Sparatacus (1960) -- Maidenhair Fern Day, 28th of Windy, Year 225

[neotoma]

I went to see Spartacus with trixie and fabrisse this afternoon, as part of the AFI's Kirk Douglas Centennial film series.

The film has held up very well -- this was the 2015 digital re-mastering -- and is quite a good movie, and includes some wonderful set pieces, including the Roman army manuvers that make it clear just how teriffying it would have been to face a Legion in war. I did think they missed -- as most sword-&-sandals movies do -- just how devastating slinger auxiliaries would have been, but the problem there is finding extras who are expert enough with slings to really show it off.

Comments

[malkingrey]

the problem there is finding extras who are expert enough with slings to really show it off

No kidding. And slingstone hits are serious enough that you don't want to risk anybody getting accidentally hit by a badly-aimed shot.

[neotoma]

I forgive the 1960s stuff for their historical iffy-ness, but nowadays you can CGI sling attacks in without threat to the safety of any extras or stuntmen, so I think it should show up more than it does.

Otoh, there weren't any archers either, and I know the Romans had archer and horse units, as well as slingers as auxiliaries.