As I've mentioned before in the past, I generally don't think much of the sword and sandal movies that came out of Europe in the 1960s. So you might imagine my surprise when I found this particular example of the genre to be not that bad at all. Now, I'll admit it's far from perfect. The movie does have a major weakness, and that is with the characters. The ten gladiators, for one thing, are pretty much interchangeable; we hardly learn a thing about them such as their names, and they all seem to talk and act alike. Spartacus isn't that much better written, one reason being that he doesn't make that many appearances, and the few times he shows up are pretty short in length. As for the bad guys, they are straight out of the stock character catalog. But if you're willing to put up with the poorly written characters, the movie does all the same manage to be reasonably entertaining. The story is snappily paced, and even manages to put in a bit more plot than usual. The production values aren't bad, and the main selling point of the movie - action - is well done. There's quite a bit of action, and the action is choreographed and directed in a manner to be quite exciting at times. "Spartacus and the Ten Gladiators" isn't a great movie, but it does satisfy the lazy weekend audience. It is perfectly fine non-think entertainment. We all get in that mood on occasion, so when you're in that particular frame of mind, give it a spin in your DVD player.

I saw this one Saturday afternoon, as a teenager, then came across it again in a cheap sword & sandal DVD multipack. Since the price was a couple of bucks I picked it up and watched this again. The film is a hoot, with horrible dubbing, with dialogue and sound effects coming in very late (I guess the whips were supersonic, since they hit before the sound of the crack). I remember thinking when I was younger that the film was like a wrestling feud brought to life, with some extras thrown in and the same still holds true.Rocca and his buddies have left the arena but have been blackballed by the local Vince McMahon. They end up finding work for a fat patrician who is having some slave trouble, thanks to our pal Spartacus (but not Kirk Douglas). The Ten are sent out to recon the situation and meet with Spartacus and find out he's an "OK Joe". They head back with their report and the boss says he will just let them go. Yeah, right! A little drugged wine later and the beefy morons find themselves in the dungeon and the patrician is hatching a plan to destroy Spartacus. Conveniently, the dungeon is located under the gardens of the home and the roof is fairly thin. The guys get out, with the help of the patrician's daughter. They find Spartacus' people slaughtered and the rest taken back to the mines. The lunkheads then launch a guerrilla (more like gorilla, with these muscleheads) campaign to free them, with the help of a blacksmith, while Spartacus gather his army. Much WWE style fighting ensues (though with less convincing punches) and a pretty spectacular battle between the Romans and Spartacus' men (minus Tony Curtis) rages. In the end, Rocca battles the bald henchmen of the patrician to save his love interest.There are better movies out there and there are far worse ones. It doesn't aspire to greatness but it is pretty entertaining, as long as you aren't expecting Olivier. Dan Vadis is likable as Rocca, the head slab of beef, and the patrician is decidedly oilier than the gladiators. The actor playing the bald henchmen is delightfully evil and gets his in the end.If I'm not mistaken (and I haven't seen the film in a while) I believe the opening of this appears on TV in From Dusk Till Dawn (though it might have been a stock shot used in the previous Ten Gladiators film).If you like some cheesy fun or hordes of beefcake, you will probably enjoy this. It's much better than the examples of the genre that ended up on MST3K.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much fun I had while watching SPARTACUS AND THE TEN GLADIATORS. It's starts up with an action packed beginning with the gladiators battling in an arena and never let's up until the end. Though nothing earth-shattering about SATTG, I was amazed by how focused and assured the direction was by Nick Nostro. There's almost no wasted moment in the entire film. Even the moments of comedy work and never get trite. The story about the ten gladiators teaming with Spartacus to over-throw an evil and corrupt Roman ruler is not to be taken as seriously as Stanley Kubrick's version of the legendary rebel but oddly enough, in this case, it works, this mostly due to the sharp direction by Nostro who never takes it too seriously and knows this is all about action, action, action.Unlike THE TEN GLADIATORS, the melodrama in SPARTACUS AND THE TEN GLADIATORS is kept to a minimum. The same with the comedy bits, which was really annoying in the first film (no midget here). The music is pretty good. The color scheme is actually tasteful (for a Peplum). And the acting, though nothing remotely memorable, is much better than its predecessor. The gang really click here and, again, because of the focused direction, the ten gladiators stand out better here. Dan Vadis is fun and seems to enjoy himself. The only real weakness, like the first film, is the underdeveloped explanation for the beefy bunch. Why are they together? What are their names? The script is seriously underwritten in this respect. The same could be said for the villains. Though suitably evil in a campy way, the pudgy Roman ruler and his henchman are hardly worthy adversaries to ten powerful gladiators. This series needed worthy bad guys to probably make it more memorable. And the battle sequence at the climax is probably footage from another film, which is unfortunate and lowers the merit of the whole film as a whole.But even with these obvious weaknesses, SPARTACUS AND THE TEN GLADIATORS has several stand-out scenes in it, including the beginning in the arena, the fighting between Vadis' character and Spartacus. The many battles sequences, which are sharply edited. The funny moments when the ten gladiators start eliminating the Roman soldiers. But the most memorable moment in the whole film is when Vadis, along with other slaves, hangs from a tree by a rope wrapped around a single arm (ouch). Then the Roman soldiers start killing the men hanging there with bows and arrows. Visually, this whole scene is a knock-out. The conclusion, with chariot and horses, is also visually striking. These moments tell me that director Nick Nostro had some talent for action. His style reminds me a bit of Sergio Leone.Like in all these kind of films, the beefcake quota is pretty high. Vadis looks quite impressive here: agile and yet powerful. The actors playing the other 9 gladiators, whoever they are, are believable in their roles. Also, there are a couple of beautiful women in the movie. Ursula Davis is pretty but Helga Line is the babe in the movie. She really looks exotic. Incidentally, I recently caught Helga in the dreadful THE DEVIL'S NIGHTMARE and even though she basically looks the same, if a bit older, she didn't look as "exotic" in it as in SATTG. Like I said, I was surprised by how much of a good time I had while watching this film. SPARTACUS AND THE TEN GLADIATORS is a Sword and Sandal film waiting to be rediscovered. A proper widescreen transfer is in order. I'm certain my estimation of it would grow even more.

There are three films featuring the Ten Gladiators and starring Dan Vadis as the muscleman Roccia (literally "The Rock"!); this is the second entry in the series and, with a title like that, comparisons to Stanley Kubrick's SPARTACUS (1960) are bound to arise which, frankly, do it no favors at all! For one thing, the Spartacus of this film is overage and engages in an interminable fight with Vadis on their first meeting (after which they become allies); on the other hand, the slimy Roman senator and chief villain here is given a Charles Laughton-like voice in the English dubbing but is saddled with an incompetent giant (!) for a henchman (actually the same 'actor' was equally ill-at-ease in SAMSON [1961], which I had watched earlier in my peplum marathon). At least, Euro-Cult regular Helga Line' is on hand as the attractive heroine