Spartacus (2004 film)
Encyclopedia
Spartacus is a 2004 North American
Movie directed by Robert Dornhelm
and produced by Ted Kurdyla from a teleplay by Robert Schenkkan
. It stars Goran Visjnic
, Alan Bates
, Angus Macfadyen
, Rhona Mitra
, Ian McNeice
, Ross Kemp
and Ben Cross
. It is based on the novel of the same name by Howard Fast
. There are also two television serials named: Spartacus: Blood and Sand
and Spartacus: Gods of the Arena
.
The plot, setting, and costumes are nearly identical to those of the Stanley Kubrick
1960 version
. However, this adaptation corrects many of the historical inaccuracies of the 1960 film (two of the more noticeable omissions being "I'm Spartacus!" and Spartacus' and his wife's reunion after the battle). The movie is shown as a story a woman narrates to her son, who are later revealed to be Spartacus' wife and son.
A notable piece of dramatic license has Spartacus' son born exactly at the moment Spartacus dies in battle.
North American
North American generally refers to an entity, people, group, or attribute of North America, especially of the United States and Canada together.-Culture:*North American English, a collective term used to describe American English and Canadian English...
Movie directed by Robert Dornhelm
Robert Dornhelm
Robert Dornhelm is an Austrian film and television director of Romanian ancestry. He has worked on numerous television programmes and has also released such movies as Echo Park, The Venice Project, Der Unfisch, and A Further Gesture...
and produced by Ted Kurdyla from a teleplay by Robert Schenkkan
Robert Schenkkan
Robert Frederic Schenkkan, Jr. is an American playwright, screenwriter, and actor, perhaps most recognizable as the character of Lieutenant Commander Dexter Remmick in Star Trek: The Next Generation...
. It stars Goran Visjnic
Goran Višnjic
Goran Višnjić is a Croatian actor who has appeared in American and British films and television productions. He is best known for his role as Dr. Luka Kovač in the hit television series ER...
, Alan Bates
Alan Bates
Sir Alan Arthur Bates CBE was an English actor, who came to prominence in the 1960s, a time of high creativity in British cinema, when he demonstrated his versatility in films ranging from the popular children’s story Whistle Down the Wind to the "kitchen sink" drama A Kind of Loving...
, Angus Macfadyen
Angus Macfadyen
Angus Macfadyen is a Scottish actor.Angus Macfadyen was born in Glasgow and was brought up partly in Africa, France, the Philippines and Singapore. His father was a doctor in the World Health Organisation. He was once engaged to actress Catherine Zeta-Jones.Angus attended the University of...
, Rhona Mitra
Rhona Mitra
Rhona Natasha Mitra , sometimes credited as Rona Mitra, is an English actress, model and singer.-Early life:Mitra was born in Paddington, London, England, the daughter of Anthony Mitra, a cosmetic surgeon, and Nora Downey...
, Ian McNeice
Ian McNeice
Ian McNeice is a prolific English screen, stage, and television character actor.-Early life:McNeice was born in Basingstoke in Hampshire. McNeice's acting training started at the Taunton School in Somerset, followed by two years at the Salisbury Playhouse...
, Ross Kemp
Ross Kemp
Ross James Kemp is a BAFTA award-winning British actor, author and journalist, who rose to prominence in the role of Grant Mitchell in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders...
and Ben Cross
Ben Cross
Ben Cross is a British actor of the stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of the British Olympic athlete Harold Abrahams in the 1981 movie Chariots of Fire.-Early life:...
. It is based on the novel of the same name by Howard Fast
Howard Fast
Howard Melvin Fast was an American novelist and television writer. Fast also wrote under the pen names E. V. Cunningham and Walter Ericson.-Early life:Fast was born in New York City...
. There are also two television serials named: Spartacus: Blood and Sand
Spartacus: Blood and Sand
Spartacus: Blood and Sand is a Starz television series that premiered on January 22, 2010. The series is inspired by the historical figure of Spartacus , a Thracian gladiator who from 73 to 71 BC led a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Executive producers Steven S...
and Spartacus: Gods of the Arena
Spartacus: Gods of the Arena
Spartacus: Gods of the Arena is a Starz television mini-series and prequel to Spartacus: Blood and Sand, which premiered January 21, 2011. The series follows the character Gannicus , the first gladiator to become Champion of Capua representing Lentulus Batiatus...
.
The plot, setting, and costumes are nearly identical to those of the Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
1960 version
Spartacus (film)
Spartacus is a 1960 American epic historical drama film directed by Stanley Kubrick and based on the novel of the same name by Howard Fast...
. However, this adaptation corrects many of the historical inaccuracies of the 1960 film (two of the more noticeable omissions being "I'm Spartacus!" and Spartacus' and his wife's reunion after the battle). The movie is shown as a story a woman narrates to her son, who are later revealed to be Spartacus' wife and son.
A notable piece of dramatic license has Spartacus' son born exactly at the moment Spartacus dies in battle.
Cast
- Goran VišnjićGoran VišnjicGoran Višnjić is a Croatian actor who has appeared in American and British films and television productions. He is best known for his role as Dr. Luka Kovač in the hit television series ER...
as SpartacusSpartacusSpartacus was a famous leader of the slaves in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Little is known about Spartacus beyond the events of the war, and surviving historical accounts are sometimes contradictory and may not always be reliable... - Alan BatesAlan BatesSir Alan Arthur Bates CBE was an English actor, who came to prominence in the 1960s, a time of high creativity in British cinema, when he demonstrated his versatility in films ranging from the popular children’s story Whistle Down the Wind to the "kitchen sink" drama A Kind of Loving...
as Antonius Agrippa - Angus MacfadyenAngus MacfadyenAngus Macfadyen is a Scottish actor.Angus Macfadyen was born in Glasgow and was brought up partly in Africa, France, the Philippines and Singapore. His father was a doctor in the World Health Organisation. He was once engaged to actress Catherine Zeta-Jones.Angus attended the University of...
as Marcus Crassus - Rhona MitraRhona MitraRhona Natasha Mitra , sometimes credited as Rona Mitra, is an English actress, model and singer.-Early life:Mitra was born in Paddington, London, England, the daughter of Anthony Mitra, a cosmetic surgeon, and Nora Downey...
as Varinia - Ian McNeiceIan McNeiceIan McNeice is a prolific English screen, stage, and television character actor.-Early life:McNeice was born in Basingstoke in Hampshire. McNeice's acting training started at the Taunton School in Somerset, followed by two years at the Salisbury Playhouse...
as Lentulus BatiatusLentulus BatiatusGnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Batiatus was the Roman owner of a gladiatorial school in Capua , in southern Italy. It was from this school that in 73 BC, the Thracian slave, Spartacus, and about 70 to 78 followers, escaped... - Paul Kynman as CrixusCrixusCrixus was a leader of the slave rebellion in the Third Servile War, along with Spartacus and Oenomaus.He was a Gaul , and had been a slave for several years before the revolt. Crixus had fought for the Allobroges against the Romans and had been captured. Like his companions, Crixus had trained as...
- Paul TelferPaul Telfer (actor)Paul Telfer is a Scottish-born actor, who has lived and worked in England and the United States. Telfer graduated with First Class honours in Film Studies from the University of Kent at Canterbury in 1999....
as Gannicus - James FrainJames FrainJames Dominic Frain is an English stage and screen actor. He is possibly best known for his role in the Showtime series The Tudors in which he appeared as Thomas Cromwell from 2007 to 2009, and for his role as vampire Franklin Mott in season three of the HBO drama True Blood, as well as his role...
as David - Henry SimmonsHenry SimmonsHenry Oswald Simmons, Jr. is an American actor.-Life and career:Simmons was born in Stamford, Connecticut, the son of Aurelia, a school teacher, and Henry Simmons, Sr., an IRS agent. He is one of three children, including his twin sister, and another sister...
as Draba - Ross KempRoss KempRoss James Kemp is a BAFTA award-winning British actor, author and journalist, who rose to prominence in the role of Grant Mitchell in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders...
as Cinna - Ben CrossBen CrossBen Cross is a British actor of the stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of the British Olympic athlete Harold Abrahams in the 1981 movie Chariots of Fire.-Early life:...
as Titus Glabrus, based on Gaius Claudius GlaberGaius Claudius GlaberGaius Claudius Glaber was a Roman praetor and legatus in 73 BC. He tried but failed to hem in Spartacus and his fellow slaves on Mt. Vesuvius during the Third Servile War. The rebels were trapped by a narrow passage, the only way leading up. Without the Roman cohorts knowing, Spartacus and his men... - Niall Refoy as Publius Maximus, based on Publius VariniusPublius VariniusPublius Varinius was a Roman praetor in 73 BC and proconsul in 72 BC and suffered several defeats against Spartacus' rebellious slaves during the Third Servile War. The history has gaps in it and all we know is that an advance force of 2,000 led by Varinius legate Lucius Furius was defeated and...
- George CalilGeorge CalilGeorge Calil is an English actor and is the son of businessman Ely Calil.His most notable role to date was in the TV mini-series Band of Brothers where he portrayed Sergeant James H. "Mo" Alley, Jr....
as Pompey Magnus - Richard DillaneRichard DillaneRichard Dillane is an English actor. He appeared as Merv, the husband of Margaret Humphreys in Jim Loach's fact-based movie Oranges and Sunshine, as Wernher von Braun in the BBC television docudrama Space Race, as Nero in Howard Brenton's play Paul at the National Theatre of GB and as Stephen...
as Julius CaesarJulius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
See also
- List of historical drama films
- List of films set in ancient Rome
- Third Servile WarThird Servile WarThe Third Servile War , also called the Gladiator War and the War of Spartacus by Plutarch, was the last of a series of unrelated and unsuccessful slave rebellions against the Roman Republic, known collectively as the Roman Servile Wars...
- 1st century BC1st century BCThe 1st century BC, also known as the last century BC or 1st century BCE, started on the first day of 100 BC and ended on the last day of 1 BC. The AD/BC notation does not use a year zero; however, astronomical year numbering does use a minus sign, so "2 BC" is equal to "year -1"...