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Rating: 4.5 out of 5
I stood in the library, trying to figure out what movie to watch. After looking through the many lists that AFI, American Film Institute, put out, I stopped on Ben-Hur. I didn’t know much about the film, only knowing that it was the first movie to win an unprecedented 11 Academy Awards at the time. I decided to check it out because many people thought it was good. It sat on my desk as I believed it would be at least a two-hour movie. As I looked at the back cover, I saw that it was 212 minutes long. I quickly pulled out my phone and calculated that it was 3 hours and 32 minutes long. I almost dropped the movie. Who has time to watch a movie that long?
Sitting two hours in a theater feels long sometimes if the movie is okay. All I could think over and over again is the movie is four 4 hours long. 4 HOURS!! Once again, 4 HOURS!! I sat at my computer and first did a little research on the film. I discovered that the film had the largest budget at the time of $15 million. As many as 10,000 extras are on film at one time, with 2,500 horses, 200 camels, 50 ships built especially for the sea battle, 18 chariots, and 300 different sets recreating the glory that was Rome. That is a lot of people and stuff for one movie. Feeding a small country right there. I strapped in and decided to watch the whole film.
Consensus?? Ben-Hur is an epic film that moves at such a tremendous and fast pace that you really don’t realize that time has passed. A film that almost every hour, something significant is happening to keep your attention. A story that challenges one faith versus the opposition but with fancy battles, revenge, and an epic chariot race to put a nice little bow on it. Every major spectacle is done at the right place during the right time to hold your attention. It is a film that is religious in some ways to what is right and ultimately forgiving oneself and finding a happy life. A film that was worth every single penny of the $15 million-dollar budget.
Directed by William Wyler, produced by Sam Zimbalist, screenplay by Karl Tunberg and based on the novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by General Lew Wallace. The film follows the life of Judah Ben-Hur and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ through his eyes. Judah Ben-Hur (Heston) is a rich Jewish prince and a merchant in Jerusalem. When his childhood friend Messala (Boyd) arrives with the new governor, he is named commanding officer of the Roman legions. Judah quickly runs off to see his old friend. In the beginning, they are happy as Messala shows great respect and admiration for Judah and vice-versa. As the two friends speak, things quickly turn from delighted to disgust as both of them have different political views. Messala believes in the glory of Rome and its imperial power. At the same time, Judah is devoted to his faith and the freedom of the Jewish people. These two viewpoints cause extreme tensions between the two friends that result in Messala giving an ultimatum to Judah: Judah must deliver potential rebels amongst the populace to the Roman authorities. Judah pretty much tells Messala to shove it as his faith and people are more important to him than the glory of Rome. During a welcoming parade for the new governor, Judah and his girl Esther (Harareet) look above from the roof of his home. As they watch, Esther accidentally touches a tile. The tile falls and hits the governor, injuring him. Judah and his family are quickly arrested. Messala knowing that they are not guilty, sends Judah to the galleys and throws his mother and sister in prison. Through slavery, fate, and belief in his god, Judah survives the galleys and manages to return to Jerusalem in hopes of finding his family and seeking the revenge he craves against his former friend.
I was highly impressed with the story and pace of this film. I figured it was just another boring Bible-thumping film. Yet, it wasn’t that at all, and that is what made it so well. There are some religious scenes (i.e., the birth of Jesus, the sight of Jesus helping Judah, and the crucifixion of Jesus). It’s not as if those scenes are crammed down our throats. It’s more of a story of vengeance and not letting go of one’s faith, but if a fool must get stabbed, then so be it. It’s pretty insane to see the “fall” of Judah. Even when he was so happy to see Messala, Judah was true to his people and wasn’t a snitch. Gotta respect that even if his former boy didn’t like that. That, in the end, got him hurt as his boy, backstabbed him so badly in the back and threw him in prison to be a slave and his mother and sister. Hurt the dude, but the mom and sister were definitely spiteful and crossed the line.
Through all of it, you see the extreme hatred that Judah has to get back to his family even while being away on a slave ship. That whole slave ship scene was pretty crazy, especially the whole practicing war scene. As Quintus Arrius is giving orders to his drummer, Judah is like, “You’re not going to destroy me! I have been on this ship for three years, and I’m straight up going to get my vengeance.” As Judah rows, he is eyeballing the hell out of Arrius, which ultimately gets Arrius respect when s**t hits the fan.
The pace of this film is great as it seems like every hour, something is happening to keep your attention. You can’t have straight dialogue for almost four straight hours. The first hour, Judah was thrown into prison and slavery. The second hour, warships and Judah rise back to greatness. The third hour, the epic chariot race. Finishing off with Judah meeting his family again, which is pretty sad for a while.
The cinematography by Robert L. Surtees was OUTSTANDING. Stand up and give that man a round of applause. Surtees gave the film a larger than life feel to it. Where you saw almost everything and didn’t miss the slightest detail. When capturing the extreme pain and exhaustion of Judah and the prisoners as they walked through the desert. The camera pointed to the prisoners’ feet, showing that they were bare and bleeding on the hard-rocky surface, along with showing how one of the prisoners dropped to the ground. You saw everyone and their exhaustion as one of the soldiers releases the man from his chains and throws him down a sand dune to die.
Another example is the practice war ship scene. With every other beat the drummer does, the scene quickly changes from Judah, to the rowers to Arrius, back to Judah, and then the drummer. A significant example is the overall Rome scene. As Judah and Arrius march into Rome as heroes. Rome is shown as grand and larger than life. It puts New York City to shame. The streets are filled with people, and all the buildings look top-notch. The crazy part is that there are no special effects of CGI.
Special consideration must be given to the chariot scene. HOLY S**T was that scene intense. It seemed to be the cumulation of all of Ben-Hur’s anger and vengeance. Everything coming together in one defying 9-minute scene. IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT. I somewhat knew chariot races were intense, but this one right here was excellent, intense, and downright a work of art. Just the look and feel of the chariot race was great. You felt immersed in the whole race as you viewed both Ben-Hur and Messala battle it out amongst themselves and the other competitors. It was like watching a more brutal version of NASCAR but with horses and safety at an all-time low. You knew terrible things were going to happen when Messala rolled up late but with a war chariot or simply a chariot with blades on the hubs. Dude meant business, and he was out to whip ass and take lives. Watching chariots flipping over and people getting trampled was insane. You even felt bad for the people who had to clean the track as they gave a sense of urgency to the whole scene. If they didn’t move fast enough, then they could die. Case in point, a soldier, was chillin on the wall. Messala forced one chariot into the wall, and that soldier got trampled. Tough day on the job.
The cast contributed significantly to this film and make it work so well. Each person did an outstanding job. Charlton Heston was fantastic as Judah Ben-Hur. He showed his strong will and determination when needed but also was kind in scenes that needed a gentle touch to it. Stephen Boyd, as the back-stabber Messala, is significant opposition to Judah. He isn’t so much evil but shows that duty to his empire is more important than anything else. The way he speaks to people below him or even Judah is worth seeing. Hugh Griffith, as the Sheik Ilderim, is quite a fun character and is one of the shining stars of the film. The relationship he has with his horses is priceless. Anyone that loves their animal-like he does is outstanding.
After watching this film, you can really see why it won 11 Academy Awards. From the acting to the cinematography, musical score, story and pace, Ben-Hur is a movie worth watching. The only and slight downside to this epic film is the length. Once again, it’s about 4 HOURS LONG!!
