Viewed in
2000, 2004, 2008
Premise
Charlton Heston is a Jewish prince, exiled by the Romans, attempts to redeem his and his family's lives, getting unexpected help from a certain carpenter's son. Based on the novel.
Who should watch
Charlton Heston fans. Those who like old-fashioned, three-and-a-half hour long, Christian-based epics.
Thoughts
Of the superlong epics from back in the day, this was one of my favorites. Even though I am non-religious and rather ignorant, I found the story to be very interesting, as Ben Hur and Jesus cross paths numerous times. While this film is not a gladiator movie, it seems to me that 'Spartacus' and 'Gladiator' both stole the story of 'Ben Hur' minus the Jesus angle.
Of course this film would be nothing without the late, great Charlton Heston. Sometimes he was bad-ass, other times he was too Heston-like, but in a entertaining way.
The must-see was the chariot race scene. A strong case could be made that this is still the greatest action sequence ever on film. It was mind-boggling to see all the horses and chaos without computer graphics. The reason for its greatness is also the fact that it told a story, instead of being a flurry of quick edits and flying images.
What I would change
Nothing.
