Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Stanley Kubrick’s legendary depiction of a slave uprising in ancient Rome has long since entered the annals of cinema history, so there’s little else to say about this beloved movie. Produced long before the advent of digital filmmaking, it is an ambitious masterpiece, an incredibly lavish undertaking with scenes that assemble thousands of extras while driving home the story of one man making all the difference in the world.

As long as I can remember, Spartacus has been Universal’s ugly duckling, not once receiving the home video treatment a movie of this caliber deserves—despite several attempts—forced instead to languish with unanimously disappointing transfers. But the gods are smiling upon us at last, because someone at the studio decided it was time to give the film its due.

The new 4K transfer taken from the original film negative is the best-looking version of Spartacus we’ve ever seen. At 56 years old, the movie amazingly revels not only in vibrant colors but in a breathtaking amount of detail. The newfound clarity is most striking in the finer points of the elaborate costumes, the varied skintones in close-ups, but also the immediacy in the sprawling battle scenes.

The DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack is also a pleasant surprise, remixed from the original elements of the vintage six-track for this new, high-resolution 7.1-channel creation. The presentation is always sonically transparent, with a wide soundstage and solid bass extension. Once more, we forget the film’s age, particularly with regard to the orchestral score by Alex North. Dialogue suffers from narrow-banded equalization that’s inherent to the source, but it sounds more balanced, natural, and modern here than before. The surround channels are used mostly for ambient effects.

Along with all of the previously released bonus features, this disc also contains two new featurettes: a conversation with star Kirk Douglas and a look at the audio/visual restoration.

Everything about Spartacus is epic, and at long last, it no longer plays like some dated relic that barely found its way to the screen. It now looks as monumental as its grand production decrees, and at the risk of sounding pompous, clearly this is the only version of the film you’ll ever need.

Blu-Ray
Studio: Universal, 1960
Aspect Ratio: 2.20:1
Audio Format: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1
Length: 197 mins.
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Jean Simmons, Laurence Olivier