Spartacus

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Stanley Kubrick was only 31 years old when Kirk Douglas (star of Kubrick's classic Paths of Glory) recruited the young director to pilot this epic saga, in which the rebellious slave Spartacus (played by Douglas) leads a freedom revolt against the decadent Roman Empire. Kubrick would later disown the film because it was not a personal project--he was merely a director-for-hire--but Spartacus remains one of the best of Hollywood's grand historical epics. With an intelligent screenplay by then-blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo (from a novel by Howard Fast), its message of moral integrity and courageous conviction is still quite powerful, and the all-star cast (including Charles Laughton in full toga) is full of entertaining surprises. Fully restored in 1991 to include scenes deleted from the original 1960 release, the full-length Spartacus is a grand-scale cinematic marvel, offering some of the most awesome battles ever filmed and a central performance by Douglas that's as sensitively emotional as it is intensely heroic. Jean Simmons plays the slave woman who becomes Spartacus's wife, and Peter Ustinov steals the show with his frequently hilarious, Oscar-winning performance as a slave trader who shamelessly curries favor with his Roman superiors. The restored version also includes a formerly deleted bathhouse scene in which Laurence Olivier plays a bisexual Roman senator (with restored dialogue dubbed by Anthony Hopkins) who gets hot and bothered over a slave servant played by Tony Curtis. These and other restored scenes expand the film to just over three hours in length. Despite some forgivable lulls, this is a rousing and substantial drama that grabs and holds your attention. Breaking tradition with sophisticated themes and a downbeat (yet eminently noble) conclusion, Spartacus is a thinking person's epic, rising above mere spectacle with a story as impressive as its widescreen action and Oscar-winning sets. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

One of the best stories about the Roman Empire.......2007-09-07

A classic of epic porportions! Kirk Douglas fighting the Romans. What more do you want? A gem of a movie, far surpassing today's digital products, and an excellent print with an excellent cast. Well written story! Another classic they don't make anymore, with great battle scenes! "A CAST OF THOUSANDS"
You won't be disappointed!

Sometimes too many cooks _don't_ spoil the broth.......2007-07-24

This film is perhaps the only one where Kubrick did not have his oh-so-important "absolute control" and it is the better for it. Don't get me wrong, Kubrick was an outstanding director and his films from the 1960s and 1970s are all excellent, but in case of "Spartacus", the vivacity of the film is largely due to the fact that behind the scenes there was a similar clash of egos, talents, and opinions. While this might sound like a recipe for disaster, the wonderful script somehow gives this movie coherence.

It cannot be said that this film is particularly historically accurate, but then again the purpose of art is to create something beautiful out of the fragments of a flawed reality, and this is certainly achieved here. Artistic truth can trump historical truth sometimes, if the artistic truth has something important to say about the human condition.

What the artistic truth seems to say here is that Spartacus, as valid as his struggle was, simply came at a very unfortunate time for his quest and that his Hamlet-esque inner turmoil doomed him in the end. He simply should have taken Rome when his military power was at its peak and in many ways history might have been quite different (or not). But he did not, and at least in this film, those political power struggles in Rome are what did him in.

Besides, the end of the movie -- if there is anything modern directors can learn from these old epics is how important it is to wrap the plot up in a way that does justice to the scale of the film. If you watch a three-hour movie, you expect a momentous denouement. And in Spartacus, the denouement fills the last 30 minutes or more (everything after the "I'm Spartacus" scene is basically part of it). It is the mother of all endings, an unrelenting tear jerker that manipulates you as hard as possible, and that is a very good thing in this case, for if this ending were not there, the whole movie that had gone before would have been cheapened.

And yes, that spitting-and-punching scene (you will know what I mean) works, because it shows how powerless both Spartacus and Crassus are in a way. They can fight the other side, yet it will never go away, because their conflict mirrors an eternal conflict between the powerful few and the powerless many that has been going on throughout history, or at least since Roman times. And that enrages them enough that they fly off the handle in (almost) private.

I also find the self-important opening narration about how slavery was "abolished" two thousand years later fairly funny. Oh really? I think there are plenty of people in third-world countries working without any safety precautions, exposed to harmful chemicals, with low pay, under horrible conditions on plantations etc. who would mightily object to that assertion. Not even to mention "wage slaves", those who may be free in theory to do what they want but have only the exciting career path of burger-flipping open to them in practice. Slavery by any other name indeed.

But as far as Roman epics go, this is still my favorite. "Gladiator" was the slightly demented version of this (where "oooh, look at the suggested incest" replaced the "ooh, look at the suggested homosexuality" in this version), but generally the dumbing-down of the intellectual level of movie scripts since then has made it impossible for a similar effort to surface. Besides, today it would be very difficult to find actors like Laughton and Olivier who can carry this kind of movie. And maybe that's a good thing, because some things cannot be improved upon. Like this movie.

An old fashioned Hollywood Spectacular with more substance than many of them.......2007-07-10

My youngest son had never seen this old fashioned Hollywood spectacular, so we got it out and watched it together. I enjoyed watching it more than I had remembered. Yes, its Cold War / McCarthy Black List sentiments are displayed a little heavily, but only if you remember that period. My son hadn't a clue and took it as a straight human dignity story and I took it that way through his eyes.

What he was most amazed about was that all those people marching around were actually people instead of computer programs. And when the Roman armies are arrayed against Spartacus and his slave army, it is really amazing to behold. And the bigger screen you can watch it on, the better it would be. As my son noted, if you saw an army moving with that kind of precision and size against you, it wouldn't make sense to not be frightened. And that was a big part of the point, wasn't it.

This movie really does mix in the personal relationships with the spectacular scenes quite well. And the performances of leads are very fine. I particularly loved Peter Ustinov's Batiutus and Charles Laughton's Gracchus. Laurence Olivier is thoroughly patrician and sinister as Crassus and Kirk Douglass hits all the right notes as Spartacus. Jean Simmons has always been lovely, but never more than as Varinia in this movie. And I always get a kick out of Tony Curtis as Antoninus hightailing it out of Crassus' palace after Crassus makes the none too subtle comment about enjoying both oysters and snails. A funny moment in a movie without a lot of laughs.

So, if you haven't seen it, take a look. Remember this is 1960. If you have seen it, get your children or grand children around you and watch it with them. You will enjoy hearing what they see and explaining to them what they are seeing, who the actors were, and maybe a bit about the historical Spartacus (look it up before you watch the film).

Very good.

Spartacus.......2007-06-28

This rousing epic was disowned by Kubrick after a contentious, difficult production, but "Spartacus" still offers grand-scale entertainment, thanks to bold, sure-handed direction and a powerhouse cast. The brawny, clench-jawed Douglas shines in his signature role, while Olivier is suitably poisonous as the cold-blooded Crassus. Other notables include the rotund Peter Ustinov providing comic relief as a cowardly slave-trader, and Charles Laughton, who lends gravitas as a senior Roman senator. If you're craving generous portions of spectacle and sweep, here's your movie.

Excellent movie, excellent price.......2007-06-28

I bought this as a gift for my husband. Received promptly,pleased with packaging. The movie is a definite classic, must have for the DVD collector.

Average customer rating:

One of the best stories about the Roman Empire
Sometimes too many cooks _don't_ spoil the broth
An old fashioned Hollywood Spectacular with more substance than many of them
Spartacus
Excellent movie, excellent price

Spartacus - Criterion Collection
Starring: Kirk Douglas , Laurence Olivier , Jean Simmons , Charles Laughton , and Peter Ustinov
Director: Stanley Kubrick , Anthony Mann , and John Berry
Manufacturer: Criterion
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ASIN: B00005A8TY
Release Date: 2001-04-24

Amazon.com essential video

Description

Stanley Kubrick directed a cast of screen legends-including Kirk Douglas as the indomitable gladiator that led a Roman slave revolt-in the sweeping epic that defined a genre and ushered in a new Hollywood era. The assured acting, lush Technicolor cinematography, bold costumes and visceral fight sequences won Spartacus four Oscars©; the blend of politics and sexual suggestion scandalized audiences. Today Kubrick's controversial classic, the first film to openly defy Hollywood's blacklist, remains a landmark of cinematic artistry and history.

Customer Reviews:

One of the best stories about the Roman Empire.......2007-09-07

Sometimes too many cooks _don't_ spoil the broth.......2007-07-24

An old fashioned Hollywood Spectacular with more substance than many of them.......2007-07-10

Spartacus.......2007-06-28

Excellent movie, excellent price.......2007-06-28

I bought this as a gift for my husband. Received promptly,pleased with packaging. The movie is a definite classic, must have for the DVD collector.

Average customer rating:

One of the best stories about the Roman Empire
Sometimes too many cooks _don't_ spoil the broth
An old fashioned Hollywood Spectacular with more substance than many of them
Spartacus
Excellent movie, excellent price

Spartacus [HD DVD]
Starring: Kirk Douglas , Laurence Olivier , Jean Simmons , Charles Laughton , and Peter Ustinov
Director: Stanley Kubrick , and Anthony Mann
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000HT3Q0U
Release Date: 2006-10-24

Amazon.com essential video

Customer Reviews:

One of the best stories about the Roman Empire.......2007-09-07

Sometimes too many cooks _don't_ spoil the broth.......2007-07-24

An old fashioned Hollywood Spectacular with more substance than many of them.......2007-07-10

Spartacus.......2007-06-28

Excellent movie, excellent price.......2007-06-28

I bought this as a gift for my husband. Received promptly,pleased with packaging. The movie is a definite classic, must have for the DVD collector.

Average customer rating:

Okay story
spartacus
sigh, what ARE movie makers thinking?
Looks great, but a bit too cliché'd and not very accurate
"Civilization Hangs on The Cross ~ If The Gods' Love You, You Die In Childhood"

Spartacus - The Complete TV Miniseries
Starring: Goran Visnjic , Alan Bates , Angus Macfadyen , Rhona Mitra , and Ian McNeice
Director: Robert Dornhelm
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
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ASIN: B0002PYTB4
Release Date: 2004-10-26

Customer Reviews:

Okay story.......2007-05-26

Having read up a bit on Spartacus, I was at first disappointed as the story started to play out. But as it got so off historical facts that I started to enjoy it as a fiction story. It is a shame as I would have liked a historic drama.

The acting was okay. I particularly did like some of the actors that played Roman characters.

The filming is not much but satisfactory.

spartacus.......2007-02-07

a good production of the now-familiar story of Spartacus. Goren does a very believable job portraying him.

sigh, what ARE movie makers thinking?.......2006-12-24

Ok, joining in the rant about lousy history, costuming, military tactics et. al.

Just watch the original Kirk Douglass one--they don't even PRETEND to be trying to do anything other than entertain you in that one.

Sorry, the acting wasn't that great (well, except for Ian McNiece, and I just happen to think he's a really good actor) the costuming made me wince and we won't even TALK about the attempts at modern PC. Come on guys--talk to anyone in your family over 2 and you will see that what was PC 10, 15, 20, 30 years ago isn't even considered remotely polite now--never MIND 2k+ years ago. Trying to make an historical personage toe the modern PC line is just stupid. (And, if you'd been unlucky enough to meet him, would probably have gotten your throat slit) So come on, lets just make the movie and SHOW the different perspective that would have ruled then. After all, if I want modern views reinforced, all I have to do is turn on the news or any tv program on in prime time.

Looks great, but a bit too cliché'd and not very accurate.......2006-10-01

With a mythic story like Spartacus, you can't expect too much accuracy and realism, especially with differing stories on the subject. One theory says Spartacus was a Roman, who fought in the legions, but was arrested for treason after refusing to obey commands and defying his commander, and who abandoned his name and took the name Spartacus when he was enslaved. The whole "Thracian" thing developed because at the time there were two types of gladiatorial fighting styles---Gallic and Thracian, and he was Thracian.

Another story goes that he really was a Thracian, who fought in the Roman legions (probably auxiliary) or earned his citizenship and fought in the legions, then the same thing happened and he became a slave and w/e. I don't care which to believe.

In this TV version I was very impressed with the cinematography and costumes and such, but it suffers a lot from cliché's. For one, all the Romans are depicted as villainous, greedy scum who don't care about anything--not even other Romans, by the looks of it; all the slaves are depicted as noble upright men forced into their current position but are all such noble godly men and such.

Another thing which really annoys me is that this Spartacus is a full-blown atheist, which I think should have gotten his stupid little head crushed in by the other slaves--or killed by the black slave when he was ordered to fight him for Marcus Licinius Crassus's viewing pleasure. Listening to his dumb atheistic sayings like "i don't believe in anything unless i can see and touch it" is really lame and cliché', and it doesn't do much for his intelligence, either. Even a true atheist wouldn't base his atheism on something that childish and ignorant.

Then the Roman armor really looks... they've got no armor--no scale plates like some depictions, no hamata lorica chain mail like in historical depictions, but BROWN LEATHER! Even their helmets are brown leather. Really ridiculous. The battle scenes are also very "Gladiator"-esque, with the soldiers pretty much wandering off to pick their own individual fights, but for their sake, they weren't even in formation in that scene, so that's an excuse.

Then there's the slave uprising at the gladiator school, in which for some effed up reason, the legionaries outside go into testudo formation (used for deflecting ARROWS, JAVELINS, SLINGS) and get butchered in seconds by what are essentially gladiators armed with knives, daggers, and some spears.

The performances are quite average on everyone's part, except Ian McNiece who is spectacular, and Angus Macfeyden is stupendous. His acting as Marcus Licinius Crassus is awesome. And I especially love that crazed look of disillusionment he does on the wall in Southern Italy when he discovers Spartacus has sneaked over the walls while distracting the Romans by sending cows with torches strapped to them to make them look like an army in the night. The guy who plays Spartacus is really abysmal.

All in all, probably fun to watch, but if you're really into history like me, you'll be shouting at the TV screen like a lunatic, saying "nuh uh!" and "omg" and "impossible!" and such! One of my biggest complaints was the Senators' irrational and illogical fear that Crassus would overthrow the Republic. If anything, Pompeius should be their biggest concern for that sort of thing, yet they consider him some sort of hero of the Republic (not true) rather than the Picentine upstart he is. And there's absolutely no mention of Lucius Cornelius Sulla at all, who was only just dictator of Rome just a few years before the events and had a tremendous impact on Roman politics at the time. Sort of curious that Ian McNiece is in it, and the year after he would appear in HBO's "Rome" as the newsreader. He should've gotten a bigger role in "Rome" though.

"Civilization Hangs on The Cross ~ If The Gods' Love You, You Die In Childhood".......2006-08-08

'Spartacus' the '04 mini-series starring Goran Visnjic (who?) as Spartacus leads a cast of even lesser known names in a surprisingly good retelling of the famous slave rebellion against Rome, circa first century BC. Almost three hours long, 177 minutes to be exact, the storyline is consistently enjoyable throughout and the allotted viewing time passes quickly.

Plot: A band of gladiator slaves rebel against their masters, first destroying the gladiator school and then the local garrison of Roman troops. As the slave army roams the countryside they attract more slaves to their cause and their numbers multiply. Repeated attempts are made by Rome to destroy the rebels but against all odds the slaves win victory after victory. That is until Spartacus plans for a sea escape are thwarted and all the might of the Roman Empire are summoned to squash the insurrection.

Surprises: I was surprised to see that two of my favorite scenes in the original '60 epic were not included in the mini-series. However, In spite of there absence the film doesn't suffer from their exclusion. This is all in all an excellent production that deserves to be seen.

Cast: Goran Visnjic does a masterful job at balancing the emotive, warlike nature of Spartacus with the more sensitive, cerebral longings of the legendary warrior, while Rhona Mitra as his love interest Varinia displays a much more aggressive, firey nature than we've come to expect from the original Varinia played by Jean Simmons. Rhona is absolutely magnificent! James Frain gives a fantastic performance as well in the role of David, Spartacus second in command. Also strong performances by Angus Macfadyen as Marcus Crassus and my daughter's favorite Paul Telfer as Gannicuc.

Khachaturian - Spartacus / Mukhamedov, Semenyaka, Vetrov, Bilova, Zhuraitis, Bolshoi Ballet

Average customer rating:

Best so far
AS PEOPLE LIKE TO SAY IN MINNESOTA: AWSOME!
STUNNING
The Glory of Spartacus Revealed!

Khachaturian - Spartacus / Mukhamedov, Semenyaka, Vetrov, Bilova, Zhuraitis, Bolshoi Ballet
Starring: Irek Mukhamedov , Maria Bilova , Lyudmilla Semenyaka , Algis Zhuraitis , and Bolshoi Opera Ballet
Manufacturer: Arthaus Musik
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ASIN: B0009X24R0
Release Date: 2005-08-16

Customer Reviews:

Best so far.......2007-04-11

The best version available today. When is a new production going to be in DVD (and may be in HD)with surround sound? who knows...

AS PEOPLE LIKE TO SAY IN MINNESOTA: AWSOME!.......2005-09-23

This is truly worth the price tag even though you may not be a big fan of ballet, this performance will make one out of you. This is just superb on every level. I have the old Bolshoi production which was filmed on a soundstage. Try as they might, they couldn't bring the soundtrack up to modern expectations. The laser disc version came close. I was thrilled to see this new 1990 production on DVD with sound as spectacular as the dancing. The music of this ballet can stand alone. I have it on CD. It's one of the best works by Khachaturian. Add the fantastic dancers and colorful sets and you've got a dynamite production. I highly recommend this one!

STUNNING.......2005-09-10

I am only a minor fan of ballet. However, this performance was truly moving.

Ballet must communicate its story without using dialogue. The choreography and expressive dancing fully succeeded here. The dancers' movements were both strikingly athletic and gracefully delicate and the costumes and scenery were extremely effective in setting the period atmosphere. Aram Khachaturian's music was lush, beautiful and sometimes poignant, well performed by the theater orchestra.

The Romans, led by Crassus, are obviously the bad guys. Having the Roman soldiers march in a goose-step like the Nazis was extremely expressive. Also, in some of the scenes the motions of the aristocratic Romans were more fluid and graceful than those of Spartacus' slave followers, who were more primitive and athletic. This powerful visual symbolism was used to show the class differences between the antagonists.

Phyrigia danced with heart-breaking grace, expressing feminine beauty at its loveliest. Her love scenes with Spartacus were beautifully erotic.

All technical aspects of this dvd were first rate.

This production grabbed my attention from start to finish. Highly recommended.

The Glory of Spartacus Revealed!.......2005-08-16

*If you're reading this review, I assume you have already read the one I wrote about the 1977 film-version of the Spartacus ballet (starring Vasiliev), entitled "A Problematic Film: some remedies". If not, I urge you to read that one first. You can locate it and my reviews about other videos of this ballet in my archives by clicking on my name above.

I am overjoyed that the live 1990 complete performance of the Grigorovich/Bolshoi Spartacus has been reissued on DVD. Incidentally, this was the first Spartacus I ever saw. And interestingly, I got the complete companion CD to this performance before I got the video. So, by the time I purchased the video--which was in VHS format--I already knew the music by heart. As a result, the visuals only added to the enjoyment, and it certainly clarified what some of the sounds I heard were. For example, the crackles at the beginning of Act I turned out to have come from the thrashing of the whips on the floor by Crassus' henchmen.

So, what of the performance? Well, although none of the original cast-members were still performing at this late date, the younger generation proved that it was every bit the successor. The stars in this performance were: Irek Mukhamedov as Spartacus, Lyudmilla Semenyaka as Phrygia, Alexander Vetrov as Crassus, and Maria Bilova as Aegina.

True, Mukhamedov was no Vasiliev; he was about 30 at the time of this performance and was already a tad slower than Vasiliev when he was at that age; note that Vasiliev had to wait till he was about 37 before his legendary film-version was shot--albeit, poorly shot. However, what Mukhamedov lacked he made up for with his athleticism. I would like to call the reader's attention to the leap sequence that he does near the end of Act II, Scene 1, in which the final leap looks like a, for lack of a better term, spinning flying-roundhouse-kick (Vasiliev does a version without the roundhouse in the '79 and omits it entirely in the '77)--that's a mouthful! And he does it lightning-fast (regaining his former speed there, momentarily)--incredible! Sounds martial-art-like? That's how it looked. A friend of mine said of Mukhamedov as being more of an acrobat than a dancer. In any case, Mukhamedov danced the role with aplomb throughout. Semenyaka, the former Kirov dancer, fitted nicely into the Bolshoi company. She dances as Phrygia flawlessly. She nearly matches Bessmertnova in technical brilliance, but is more expressive than the latter.

The two baddies here are also excellent. Granted Vetrov's interpretation is coarser than Liepa's, but he brings to the role his own inimitable style--certainly a far better Crassus than Gabovich ('79 Vasiliev and '84 Mukhamedov) ever was. To me, Bilova was the best Aegina in all of the videos (she danced the same role in the '84 Mukhamedov version). She is slender and statuesque. And her movements are clean and precise, which can't be said for Golikova ('79 Vasiliev). Even Timofeyeva ('77 Vasiliev) was no match.

Also, the corps de ballet gives an excellent performance as usual.

Finally, as I've already raved elsewhere, the '90 version beats all others in picture and sound quality hands down! The DVD version is even better in that respect. For once, you are able to see the background, and what do you know? It ain't always black! And you will hear Khachaturian's complete score (as modified by Grigorovich and Zhuraitis) in stereo. Get this quick!

FOOTNOTE:

1) In the video you will see Grigorovich come onto the stage and take several bows during the final curtain call.

2) The booklet that comes with the DVD states that Lyudmilla Semenyaka was trained at the Moscow Ballet School, when, in fact, she was trained at the Leningrad Ballet School.

Khatchaturian - Spartacus / Irek Mukhamedov, Natalya Bessmertnova, Maria Bylova, Yuri Grigorovich, Bolshoi Ballet

Average customer rating:

A "once in a lifetime performance" A Must See!
Nonessential
Spartacus Marches On -- Again!

Khatchaturian - Spartacus / Irek Mukhamedov, Natalya Bessmertnova, Maria Bylova, Yuri Grigorovich, Bolshoi Ballet
Starring: The Bolshoi Ballet
Manufacturer: Kultur Video
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ASIN: B000EGDBLK
Release Date: 2006-03-28

Description

Spartacus, the story of a Roman slave's fight for freedom, is one of the great epic adventure stories. Grigorovich's choreography fills the huge Bolshoi stage with dynamic scenes of tension and conflict, which give full expression to the virility and strength for which Russia's male dancers are renowned. Irek Mukhamedov brings to the title role a conviction and assurance made possible only by prodigious technique. His partner is Natalya Bessmertnova, supple and expressive in the love scenes, intensely moving in her final grief. The Bolshoi Ballet with music by Aram Khachaturian, and choreography by Yuri Grigorovich. Production Staged By Yuri Grigorovich with Designs By S.B. Virsaladze. Spartacus: Irek Mukhamedov, Crassus: Mikhail Gabovich, Phrygia: Natalya Bessmertnova, Aegina: Maria Bylova, Gladiator: Mikhail Tsivin. Orchestra Of The Bolshoi Theatre, Conductor Alygis Zhyuraitis. "Spartacus is a celebration of male dancing at its most spectacular." THE OBSERVER "Mukhamedov is a dancer of extraordinary technical power and an actor of total dedication." THE GUARDIAN "Even when sitting motionless, Mukhamedov radiates power, and when he bounds the stage he is really awesome." THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

Customer Reviews:

A "once in a lifetime performance" A Must See!.......2007-05-08

When I saw this production, my first thought was: Wow! They don't make Men like that very often! Mukhamedov's performance, with his passion, true understanding of the flow of movement and his physical strength, has such beauty and is something you will always remember. For any young (teenage) male dancer in the making and for girls too, this wonderful production will inspire you and let you see what ballet is really about.
Enjoy!

Nonessential.......2006-06-30

Spartacus Marches On -- Again!.......2006-04-10

Well, Irek Mukhamedov has, with this, two Spartacus dvds out. They are both marvelously done. Here, his leading lady is Natalya Bessmertnova as Phrygia(in the other it was Semenyaka). Here, Crassus is played by Mikhail Gobovich(Vetrov in the other), and Aegina is played by the awesome Maria Bylova in both versions. Irek dances with enormous energy and mastery of technique. He has a unique repertoire of choreographic tricks which he generously demonstrates for us every chance he gets. He surely is one of the greatest dancers to come out of Russia. The rest of the cast also put in impressive performances. The sound and image quality are also perfect. This is one of the best choices in Spartacus dvds(the one with Vasiliev, although not as complete, is my other choice).

Khachaturian - Spartacus / Vasiliev, Bessmertnova, Bolshoi Ballet

Average customer rating:

For Everyone Who Loves Real Ballet, Even if the FIlimng Technology is Bad
Worth having it
A Problematic Film: some remedies
Best, best, best!
Perfection!

Khachaturian - Spartacus / Vasiliev, Bessmertnova, Bolshoi Ballet
Starring: Nina Timofeyeva , Vladimir Vasilyev , Natalya Bessmertnova , and Maris Liepa
Director: Vadim Derbenyov , and Yuri Grigorovich
Manufacturer: Video Artists International
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000YEDLS
Release Date: 2003-12-02

Customer Reviews:

For Everyone Who Loves Real Ballet, Even if the FIlimng Technology is Bad.......2007-08-07

This film is definitely he greatest monument to Maris Liepa (1936-1989), one of the greatest ballet dancers of all time.

Shortly after his film was shot, Liepa was kicked out of the Bolshoi Theatre by its head, a mediocre ballet master Yuri Grigorovich (who also later kicked out the famous Maya Plisetskaya).

From his very first appearance, all the viewers will begin to realize, that Crassus is the Champion here, not Spartacus (Spartacus is the champion! is the favorite motto of thr Spartacus soccer tam in Russia).

This footage is definietly one of the greatest monuments to the immortal Russian-Latvian ballet dancer.

The phonogram is also praiseworthy: the Bolhoi Theatre here sounds at is very best under the baton of its great leader Algis Zhuraitis.

As always, in the Soviet Union art always had to fight both with the State and with the Technology.

Worth having it.......2006-06-08

I saw this version of Spartacus first in 1979 at a movie theater. I was a young teenager then. I remember I liked it very much, but I thought the cinematography was rather dated even then and the picture quality was poor, full of blemishes and annoying white dots, even back then. It's also sad that Aegina's parts were severely cut. All that said, it's still an amazing ballet movie. Of course, it is heavily cut (only 90 minutes). But the longest existing version which seems to be the 1990 Bolshoi version with Irek Mokhamedoff is only about 135 minutes long. Grigoryevich did not use the entire score for his choreography, nor did any other choreographer before him. The original score is 3.5 hrs. My recommendation to Spartacus fans is to buy the 1977 as well as the 1990 versions (the latter version's sound quality is unbelievable) plus a CD recording of the full score.

A Problematic Film: some remedies.......2005-07-26

Aram Khachaturian wrote the melodious score to the Spartacus ballet between 1950 and '54. The first choreographer was Leonid Jacobson. His version, which premiered at the Kirov on December 27, 1956, was not a real success. The problem was that the choreography contained too much mime and not enough actual dancing. Two years later, Igor Moiseyev staged a version for the Bolshoi, which had a similar fate; that one received only nine performances. Later there was a revision by Jacobson, which also didn't find favor with the public. Incidentally, excerpts from one of Jacobson's versions (it is not clear which--maybe both) can be seen in "The Glory of the Kirov" DVD; I don't think his choreography was all that bad, really, but you be the judge.

It wasn't till April 9, 1968 did Spartacus achieve its definitive form in a performance given at the Bolshoi, this time, with choreography by Yuri Grigorovich. His version is a three-act ballet divided into two main categories. There are the major soldier/crowd scenes and also the monologues in which one of the four principal dancers is the only one onstage, and he or she dances against a dark background. At the premiere, the four principals were: Vladimir Vasiliev as Spartacus, Ekaterina Maximova as Phrygia, Maris Liepa as Crassus, and Nina Timofeyeva as Aegina. So, with the exception of Maximova, who was replaced by Bessmertnova as Phrygia, these were the dancers in this famous 1977 film, not 1979 as Amazon indicates.

But that's where the good news ends and the problems begin. First, as others have already pointed out, they used some dated cinematic techniques that are downright irritating. For example, they superimposed images to make one scene look like a big battle was going on. Elsewhere, they did a reverse time-lapse (slowing everything down) on Spartacus in one particular leap sequence; I'm sorry, that format just doesn't suit ballet--dance movements should correspond with the music. Furthermore, the picture itself is sometimes very dark, which makes it hard to see the corps de ballet. And the sound quality is only passable.

Even if you can overlook all this, there remains the ultimate sacrilege. Here we have three-quarters of the original principal cast, along with Bessmertnova and a superb corps de ballet dancing their hearts out, and the producer decides to cut forty-odd minutes of dance and music out of the film, which makes the work much less coherent. Notable moments are the beginning of Act II, Scene 1; the Aegina monologue in Act II, Scene 2 (danced to some hauntingly beautiful music); and a series of leaps, performed by Spartacus near the end of Act II, Scene 1.

Now, lest you think I was just carping without actually presenting a solution, I'll let you in on a secret. As far as I'm aware of, there are at least three COMPLETE videos of the Grigorovich/Bolshoi-production Spartacus in existence.

The most recent is the one starring Irek Mukhamedov and Lyudmila Semenyaka, shot live in 1990 (Arthaus Musik DVD). This is by far the best overall video of the ballet. It boasts the best picture and sound quality--with exemplary dancing to boot! Plus Mukhamedov does a version of the Act II, Scene 1, leap sequence, missing in the present film, in which the final leap looks like a spinning flying-roundhouse-kick--AMAZING!

There is another video of Mukhamedov in the role (Kultur DVD), and this time, he partners Bessmertnova in a 1984 live performance. Picture and sound are of good quality. This otherwise solid performance was marred by Mikhail Gabovich's tepid portrayal of Crassus.

A third video (Via Classic DVD) was shot live in 1979. This one is marred by even worse picture and sound quality than the '77. And some of the principals made a couple of mistakes. However, you have the benefit of, again, seeing Vasiliev as Spartacus and, this time, Ekaterina Maximova as (the original) Phrygia in a COMPLETE performance. Sadly, Vasiliev does a less technically-demanding version of the Act II, Scene 1, leap sequence--no roundhouse-kick.

Of the three COMPLETE videos, my #1 choice would be the '90 version, starring Muhamedov, for the very reasons I stated earlier.

His '84 is also recommendable, but it's been surpassed by the version above.

Because of the overall (poor) quality of the '79 Vasiliev, I will recommend it to true aficionados ONLY for its completeness. Alas, if only it were better shot...
NOTE: This DVD is not in NTSC format. Rather, it is in PAL format, which means most DVD players sold in North America will not be able to play it. You can purchase a multi-format compatible DVD player at your local specialty electronics store.

The '77 Vasiliev has been long regarded as the ultimate Spartacus ballet video, because most fans neither have had the opportunity to sample, nor, indeed, even have been aware of the existence of the other Grigorovich/Bolshoi Spartacus videos. The present version is neither fish nor flesh. Buy it for its "cult" status. But if you're looking to experience the ballet in its full glory, I suggest you go elsewhere for that.

For further recommendations...I've created a Listmania List, called "Spartacus Ballet Videos, CDs, and More", for those interested. To locate it, check out my Listmania Lists section by clicking my name.

Happy viewing!

FOOTNOTE:

Khachaturian's original score was NOT used in any of the aforementioned versions of the ballet. Everybody from Jacobson to Grigorovich had used modified versions of the score.

Best, best, best!.......2005-07-07

I watched this ballet for the first time...rarely ever a large-scale work has captured me from the first hearing. I'm moved especially by the work of the composer. Khachaturian is now my favourite composer. His gift is apperantly greater than even Prokofiev's or Shostakovich's. No other composer can make such orgasmic pathos in orchestration. This is simply fantastic!!!

And the slight imperfection of the technical production shouldn't matter at all. This is a must-have ballet!

Perfection!.......2004-11-20

Much has already been written about this, so I will add only a few points. It would be impossible to find a better cast of dancers for this ballet. This is a legendary performance and I have never seen an entire ensemble as up for a performance as this one. This performance is on movie stock, not video stock, sort of like the Russian version of cinemascope. It is technically very well done, especially considering that at this time in history the Soviets didn't participate much in the latest Hollywood technology. The dvd quality is perfect. The lighting is exactly as it is supposed to be. So stop complaining about nonsense and enjoy the perfection! (The dvd includes a nice little extra feature with Vasiliev and Plisetskaya.)

Average customer rating:

Could have been better

Spartacus
Starring: Khachaturian , Klevtsof , Berezina , and Muravlyov
Manufacturer: Videoland
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Ballet & Dance | Musicals & Performing Arts | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Music Video & Concerts | Genres | DVD | Video

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

General | Classical | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

ASIN: B000F6ZPHM
Release Date: 2006-04-25

Customer Reviews:

Could have been better.......2007-02-07

This DVD was, to say the least, spectacular except for two things:
1) The sound quality was a bit below par, a little raspy when the orchestra would play with great volume.
2) The Russian dialogue was unexpected, but not unpleasant.
Overall, I would recommend this DVD for the serious collector of less frequently performed ballets.

El Cid/The Fall Of The Roman Empire [Non-US Format, PAL, Region 2, Import]

Average customer rating:

El Cid/The Fall Of The Roman Empire [Non-US Format, PAL, Region 2, Import]
Director: Anthony Mann
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Average customer rating:

One of the best stories about the Roman Empire
Sometimes too many cooks _don't_ spoil the broth
An old fashioned Hollywood Spectacular with more substance than many of them
Spartacus
Excellent movie, excellent price

Spartacus [Region 2]
Starring: Kirk Douglas , Laurence Olivier , Jean Simmons , Charles Laughton , and Peter Ustinov
Director: Stanley Kubrick , and Anthony Mann
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: B000055YG0

Amazon.com essential video

Customer Reviews:

One of the best stories about the Roman Empire.......2007-09-07

Sometimes too many cooks _don't_ spoil the broth.......2007-07-24