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My wife is out of town for a few days so to kill 2 evenings, I watched Ben-Hur in the theater after the regular shows a couple of nights ago. I hadn't watched it in full in probably 10 years or more, and my wife doesn't really have a big desire to watch it, so I "flew solo."
When I was a kid, I liked the action scenes, and then after growing up I realized there's also a great storyline. So, over the years it became one of my favorite movies.
Some of the acting (especially by Stephen Boyd, who plays the "bad guy" Messala) goes over the top, but he's still a very convincing villain. Ben-Hur's eventual love interest, Esther, is played by Isreali actress Haya Harareet in her first major film role. She's good, but her inexperience shows. Charlton Heston does his usual outstanding job in the title role and the rest of the supporting cast is fine, especially Hugh Griffith, who provides some comic relief in the middle of the movie. ("One God, that I can understand, but one wife? That is not civilized!")
As good as the cast is, the real star of this movie is the filmmaking. There are some 10,000 extras, over 300 sets, thousands of costumes on display. To call this movie a "grand epic" is an understatement. The cinematography is outstanding, especially given the wider-than-Scope aspect ratio.
The two most famous scenes, the sea battle and the chariot race, remain amazing even almost 65 years later. The staging and editing of both of these scenes just leave the viewer breathless. Even knowing how they were going to go, I still found myself completely immersed, even though the sea battle scene is the less-effective of the two by a good bit.
My other two favorite parts of the movie are the nativity scene at the beginning, and Christ's crucifixion scene at the end. Both are beautifully done without words. The nativity has all the joy contained in the music, and the crucifixion is starkly quiet.
I was watching from a DCP I created from a Blu-Ray that has a 5.1 sound mix, which was really good. During the action scenes and the ending storm scene, there was a nice use of surrounds, which I assume wasn't a thing in the '50s, even in roadshow engagements(?). The orchestrations could have used a little more "bass" but that's a common thing in older movies.
I thought it was kind of odd that the movie has an Overture and an Entr'acte, but no exit music -- or at least, none was included on the blu-ray. I wonder if it was always that way or if something got lost? Another interesting tidbit is, this is apparently the only MGM movie in which Leo the Lion is a still image, because director William Wyler thought a roaring lion would detract from the solemnity of the opening scenes.
This is one of the long, long list of movies that would be decent on a TV screen, but will blow you away in a good theater.
When I was a kid, I liked the action scenes, and then after growing up I realized there's also a great storyline. So, over the years it became one of my favorite movies.
Some of the acting (especially by Stephen Boyd, who plays the "bad guy" Messala) goes over the top, but he's still a very convincing villain. Ben-Hur's eventual love interest, Esther, is played by Isreali actress Haya Harareet in her first major film role. She's good, but her inexperience shows. Charlton Heston does his usual outstanding job in the title role and the rest of the supporting cast is fine, especially Hugh Griffith, who provides some comic relief in the middle of the movie. ("One God, that I can understand, but one wife? That is not civilized!")
As good as the cast is, the real star of this movie is the filmmaking. There are some 10,000 extras, over 300 sets, thousands of costumes on display. To call this movie a "grand epic" is an understatement. The cinematography is outstanding, especially given the wider-than-Scope aspect ratio.
The two most famous scenes, the sea battle and the chariot race, remain amazing even almost 65 years later. The staging and editing of both of these scenes just leave the viewer breathless. Even knowing how they were going to go, I still found myself completely immersed, even though the sea battle scene is the less-effective of the two by a good bit.
My other two favorite parts of the movie are the nativity scene at the beginning, and Christ's crucifixion scene at the end. Both are beautifully done without words. The nativity has all the joy contained in the music, and the crucifixion is starkly quiet.
I was watching from a DCP I created from a Blu-Ray that has a 5.1 sound mix, which was really good. During the action scenes and the ending storm scene, there was a nice use of surrounds, which I assume wasn't a thing in the '50s, even in roadshow engagements(?). The orchestrations could have used a little more "bass" but that's a common thing in older movies.
I thought it was kind of odd that the movie has an Overture and an Entr'acte, but no exit music -- or at least, none was included on the blu-ray. I wonder if it was always that way or if something got lost? Another interesting tidbit is, this is apparently the only MGM movie in which Leo the Lion is a still image, because director William Wyler thought a roaring lion would detract from the solemnity of the opening scenes.
This is one of the long, long list of movies that would be decent on a TV screen, but will blow you away in a good theater.
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