Stirring and intelligent film

HOLLYWOOD epics are not to everyone's taste, but if you have to watch one, then Spartacus is not a bad place to start.

Even though director Stanley Kubrick did not have control from the start (he was brought in by Kirk Douglas, when Anthony Mann was fired after one week's shooting), Spartacus (World 9.30pm, Original Running Time 184 mins) remains a stirring and intelligent comment on the nature of revolt.

It's based on the true story of a Libyan slave (Kirk Douglas, clad in little more than loincloth and oil) who led a two-year long slave rebellion in Rome circa 73 BC.

World is showing the first - and best - half tonight, the conclusion tomorrow. The movie starts by showing how slaves were recruited, then trained to be gladiators and it all leads up to the superbly staged revolt and escape.

The second half of the film tends to wallow in sentimentality though it is saved by some stunning battle scenes and great performances from Laurence Olivier, Charles Laughton and especially Peter Ustinov as proprietor of the gladiator school. Ustinov wona Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his scene-stealing skills.

The tension of the revolt and power struggles in the senate are dissipated somewhat by the film's, often unintentionally, hilarious moments. Tony Curtis - who delivers lines like ''My name is Antoninus and I'm a singer of songs . . . I also read de classics'' in a perfect Bronx accent - plays Olivier's toy-boy, and they share a notorious bathing scene.

Best moment though, is when wonderfully rotund Laughton and equally chubby Ustinov discuss the many benefits of weightiness.