Ben-Hur

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.

In the ears and minds of any movie lover, the word "Ben-Hur" resonates like the quintessential Hollywood classic oozing respectability in every inch of celluloid but the same respect we owe to an old relic. In our cynical modern world, who would enjoy a pompous-looking big-budget swords-and-sandals religious epic when you have Tarantino and Appatow?

I saw "Ben-Hur" for the first time in fourth grade, it was part of our history course and being an Asterix buff, I loved watching real-life legionaries, galley slavery not to mention the chariot race, the film also enlightened me on Christianity and on Judaism (when my only religious reference was monotheism number three) and scared the hell out of me with leper. It worked on a cinematic level as much as educational, I guess even in its TV-sized crappy 80's VHS look, we kids enjoyed "Ben-Hur" especially the rivalry between Judah (Charlton Heston) and Messala (Stephen Boyd).

I never watched "Ben-Hur" after that but nor did I have any doubt over its status as a colossal masterpiece. Watching it again a few years ago and then a few days ago, I was surprised by how engraved in my memory "Ben-Hur" was, and how the moments that stood out were still having the same effect. When Ben-Hur and Messala meet after many years, I'm always anticipating that first breech in the fortress of their friendship when the young Roman tribune will have one word too many about Ben-Hur's people, taking for granted their friendship and Judah's nobility as marks of submission. The second encounter is even more thrilling because it's like watching a shaking edifice waiting to collapse.

It was a nice call from the director Wyler to mark the feud between the two ex-friends at the second encounter, hence putting more gravitas around their relationship, that screenwriter Gore Vidal tried to impregnate with homoerotic subtext. The story is known by movie buffs, Vidal wanted to make the interactions look as the two rivals were former lovers, the subtext works even more when you look at Stephen Boyd's "enamored" eyes toward Charlton Heston. But 'Chuck' never knew the trick and was annoyed about it, I guess I prefer the way their hatred epitomize the conflict between Romans and Jews sealing as one of the most memorable rivalries in history of cinema, with the most heart-pounding climactic face-to-face (or should I say wheel-to-wheel).

I had positive feelings about "Gladiator" but "Ben-Hur" is the masterpiece that dwarfs any contemporary masterpiece, a sweeping revenge story that doesn't rely at all on fake CGI and special effects. It took William Wyler's expertise built up in three decades of experience to make "Ben-Hur" equal the reference of the time that was Cecil B. De Mille's 1925 version. As a matter of fact, "Ben-Hur" has been blockbuster material from the start, ever since Lewis Wallace's best-seller of the late century, it was played on theaters and not with modest budgets. A revenge story, with galley combats, a chariot race and an oblique take on the greatest story ever told, with a hero going from idealism to anger, from revenge to love, all wrapped up in a subtle religious conversion, "Ben-Hur" was an instant classic Hollywood couldn't ignore.

If 1925 had the race and the thrills, the 1959 one had a bigger scope, bigger budget, the colors, the talking and all the determination of a big studio like MGM to prove a 50's audience that TV wasn't yet the pinnacle of spectacular entertainmnet. When I hear my Dad talking about going to the movies, like "Ben-Hur", "Spartacus", "Guns of Navarone" or "Taras Boulba" you would think he went there, inside the screen. And right now, I can't imagine the eyes of people staring at the screen during the chariot race, there comes a moment where you stop watching the moment as a plot element, but as a real race, and it never, never suspends your disbelief, it's like at any new viewing, Messalah can finally win.

There are so many classic moments that filled the three-hour-and-half journey that you're never in a state of non-anticipation, when the new inquisitor's parade starts, you keep an eye on that loose roof tile, the one that started the whole chain of events. In the desert, you wait for the 'greatest cameo ever made', in the galleys, the big fight and Ben-Hur rescuing Arrius (Jack Hawkins) and it goes on and on. I must reckon after the chariot race, the film gets a tad too long, but only because you can't just sweep off such a rich epic with a five-minute resolution, and Charlton Heston, in his greatest role, contributed a lot to the everlasting appeal of the film, I don't think he gets the credit he deserved, he brings to his Judah Ben-Hur a dimension of emotional vulnerability that could have been laughable from a lesser actor.

Other cast members include Oscar-winning Hugh Griffin enjoying his role as Arab sheikh and Judah's mentor, Israeli actress Haya Harareet as Esther, Martha Scott and Cathy O'Donnell as Judah's mother and sister... the film is served by a solid cast, editing, directing, having swept off all the major Oscar by breaking the record of 11 wins, only to be matched in 1997 with "Titanic" and "The Return of the King" and oddly enough, these titles could somewhat apply to "Ben-Hur".

I haven't seen the 'original' and I'm in no hurry for the remake, but I don't get I'll be in a minority if I say that this is the ultimate version. I didn't see it many times in my life but it's always present in my memories as if it wasn't about the number of times you watch it but the intensity of each experience. And let's not forget the name of the director: William Wyler who outdid himself by making his masterpiece, which is saying a lot, given his previous streaks.

"Ben-Hur": A Christ Tale, a tale of vengeance, in fact a tale of all tales...

I think I can safely say that in my opinion, this is the best movie ever made. Its dramatic value is fantastic, and I've never seen a better storyline. The costumes were also incredible. The actors portrayed the best purest form of both ancient Roman and old Judean culture. This film also had quite an emotional effect. The way that Christ's face is never visible nor his voice audible to the audience creates a feeling of reverence to the actual person of Jesus. Lew Wallace also did an amazing job portraying the innocence, kindness, and mercy of Jesus, and his effect on the main character, Judah Ben Hur. Hur's ending quote, "I felt him take the sword out of my hand" was a wonderful picture of his changing. I admit, I am a Christian, but even for those who are not this is still a great film. The message boards confirm that. I recognize that there are some people that require constant action to keep their attention. If this is your case, than this movie is not for you, as it has a lot of dialogue. But I recommend this movie 100%.

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!

The newest iteration of BEN-HUR (2016) made by schlockmeister Timur Bekmambetov crashed and burned in the box-office front, which prompts my belated viewing of this grandiose historical epic under the supervision of William Wyler, the film won him a third Oscar for directing and swept with 11 wins out of its total 12 nominations (only Karl Tunberg lost BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY to Jack Clayton's ROOM AT THE TOP).

Adapted from Lew Wallace's 1880 novel, BEN-HUR: A TALE OF THE Christ, this Hollywood juggernaut opens with the birth of Jesus Christ, jand condones quite a chunk of time in padding out the Calvary crucification after the iconic chariot racing money shot (which partially explains its drawn-out length, running up to 212 minutes), vehemently gets its feet wet as a Christianity- moralizing tale by casting J.C. as the Messiah who literally saves our hero Judas Ben-Hur (Heston) from perishing during his trials and tribulations, and jumps the shark in its miraculous ending, gratifyingly throws humankind's fate under the omnipresence's whims, which gives a staid aftertaste.

The main plot is of course, about Judas, a wealthy Jewish prince in Jerusalem, AD 26, falls foul of his childhood friend, now a Roman tribune, Messala (Boyd), who swears allegiance to the Roman Empire, and fails to rope the freedom-advocating Judas into joining his side. Under Messala's cunning malfeasance out of a mere accident, Judas is sentenced to toil in the galleys whilst his mother Miriam (Scott) and sister Tirzah (O'Connell) are cooped up in prison. Revenge is the mainspring behind Judas' odyssey from a galley slave to an heir of the childless Roman Consul Quintus Arrius (Hawkins), it is hatred that keeps his head above water against adversity, alert to a golden window to enact his exit strategy and he even magnanimously hatches a son-father rapport with the tyrannical Arrius. This is the thorny knot in the otherwise rather Manichaean racial feud depicted in the story, how far one can go to love your enemy? Which remains a quintessential challenge for those who endorse Christianity, and the film could have delved deeper into Judas' psyche on that issue, yet, Arrius wholly disappears from the narrative after the mid-stream, and he merely functions as a springboard to Judas' glorious homecoming with his rehabilitation, reunion and rediscovery. At the end of the day, justice belatedly prevails, but Judas still gets all shaken up in the aftermath, revenge might keep him alive but it is religion that gives him the ultimate peace.

For what it's worth, BEN-HUR's visual spectacle still holds water to an awe-inspiring amazement and thrill, it is a historic accomplishment not just because of its cutting-edge technicalities but also for the staggering manpower it strenuously deploys, the film itself is a panegyric of human's creativity, which is something no dissenter can take away.

Romans are played by a crop of top-notch British thespians, whilst Jews are mostly impersonated by Americans, although how come Hugh Griffith's ludicrously swarthy portrayal of the Arabic Sheik can walk off with that Oscar statute still eludes me, he is not even the top-pick among the supporting cast in the film, both Hawkins and Boyd can easily upstage him with their more engaging agent and emotive bravura, especially the latter, truly deserves at least an Oscar nomination which usurped by Griffith. That is not to say, Heston wins his Oscar all fair and square, but at least one can understand the logic, Heston has a dominating role whacked by an unimaginable baptism of fire, he is undeniably sympathetic and mostly affective with a very theatrical flair. An unsung heroine, is Israeli beauty Haya Harareet's divine presence as Esther, the daughter of Judah's former slave Simonides (Jaffe), and Judah's sweetheart, who livens up the scenes whenever poignancy comes into play, a classic godsend.

When all is said and done, BEN-HUR is the apotheosis of mainstream studio production in Hollywood's Golden Era, its phenomenal scale, its breathtaking grandeur and the imposingly plangent score by Miklós Rózsa can unnerve any redux project even tries to emulate its success, and furthermore, its "revenge is never the cure" message can earnestly transcend any religious persuasions and reach to a broader demography out of its faith-base home-turf.