X
- 2004
- R
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 46 m
- 2004
- R
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 46 m
Summary This political thriller stars Val Kilmer as career military officer working in a highly secretive special operations force that uncovers a white slavery ring.
Directed By: David Mamet
Written By: David Mamet
- 2004
- R
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 46 m
- 2004
- R
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 46 m
Spartan
60
6.8
Where to Watch
Summary This political thriller stars Val Kilmer as career military officer working in a highly secretive special operations force that uncovers a white slavery ring.
Directed By: David Mamet
Written By: David Mamet
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 34 Critic Reviews
60
47% Positive
16 Reviews
16 Reviews
53% Mixed
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 34 Critic Reviews
60
47% Positive
16 Reviews
16 Reviews
53% Mixed
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
The patter is always fascinating, and at right angles to the action. [Mamet]'s like a magician who gets you all involved in his story about the King, the Queen and the Jack, while the whole point is that there's a rabbit in your pocket.
When Spartan is good, it's surprisingly gripping and fresh, and when it's bad, it's just another overcooked Hollywood paranoid thriller.
A vigorous and engrossing genre exercise that manages the difficult trick of being both logically meticulous and genuinely surprising. Its elaborately implausible story gestures now and then toward an idea, but the movie's main concern is technique.
Mamet's understanding of the essentials here and his skill in supplying them are not major achievements for him, but it would be wasteful not to recognize them. Spartan is another feather, though a small one, in his cap.
Spartan is the same old stuff, but now it's been thoroughly Mametized, like a spray-on treatment you could spritz out of a can.
Ultimately unsatisfying.
(Mamet) backslides to a system that has his speeches read in a stylized way. The result is language that sounds unhappily artificial and characters who behave like they are less than real.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 21 User Ratings
6.8
48% Positive
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
43% Mixed
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
10% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 21 User Ratings
6.8
48% Positive
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
43% Mixed
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
10% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.
Production Company
Franchise Pictures,
ApolloMedia Distribution,
ApolloProMedia GmbH & Co. 1. Filmproduktion KG (I),
QI Quality International GmbH & Co. KG,
Signature Pictures,
Art Linson Productions,
Epsilon Motion Pictures,
Linson Entertainment,
Spartan Productions (II)
Release Date Mar 12, 2004
Duration 1 h 46 m
Rating R
Tagline She's missing.
Website
http://www.spartanthemovie.com/
