor military logistics in Italy would explain why he fought so triumphantly against antiquity's most powerful army for almost 3 years.
Although the film is more faithful to the historical events involving Spartacus' slave revolt, I found the original film to have a better script, superior actors (Douglass, Ustinov, Olivier, Laughton, McGraw, and Simmons), and a far more talented director (Kubrick). Finally, although claiming to be more faithful to the book, this min-series' communist undertones are interestingly far less pervasive than those Fast's novel or the original film.
Description of Spartacus
No Description Available.Genre: Television
Rating: NR
Release Date: 26-OCT-2004
Media Type: DVD
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