Spartacus [SteelBook] [Includes Digital Copy] [Blu-ray] [1960]

Congratulations to Universal on yesterday’s release of Spartacus (1960) in 4K UHD. Coming so soon after last week’s viewing of Sony’s Lawrence of Arabia, I had high hopes and it didn’t disappoint. Kirk Douglas and Stanley Kubrick would be proud. And a special kudos to Robert A. Harris who meticulously restored the film back in the early 90s (where 12 minutes of scenes were edited out to satisfy censors were restored) when he was able to consult with both Kubrick and Douglas. Nothing more needs to be said about the actual film which hasn’t been said. The cast alone: Douglas, Olivier, Laughton, Ustinov, Tony Curtis, Jean Simmons with support from John Gavin, Woody Strode and Herbert Lom warrants praise. Douglas hired Kubrick (after working with him on Paths of Glory in 1957) after firing the film’s first director, Anthony Mann. Kubrick was only 30 at the time and had been thrust into a situation where he had to direct and tolerate the egos of some of cinema’s greatest English actors - particular Olivier and Laughton who both purportedly loathed each other. And Laughton........Let’s just day screenwriter Dalton Trumbo’s (who was finally publicly given screen credit for the first time since being blacklisted by HUAC) dialogue served him well!

This classic looked and sounded amazing in Dolby vision and DTSX. The 2015 restoration was run through a 6k processor. Converted down to a "true" 4k reproduction. One of the greatest 4k disc I've ever seen. Most people have not seen this movie. Highly recommended!

This version of Spartacus is very good. I ordered this one recently after owning the criterion dvd version for the extras years ago. The video and audio are from a very good source transfer and the packaging is excellent. I gave it four stars only due to the criterion blu ray being available with more detail and for the work (restoration) that was done to clean up any debris from the gate / original source transfer (digitization) along with the abundance of extras. Enjoy Kirk Douglas in one of his best and most known / quotable roles.

Rating is for the shipping quality and not the film. The film itself is hands down one of the best 4k films out there! The Steelbook showed up damaged unfortunately.

This is one of the best of the "biblical epics" from the era of the late 1950's through the mid 1960's. There's a lot of history involved with this film: from it's producer and lead actor Kirk Douglas passing away in 2020 to the fact that he clashed creatively with director Stanley Kubrick. It was a thrill to see that Spartacus got the "4k" treatment in 2020. The picture looked beautiful and the sound (dialogue, music and effects) are first rate!

This 4K Spartacus looks and sounds (possibly) better now than it did in the theaters in 1960. But the real question is, is it worth the upgrade from the blu-ray Restored Edition of 2015? If you have a 4K television and UltraHD blu-ray player then yes, it does seem to look better. The thing is, the 2015 disc looked so good that improving it would be hard to do. I do see a difference but it's not night and day because (again) the 2015 disc LOOKED THAT GOOD. Ultimately if your happy with the 2015 disc then spend your money elsewhere. But if you have any other reason to consider an upgrade then you won't be disappointed with this 4K of Spartacus. And you can now pass on your 2015 disc to someone else because this 2-disc set contains the 2015 blu-ray too.

The front is matte with a spot gloss along the entire arm, sword, chain and title. The back is all matte. This is one of the higher quality Steelbooks in my collection (for reference that number is somewhere between 60-70). Important Note: The digital redemption code that was included seems to not work with Vudu (at least directly). Both myself and a handful of other collectors I know were unable to redeem the code into Vudu, however it was able to work through Movies Anywhere. Since the two are connected under the same umbrella, the digital copy will appear in both. Save yourself the trouble of contacting Vudu customer support.

Excellent old school movie, with some great extras! With the meticulous remaster that was done, watching this in 4k is an incredible experience! The movies themes are still relevant today, even though it was made in1960. The picture looks absolutely incredible!! Can't recommend this one enough.