Review of Ben-Hur (1959) by Josh M — 06 Jul 2017

There's no denying that Ben-Hur is an incredible achievement of filmmaking. For over three and a half hours, Wyler immerses you in the Roman empire, and scene after scene is filled with rich detail, great acting, and a complex story about a Jewish Prince who becomes a slave and seeks his revenge on the friend who betrayed him.

And yet, I found myself more impressed with the film than enjoying it. The Christian backdrop feels awkwardly shoehorned on until the very end, and while every second of the film is important in some way or another, the film still manages to somehow feel both bloated and weirdly elliptical (with seemingly important chunks of Heston's life waved away with a line of dialogue).

Still, there's no denying that the film attains an incredible majesty during its best moments, and that the cast is uniformly great, especially Heston. But here's the thing: even if I hated every other second of the film, I'd be inclined to give out a five-star rating just for the chariot race alone, which is one of the most incredible sequences I've ever seen.

From a technical perspective, it's jaw-dropping, but even ignoring that, it's exciting, riveting, and thrilling cinema that holds up today as one of the best action scenes I've seen. In the end, I don't dislike Ben-Hur; I can't deny that emotionally it left me cold, but as an achievement, it's a remarkable piece of work, so good that it redeems some of my problems with the heart of the movie.