Ben-Hur starring Charlton Heston,
Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd, Haya
Harareet, Hugh Griffith
Long Over Due
Ben-Hur scooped an unprecedented 11 Academy Awards® in 1959 and,
unlike some later rivals, richly deserved every single one. This is epic
filmmaking on a scale that had not been seen before and is unlikely ever to
be seen again. But its not just running time or a cast of thousands that
makes an epic, its the subject matter, and here the subject--Prince Judah
Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) and his estrangement from old Roman pal
Messala (Stephen Boyd)--is rich, detailed, and sensitively handled.
Director William Wyler, who had been a junior assistant on MGMs original
silent version back in 1925, never sacrifices the human focus of the story
in favor of spectacle, and is aided immeasurably by Miklos Rozsas
majestic musical score, arguably the greatest ever written for a Hollywood
picture. At four hours its a long haul (especially given some of the
portentous dialogue), but all in all, Ben-Hur is a great movie, best seen on
the biggest screen possible. --Mark Walker
side from a religiously pandering to the end of both films, both films are
classic movies in their own right. This Ben Hur Four Disc collector''s
edition is a step up for lovers of the Ben-Hur film, and while pretty
expensive at 40 dollars (though lot''s of places sell it for 30), it features the
movie itself (good enough right?), oodles of great special features, a
wonderful looking transfer, and an amazingly good print of the silent
version, one of the very view silent movies that''s as enjoyable today as it
was when it was first released, along with movies like Nosferatu (1922),
The Great Train Robbery (1903!), Metropolis (1927), and even A Trip To
The Moon (1902), though the latter is pure interesting considering it''s age
(and really, can we go wrong with the epic three second Roundhouse
Garden SCene from 1888?). For fans and lovers of this movie, there is not
question this DVD is excellent.
BEN HUR:
First off, I''m not a Christian (I used to be, but it would take about 17 years
to lose my faith that there''s an invisible man in the sky, to quo te George
Carlin), but it doesn''t matter much. Ben-Hur is still one of my favorite
movies, and while I thought I would never like this movie after becoming
agnostic (next time one of those moron christian tries to relentlessly talk
me into their religion around campus is getting punched in the face), it
didn''t matter much anyway. Every time I look at the scope, I pretty much
forget the religious undertones . Besides, it''s not like Jesus was a bad
person by any means (and yes, Christianity does have good morals within
it), and the Jesus scenes in here are still tasteful and even touching
(especially the scene where he shows up to rescue a distraught Ben-Hur in
the desert). Even though the spiritual side of the movie doesn''t have as
much, it''s still a good story about redemption, revenge, hatred, and loyalty.
It''s also class entertainment, with great art direction, big battle sequences
(including the masterful and famous Chariot Race), strong and charismatic
performances from Charlton Heston and just about everybody else, and a
grand scope that makes it among the best epic movies, as a matter of fact,
it''s my favorite movie that would fall into epic (on a side note, what would
happen if the next Transformers would be considered an epic, just
kidding).
BEN HUR: A Tale of the Christ
in some ways, this version is even better than the first one, further boosted
by the great new score created for the film. One thing I found out I liked
about this and Nosferatu is the way the grainy stock footage made this
look realistic and much more attractive. It puts me into the land of Ben-Hur
easily, something that Hollywood production values sometimes have
trouble doing. And for it''s time, it''s filmed beautifully, and the few color
scenes are beautiful to look at, very realistic looking and really, just really
perfectly capture the pristine moment of Christ''s birth. It''s one aspect this
movie improves on in comparison to the remake.
So what does this version offer beside''s it''s pristine, rugged, and
beneficial silent film look? Well, it''s much shorter, which is good and bad
at the same time. The characters are different from each other, as
Heston''s iconic performance is much different from the more innocent and
surprisingly realistic feel of his character. For a silent film, the acting is
expressive and quite good, a little unnatural but much better acted than the
average crappy silent movie. The sea battle is much cooler to watch, as
it''s . But my favorite part is the aforementioned look of the silent film that
really makes the film look rugged and strangely beautiful, something that
the technicolor blockbuster of Ben Hur kind of lacks. After all, this is still a
big budget movie made in Hollywood.
However, it still does pale a bit to the other version. The "friendship"
between the two is not as convincing, and Messala is not a human in this
one, he feels more like a villlian, like a cartoon character. Messala is much
more superior in the remake, no questions asked. I kind of like the villiant
stature, but the other incarnation is much superior. Unlike other people, I
do not believe the chariot race in the remake is better. THe big budget and
excitement is much more there the next time around, and it''s much more
exciting, with better sound and other stuff overall (give of take). The
performances in the remake are overall better than the silent version, as I
still prefer Heston''s leading man prescence more. The look of the film is
much more grand and better looking overall. Basically, even th ough the
silent version assets that are better than the remake, it still is overall
inferior thanks to the many factors that tilt the favor over to the remake.
Even though this movie is inferior to the grand, big, and developed
remake, it''s WAY more than just a relic, a great film that should last and be
great viewing. Don''t feel so bad about this movie being a bit worse in
most of it''s ways, that''s not much of an insult.
BONUS FEATURES
For the bonus features, there''s tons of them, including a book let with great
pictures that comes with the packaging. The commentary has been
updated from the snapcase version, with film HIstorian T. Gene Hatcher
filling in with Heston''s old commentary. It''s spread out into two discs for a
good reason, and it''s many languages as well. Another generous thing
they gave for the remake is the inclusion of a music only track, which let''s
you play the movie solely with the score. It''s a great score, and those who
study film might just want to give it a listen to add to your arsenal of the art
of filmmaking. The third disc is soley for the beautifully preserved silent
version, and it''s a great movie.
For the fourth disc, it contains about three hours of bonus material. The
documentary "Ben Hur, the Making of an Epic" really traces the history,
from it''s original publishing, the 1907 silent reel (terrible movie, by the
way), the silent version, and a making of of the movie itself, with porn guy
Gore Vidal takling about his rewrite. The other documentary "The Epic that
Changed Cinema" talks about it''s influence on other films. George Lucas
makes an appearance here, and he tells us that it was the Chariot race
that inspired the Pod Racer sequence. Cool! ANd a visually stunning
movie such as this has a photo gallery that shows pictures of sets and
promotions, a little light on content, but still great in what they give you.
The screen tests are cool, but contains a tale of what happens if you
miscast, to all you aspiring filmmakers out there. The footage of Ben Hur
played by Leslie Nielson shows that casting is very very important.
As far as promotion goes, the rest of the material is dedicated to the ever
great trailers that I can never stop watching. There''s great trailers of the
movie, and the coolest things are the Oscar and promotion materials. The
disc contains footage of the Oscar winnings, and for anyone who wants to
see what it was like when one of their favorite movies won their oscars,
this is for you. The newsreel galleries are sick, and other stars such as
Debbie reynolds and Clark Gable show up in 1959 for premieres. This is
crammed with great things that you would like to see from time to time
again and again. And besides, much of the promotional material is history.
Remember, this isn''t even counting the movies! And to think we can spend
almost the same price on the one disc version of Up whic features about
10 minutes of special features and trailers for _____ Disney movies for
about the same length (pure bull_____).
Overall, this DVD is quite a treat and will give fans of the movie quite a bit
to check on. And it''s not counting repeat watchings, but then again, a
For More 5 Star Customer Reviews and Lowest Price:
Ben-Hur starring Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd, Haya Harareet, Hugh
Griffith - 5 Star Customer Reviews and Lowest Price!