Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4446 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-11-01
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Bulgarian, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Romanian, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 213 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Ben-Hur scooped an unprecedented 11 Academy Awards in 1959 and, unlike some later rivals to this record-breaking win, 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. It cost a staggering 15 million dollars and was one of the largest film productions ever undertaken: the Circus Maximus set alone covered 18 acres and was filled with 40,000 tons of Mediterranean sand. But it's not just running time or a cast of thousands that makes an epic, it's the subject-matter that counts and in Ben-Hur the subject is rich, detailed and sensitively handled. Despite both the original novel's and the film's subtitle, "A Tale of the Christ", this is really a parallel life, that of Prince Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) and his estrangement from old Roman pal Messala (Stephen Boyd). The eponymous character's journey of self-discovery through bitterness and hate to eventual redemption has many deliberate echoes of Christ's life (at one point, Judah is mistaken for Jesus, much as Brian would be later in Monty Python's masterful satire), and the multi-layered script from (uncredited) literary titans Gore Vidal and Christopher Fry wrings out every nuance and every possible shade of meaning.

Director William Wyler, who had been a junior assistant on MGM's original silent version back in 1925, never sacrifices the human focus of the story in favour of spectacle (he had the good sense to leave the great chariot race to second-unit director and experienced stuntman Yakima Canutt), and it is his concentration on human drama and fully rounded characters that gives Wyler's epic its heart. In this he is aided immeasurably by Miklós Rózsa's majestic musical score, arguably the greatest ever written for a Hollywood picture, in which the development of character-driven leitmotifs produces the effect of grand opera. The Christian theme concentrates on the central character's love and compassion for his family (evoked by the discovery of their leprosy) rather than any heavy-handed sermonising (the figure of Christ is seen but never heard--his presence signalled by a serene musical motif instead).

On the DVD: this long-awaited release presents the film's original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.76:1 in a glorious anamorphic print, complete with remastered Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. The music sounds fresher than ever, and both the theatrical "Overture" and "Entracte" are included (civilised times the 1950s: they had specially composed intermission music to enjoy while topping up on ice cream and popcorn!). There's an extensive and enjoyable documentary tracing the history of the story from Lew Wallace through stage productions to the first MGM version in 1925 and then to the 1959 production. Charlton Heston provides an intermittent commentary, evidently enjoying the experience of watching the film again, and his comments are usefully indexed so you can skip to the next bit without having to sit through chunks of silence (during the chariot race he voiced his concern to second-unit director Yakima Canutt that the stuntmen were better drivers. Replied Canutt: "Chuck, just drive the damn chariot and I guarantee that you'll win"). There's also a couple of screen tests, one with Leslie Nielsen in pre-Naked Gun days as Messala and a photo gallery and theatrical trailers complete an epic DVD package. --Mark Walker

Special Features
Wide Screen
DVD 10
French
English
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 English French
Dolby Digital 5.1
Scene Access
Interactive Menus
Feature Length Audio Commentary By Charlton Heston
Behind The Scenes Documentary Ben Hur The Making Of An Epic
Feature Length Audio Commentary By Charlton Heston
On The Set Photo Gallery
Screen Tests Of The Final And Near Final Cast
Trailer
Bulgarian\Dutch\English\French\German\Italian\Romanian\Spanish

Synopsis
Anno Domini: the seventh year of Augustus Caesar's reign. In the Roman province of Judea, Jews return to the city of their birth for the census. A bright star in the night over Bethlehem marks the birth of Jesus Christ. Years later, Roman commander Messala (Stephen Boyd), who was brought up in Judea, takes command of the Roman garrison in Jerusalem. His Jewish boyhood friend Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) greets him. Messala is delighted. But when Judah refuses to name Jewish patriots, Messala sentences him to the slave galleys and imprisons his mother, Miriam (Martha Scott), and sister, Tirzah (Cathy O'Donnell). Judah vows revenge. In BEN-HUR, William Wyler's much-lauded epic, the story of Judah's search for his mother and sister and his quest for revenge intersects with crucial biblical events such as the Sermon on the Mount and the crucifixion. Wyler gets fine performances from Heston, Boyd, Jack Hawkins (as a Roman admiral who befriends Judah), and Hugh Griffith (as an Arab sheik who dreams of racing his beautiful white horses against Messala). Among BEN-HUR's vivid dramatic sequences are a violent sea battle and the famous chariot race that pits Judah against Messala in one of cinema's great action sequences.

Customer Reviews

A film that lives up to its reputation.
I am 28 and somehow have managed to avoid seeing Ben-Hur until yesterday afternoon. Maybe I left it so long to watch because quite often these kind of big budget historical epics can tend to date quite badly and leave you feeling a bit disapointed. This is definately not the case with Ben-Hur, it is extremely well-paced, well acted and is a spectacle in the true sense of the word. The dvd transfer is really excellent and watched on a big widescreen telly you get a great sense of the scale of the movie. The performances are brilliant, especially Heston in one of his few non hammy roles (the only other one I can think of is that Orson Welles film in which he plays a mexican), he did most of own riding and you can tell he had a real sense of the part. The religous aspects of the film are sensitively handled by Wyler who like Juda was Jewish. It doesn't ram religion down your throat like some biblical films but yet still gives a sense of the effect Christ has on the main characters without allowing the narrative to veer too far away from being about Juda or becoming mawkish. Even if the rest of the film hadn't been great it would still be worth watching for the chariot scene. I had read somewhere that some of the stuntmen were killed in the making of this scene and watching the film this seems easy to beleive. However, watching the extras I found out this wasn't the case, it's a testament to the stunt co-ordinator and I director that I was convinced this was the case.

Stupendous Epic
This must be one of the greatest films made. It was based on the book subtitled "A Story of the Christ" by an (?) American general and contains two themes: the Passion of Christ and the story of Judah Ben Hur, a high-ranking Judean and his family. It is amazing to realize that, when this film was made in 1959, even a studio (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) completely owned and run by Jews could make one of the most powerful pro-Christian films ever. Compare that to the degenerate Hollywood of today! The epic chariot race is probably the best known part of the film and indeed one of the best known epic scenes in any film. At least one extra was actually killed during the filming of that race. However, the religious aspect is the core of the film and the theme on which it ends, with the Blood of Christ running into and mingling with the waters of the Earth. Shades of the "Aetherization of the Blood"! If this film has one flaw, it is that it gives scant respect to the equally divinely inspired civilization of Rome.

An All Time Classic!
I bought the Video version quite a few years back, and had to buy the DVD version for it is quite simply superb. Still one of the all time great movies, it achieved eleven academy awards and even after all these years its easy to understand why. The story is about Judah Ben-Hur a rich Jewish merchant who is betrayed by his best friend Messala, a Roman Tribune. Sentenced to the galleys, he saves a Roman Consul's life (Jack Hawkins) is not sent back to the galleys, and returns to Jerusalem to find his lost mother and sister who have been imprisoned by Messala.

The second part of the film contains the famous chariot race which apparantly took three months to film and is one of the finest ever filmed. It ends with Christ's crucifixion and Ben-Hur being reunited with his family.

The highlight of this disc is of course, the making of Ben-Hur which contains facinating stories of how the chariot race was actually filmed. For a film that is 43 years old, the video transfer in widescreen of course, is quite simply superb with good sound. If you have a home cinema set up, then you are in for a treat. For serious movie buffs, this is a must buy.