Ben-Hur

Some movies are so good that they just haven't age. They are timeless, like any work of art. This is one of those movies, perhaps one of the best movies ever and surely one of the biggest and most epic biblical movies ever made. The story is based on a novel by Lew Wallace (which I have read and I have at home) and is so famous that it doesn't allow spoils: the injustice committed against Judah Ben-Hur and his path of revenge, deeply linked to the life and death of Jesus, a latent and ever palpable subplot, even when it does not arise. Epic in every detail, the film features scenarios and costumes carefully crafted in the style of Imperial Rome. Some sequences are truly anthological, as is the case with the chariot race. The representation of the Roman legionaries influenced for decades the conception that we have, individually, on how they were and fought. The visual and special effects used in the film were the best there was at the time and even today, more than half a century later, they're able to surprise by the realism. The color is vivid and intense, cinematography is truly imposing and accentuates the epic ambiance. As for the cast's work, it's definitely the movie of Charlton Heston's life. He not only became famous with it but made here the most remarkable character of his career. Steven Boyd, Jack Hawkins, Haya Harareet, Martha Scott and Hugh Griffith also shone. It's a long movie, but the audience gets so caught up in it that they don't even feel the time go by. Wonderful!

There are movies, and then there are epics. Ben-Hur is one of the greatest Hollywood epics ever made. It won more Academy Awards than Gone With the Wind. Even Charlton Heston won an Academy Award for Best Actor, and he was never really that good an actor.

This story of a man who came from a rich family and was friends with a powerful Roman commander, has survived the ravages of time. Ben-Hur loses his best friend, his status, and his freedom, as he becomes a slave on a Roman fleet vessel. In passing, we also see the suffering of Christ on his way to Calvary. The film has several thrilling scenes, including the naval battle and the chariot race. In the beginning of the film, Heston challenges Messala to a race, but Messala refuses.

Ben-Hur then says 'What's the matter, are you Chicken Messala?" Actually, this never happened in the film, but it was an opportunity for a bad joke. Be sure you include this one in your want to see list.

What's not to love about BEN-HUR? It's a film that tells an epic story in an epic way, filling every shot with artistry and colour until the screen overflows with splendour. Despite a lengthy running time, the pacing never flags. The episodic structure of the storyline works in the film's favour, ably chronicling the adventures of the titular character as he undergoes a thrilling journey to hell and back.

It has Charlton Heston playing his most famous role and being incredibly manly and heroic in it. It has a cast of seasoned performers in support, not least Jack Hawkins as the sympathetic Roman. It has Stephen Boyd as a truly nasty piece of work villain. It has the most spectacular and complex action sequence ever put on film in the shape of the chariot race, which is just as thrilling and breathtaking as it was when it was first released in cinemas back in the day.

And, finally, it's a film engages the senses and the emotions. It never forgets, amid all the glory and the epic wonder of the scenery and action, that this is a human story about real people struggling with their lives. There's a message there for any viewer, Christian or otherwise, and that's the reason why BEN-HUR hasn't dated a day since it was first released. It's a true classic for a reason.

We are by nature a cynical and critical group.

With the attention span of a bumblebee, moreso the current generation than the earlier ones, because of exposure to mobile devices and other modern disposable non-repairable tech.

It is probably for that reason that epics like this one have become forgotten over time. Even the late CH has become more a societal joke and less of an icon over time. Michael Moore made Heston's participation in the NRA a joke. (If Heston's concerns over where society is headed prove to be true, the final joke may be on Moore.) Back to the film. It is almost perfect. Then, as now. The script continually builds. Modern writers could learn from that. No matter what is presently on screen as you watch, the inevitability of the final climax beckons.

The acting is perfect.

The mixture of myth and drama is perfect.

True the Roman dialog did not benefit from the verbal tricks that Stephen McKnight used in Spartacus (bending the script to match the flow of actual Roman) but it is more than enough to entertain and entrance.

From the "accident" early in the film which starts the flow of events, to the chariot race WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN EQUALLED IN THE HISTORY OF FILM, to the reunion with lost family at the end, this is one of the most powerful and entertaining films of all time

"Ben-Hur" is a dominant Best Picture Oscar winner that is perhaps more impressive now than it was when it was first released in 1959. Charlton Heston (Oscar-winning) stars as a rich Jewish nobleman during the time of Jesus Christ who is turned into a slave by the Romans after a freak accident. Now he is manning an oar in a ship's galley and his family is imprisoned. Years pass and now Heston is after the former childhood friend (Stephen Boyd), a Roman, that turned against him. The 17 minutes of footage for the chariot race is some of the best during the history of the cinema. Hugh Griffith won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar and William Wyler won his third and final Best Director Oscar. A monumental film that is great in every cinematic category known to man. 5 stars out of 5.