Spartacus represents the pinnacle of the epic film trend which included spectaculars such as Cleopatra, Ben Hur, and Fall of the Roman Empire. It was acclaimed as the first truly intelligent epic, but its director, the highly acclaimed Stanley Kubrick, has largely disowned it. Kubrick took the assignment, partially as a way of escaping the ill-fated One-Eyed Jacks project he was working on with Marlon Brando (Brando himself took over direction and went heavily overbudget with the film).

Kubrick was belatedly brought aboard by producer/star Kirk Douglas, who was impressed with their classic collaboration on Paths of Glory. Initial director Anthony Mann resigned after only a week's shooting, only completing the opening scenes at the rock quarry. Kubrick picked up the project from the gladiator school on.

Kubrick objected to the script for Spartacus on the grounds that it was dumb and rarely faithful to what is...