Spartacus (1960) (Restored Edition)

[Monterey Jack]

The new transfer...

[sartana]

Originally Posted by I KEEL YOU

I was watching this video where Scorsese interviews Spielberg and they talk about Kubrick's wishes about Spartacus' restoration at the 57:35 mark here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufRw6bT7CL0

Even though many do not like to admit it but the fact will always remain that

Kubrick did not like Spartacus

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by sartana

Even though many do not like to admit it but the fact will always remain that

Kubrick did not like Spartacus

Woody Allen thinks MANHATTAN is one of his lesser films. Sometimes artists aren't the best judges of their own work.

[Rory]

Originally Posted by sartana

Even though many do not like to admit it but the fact will always remain that

Kubrick did not like Spartacus

In the end, I'll bet he liked it better than EYES WIDE SHUT.

[sartana]

Originally Posted by Rory

In the end, I'll bet he liked it better than EYES WIDE SHUT.

Are you Kidding ?? Before he died he named Eyes Wide Shut as his best film.

[sartana]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

Woody Allen thinks MANHATTAN is one of his lesser films. Sometimes artists aren't the best judges of their own work.

Spartacus is really a Kirk Douglas film. I can totally see why Kubrick did not like it since he did not have control.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by sartana

Spartacus is really a Kirk Douglas film. I can totally see why Kubrick did not like it since he did not have control.

Agreed, but it's still my personal favorite of the films Kubrick directed.

[sartana]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

Agreed, but it's still my personal favorite of the films Kubrick directed.

Fair enough.

[Oniros]

I just finished watching this, what an outstanding restoration! Much better than Ben-Hur and (probably) Lawrence of Arabia, which are among the best transfers from old films I've seen in BD.

[Poya]

Originally Posted by Oniros

I just finished watching this, what an outstanding restoration! Much better than Ben-Hur and (probably) Lawrence of Arabia, which are among the best transfers from old films I've seen in BD.

Amazing you said this, considering Spartacus was shot in (high resolution) 35mm while Ben Hur and Lawrence Of Arabia were both shot in 65mm.

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

Agreed, but it's still my personal favorite of the films Kubrick directed.

And he only directed 3/4 of it
You can kinda tell the stuff Anthony Mann did.

[f451]

Originally Posted by Poya

Amazing you said this, considering Spartacus was shot in (high resolution) 35mm while Ben Hur and Lawrence Of Arabia were both shot in 65mm.

Right. Super Technirama 70 -- 8 perf 35mm with a 1.5:1 anamorphic optic attached.

[Rory]

Originally Posted by sartana

Are you Kidding ?? Before he died he named Eyes Wide Shut as his best film.

I think Kubrick was pulling everyone's leg, probably just trying to sell a movie he knew was a dog -- which it is.

[Rory]

Originally Posted by Bates_Motel

And he only directed 3/4 of it
You can kinda tell the stuff Anthony Mann did.

Actually Kubrick directed nearly 95% of SPARTACUS. Mann only directed the stuff before the gladiator school.

[JimDiGriz]

Originally Posted by Rory

I think Kubrick was pulling everyone's leg, probably just trying to sell a movie he knew was a dog -- which it is.

Oh dear. Eyes Wide Shut isnt his best film but its definitely one of his best.

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by Rory

Actually Kubrick directed nearly 95% of SPARTACUS. Mann only directed the stuff before the gladiator school.

Some say he was fired after 1 week, other reports say 2 weeks, and Douglas himself said 3 weeks.

[stratford]

Rory 'You can't be serious'
Stanley Kuberick was a very good director
Spartacus-1960 is a very well thought of movie, who ever directed it. The proof, 4 Academy awards. The 2Nd Edition Blu is top draw.

Eyes wide shut is a good movie, who's Blu is let down by a transfer gives VHS a bad name

[stlcards]

Originally Posted by Rory

I think Kubrick was pulling everyone's leg, probably just trying to sell a movie he knew was a dog -- which it is.

I like Eyes Wide Shut!

[I KEEL YOU]

Originally Posted by Rory

I think Kubrick was pulling everyone's leg, probably just trying to sell a movie he knew was a dog -- which it is.

If you watch Stanley Kubrick Boxes documentary that comes with the Full Metal Jacket digibook, you'd see how much time he spent on every detail about this movie years before it was shot. He hired people to shoot hundreds of photographs of different streets so that he could pick the perfect ones. Even the entrence gate that is only in the movie for a couple of minutes had to be perfect so he had people shoot hundreds of photos of countless different enterance gates.

For Spartacus he was basically hired to do a job that he didn't have any real personal interest in. It's not a real Kubrick movie. Even Fear and Desire is more of a Kubrick movie than Spartacus.

I'm not a huge fan of Eyes Wide Shut mainly because I'm not crazy about the casting, which I'm sure had something to do with the fact that his daughter joined the church of Scientology. But it's definitely better than Spartacus, and is at the very least a true Kubrick movie.

[anephric]

I think the cynicism and atheism of Spartacus (pretty uniquely for a historical epic of the time) is pretty strongly Kubrickian, but then again all of that could have come out of Douglas/Trumbo, so...