History YMMV / Spartacus

* CompleteMonster: UsefulNotes/MarcusLiciniusCrassus, first consul to the Roman Republic, is vile and [[AmbitionIsEvil ambitious]] even by the standards of the [[AristocratsAreEvil Roman elite]]. Crassus first demonstrates his cruelty by personally finishing off a gladiator slave named Draba who attempts to defy his captors, regularly preceding over all the usual atrocities of the GladiatorGames with bored scorn at best. When Draba's own friend Spartacus is inspired to foment a slave uprising in response to the cruelty of the Romans, Crassus walls him and the thousands of slaves he's liberated into an attack they can't avoid, before ordering the slaves slaughtered. Chafed at the continued defiance of the remaining slaves, Crassus opts to have them all crucified alongside the Appian Way, and invokes ExactWords on a horrified ally to whom he had promised the sale of "survivors" to. Crassus forces Spartacus to duel his last remaining friend to the death out of spite and kidnaps his beloved Varinia and his newborn son as slaves. Continually unable to grasp how beloved Spartacus is, even after he threatens the life of Varinia's son to try and force her love toward him, the only answer Crassus ever gets to his question is that [[EvilCannotComprehendGood he'd simply never be able to understand]].

* CompleteMonster: UsefulNotes/MarcusLiciniusCrassus, first consul to the Roman Republic, is vile and [[AmbitionIsEvil ambitious]] even by the standards of the [[AristocratsAreEvil Roman elite]]. Crassus first demonstrates his cruelty by personally finishing off a gladiator slave named Draba who attempts to defy his captors, regularly preceding over all the usual atrocities of the GladiatorGames with bored scorn at best. When Draba's own friend Spartacus is inspired to foment a slave uprising in response to the cruelty of the Romans, Crassus walls him and the thousands of slaves he's liberated into an attack they can't avoid, before ordering the slaves slaughtered. Chafed at the continued defiance of the remaining slaves, Crassus opts to have them all crucified alongside the Appian Way, and invokes ExactWords on a horrified ally to whom he had promised the sale of "survivors" to. Crassus forces Spartacus to duel his last remaining friend to the death out of spite and kidnaps his beloved Valinia and his newborn son as slaves. Continually unable to grasp how beloved Spartacus is, even after he threatens the life of Valinia's son to try and force her love toward him, the only answer Crassus ever gets to his question is that [[EvilCannotComprehendGood he'd simply never be able to understand]].

* HilariousInHindsight: Crassus' speech about [[DepravedBisexual oysters and snails]] can be amusing if one's familiar with the rumors that Creator/LaurenceOlivier was probably bisexual himself.

* FoeYay: Crassus.
-->"I don't want glory, I want Spartacus".

* AwardSnub: It was nominated for six Oscars and won four, but none of them were Best Picture, Director or Actor.

* HilariousInHindsight: Crassus' speech about [[DepravedBisexual oysters and snails]] can be amusing if one's familiar with the rumors that Creator/LaurenceOlivier was probably bisexual himself.

-->"I don't want glory, I want Spartacus."

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Creator/WoodyStrode's Draba appears in the film's first half and serves as a trigger for the Rebellion, but he's such an incredible presence and gives a powerful performance that he became one of the most well liked figures in the film. He got nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Globes.

* SignatureScene: "IAmSpartacus." Funnily enough, Creator/StanleyKubrick hated the idea when Creator/KirkDouglas pitched it, though their already tempestuous relationship may have been part of that.

%%* FauxSymbolism

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Woody Strode's Draba appears in the film's first half and serves as a trigger for the Rebellion, but he's such an incredible presence and gives a powerful performance that he became one of the most well liked figures in the film. He got nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Globes.

* OneSceneWonder: Herbert Lom as the pirates' envoy, who's amusingly entranced by the collection of treasure the slave army has acquired.
* SignatureScene: "IAmSpartacus." Funnily enough, Kubrick hated the idea when Kirk Douglas pitched it, though their already tempestuous relationship may have been part of that.

* SignatureScene: "IAmSpartacus."

* WrittenByCastMember: Charles Laughton hated the Dalton Trumbo-written dialogue he was initially given, so Peter Ustinov rewrote all of the scenes featuring Batiatus and Gracchus together, which placated Laughton enough to complete his portion of the film.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** Crassus' bisexuality, even in the censored version. Absolutely unambiguous in the restored version.
** The other is the fact that Gracchus and other sympathetic characters seem to be nonbelievers, and Spartacus and his crew do not make any references to religion. As the only major Roman epic set before Jesus Christ, it also offered a rare, secular vision of the ancient world, which obviously slipped past UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode.

* AwardSnub: Of a truly unconventional sort. Russell Metty won an Oscar for Best Cinematography, yet he didn't actually do most of the film's camerawork. That was Kubrick, who [[ControlFreak did much of Metty's job]] without his consent. While the film probably should've credited both Metty and Kubrick for the cinematography, only Metty remained credited, and therefore took home the award instead of Kubrick.

%%* AdaptationDisplacement

* AdaptationDisplacement
* FauxSymbolism

* CompleteMonster: Crassus.

-->"I don't want glory, I want Spartacus."

* FoeYay: Crassus.

* FoeYay: Crassus, and how.

* SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}}: "I won't let you be crucified."

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: ''I am Spartacus!''
* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: "I won't let you be crucified."
* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: The score by Alex North