When TITANIC won 11 Oscars in 1997, talk was how that film was the first to win 11 Academy Awards since Ben-Hur did it in 1959. Many would say that Titanic is the superior film.
They would be wrong.
Made in the days before CGI, the 1959 Academy Award winner for Best Film, BEN-HUR is bravura film-making of the highest quality, relying on practical sets, props and action pieces (especially the famed Chariot Race scene) to bring to life a compelling story of friendship, betrayal, loss, revenge and redemption.
It's a classic of EPIC proportions.
Directed by William Wyler (ROMAN HOLIDAY) - who also won an Oscar for his work - BEN-HUR (subtitled: A STORY OF THE CHRIST) tells the tale of a Jewish Prince who lives in the same time as Jesus Christ.
Besides the spectacle of tale (more on that later), what struck the BankofMarquis during this viewing (the first viewing in more than 20 years) is the religious overtones involved. Judah Ben-Hur (the titular character played by Charlton Heston) cross paths with Jesus of Nazareth a few times, noting the benevolence of the man, but - blinded by hatred - he misses the message of the Christ. It's an interesting take on the Easter tale, told by someone "just off-screen".
Heston won an Oscar for his portrayal of Judah Ben-Hur and it is well earned for he acts, he doesn't orate, his part. Compare the (relative) subtly of this performance against his un-subtle portrayal of Moses in THE TEN COMMANDMENTS just a few years earlier, and you can see the difference between ACTING and ORATING.
Joining Heston as an Academy Award winner for his performance was veteran Welsh Actor Hugh Griffith who really is the comic relief in the film. While he was fine, the BankofMarquis would have rather seen Jack Hawkins (Quintus Arrias) win the award (he wasn't even nominated), but that's a quibble. Rounding out the top cast is Israeli actress Haya Harareet as Ben-Hur's love interest, Esther (who is a bit more than a love interest). Harareet more than holds her own in this film against Heston and helps anchor the last 1/2 hour of this 3 hour and 32 minute epic.
Special notice should be made of Stephen Boyd's portrayal of the villain of this piece, Messala. While Boyd's performance is not what one would call subtle, he does a pretty good job of trying to bring a real human being to a part that is written in a one-note way.
But, the performances are not why one goes to see this film - it is the epic-ness and grandeur and what an EPIC this film is!
From the opening scenes in Judea, to the Roman Senate to the Warship Battle Scene and to (especially) the Chariot Race Scene (perhaps the best action scene ever put on camera using practical - not special - effects), this film delivers in every way. The scope, the costumes, the pageantry, the pomp and circumstance is in every frame and is awe-inspiring and very deserving of the Oscars it won for Cinematography, Art (Set) Decoration, Costume Design, Sound, Film Editing, Special Effects and Music (the score by Miklos Rozsa is worth listening to on it's own - and you can watch this film with only the music soundtrack on the DVD I inherited from my parents).
Like all Sword and Sandals epics of the time, BEN-HUR is overly long (I like watching Nubean Dancers as much as the next person, but did it have to go on that long), but that is a quibble for a film that is the very epitome of the phrase:
"They don't make 'em like this anymore".
Letter Grade: A
9 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to theBank(ofMarquis)
They would be wrong.
Made in the days before CGI, the 1959 Academy Award winner for Best Film, BEN-HUR is bravura film-making of the highest quality, relying on practical sets, props and action pieces (especially the famed Chariot Race scene) to bring to life a compelling story of friendship, betrayal, loss, revenge and redemption.
It's a classic of EPIC proportions.
Directed by William Wyler (ROMAN HOLIDAY) - who also won an Oscar for his work - BEN-HUR (subtitled: A STORY OF THE CHRIST) tells the tale of a Jewish Prince who lives in the same time as Jesus Christ.
Besides the spectacle of tale (more on that later), what struck the BankofMarquis during this viewing (the first viewing in more than 20 years) is the religious overtones involved. Judah Ben-Hur (the titular character played by Charlton Heston) cross paths with Jesus of Nazareth a few times, noting the benevolence of the man, but - blinded by hatred - he misses the message of the Christ. It's an interesting take on the Easter tale, told by someone "just off-screen".
Heston won an Oscar for his portrayal of Judah Ben-Hur and it is well earned for he acts, he doesn't orate, his part. Compare the (relative) subtly of this performance against his un-subtle portrayal of Moses in THE TEN COMMANDMENTS just a few years earlier, and you can see the difference between ACTING and ORATING.
Joining Heston as an Academy Award winner for his performance was veteran Welsh Actor Hugh Griffith who really is the comic relief in the film. While he was fine, the BankofMarquis would have rather seen Jack Hawkins (Quintus Arrias) win the award (he wasn't even nominated), but that's a quibble. Rounding out the top cast is Israeli actress Haya Harareet as Ben-Hur's love interest, Esther (who is a bit more than a love interest). Harareet more than holds her own in this film against Heston and helps anchor the last 1/2 hour of this 3 hour and 32 minute epic.
Special notice should be made of Stephen Boyd's portrayal of the villain of this piece, Messala. While Boyd's performance is not what one would call subtle, he does a pretty good job of trying to bring a real human being to a part that is written in a one-note way.
But, the performances are not why one goes to see this film - it is the epic-ness and grandeur and what an EPIC this film is!
From the opening scenes in Judea, to the Roman Senate to the Warship Battle Scene and to (especially) the Chariot Race Scene (perhaps the best action scene ever put on camera using practical - not special - effects), this film delivers in every way. The scope, the costumes, the pageantry, the pomp and circumstance is in every frame and is awe-inspiring and very deserving of the Oscars it won for Cinematography, Art (Set) Decoration, Costume Design, Sound, Film Editing, Special Effects and Music (the score by Miklos Rozsa is worth listening to on it's own - and you can watch this film with only the music soundtrack on the DVD I inherited from my parents).
Like all Sword and Sandals epics of the time, BEN-HUR is overly long (I like watching Nubean Dancers as much as the next person, but did it have to go on that long), but that is a quibble for a film that is the very epitome of the phrase:
"They don't make 'em like this anymore".
Letter Grade: A
9 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to theBank(ofMarquis)