Review of Ben-Hur (1959) by Chris B — 11 Apr 2012

Man what a huge difference a devoted and frame by frame restoration can do for a film when it is viewed on Blu-ray, especially since "Ben-Hur" was filmed on 70mm film! The results of the video and audio (wisely spread across two 50 gigabyte Blu-rays to conserve the high bit rate) are truly astounding and this is one of the greatest catalog releases to date on the Blu-ray format! The film itself is a pure epic in scope religious themed action/drama film that is timeless and features many stunning and legendary scenes in cinema within it's nearly four hour running time.

The film features a great cast headlined by the legendary Charlton Heston as Judah Ben-Hur. The film is filled with adventure and characters that are developed enough that you care about them and their fate as if they were real life friends or family.

A bad series of events and a betrayal of a close friend set in work the fall and eventual rise of Judah to not only avenge himself but his mother and sister as well. "Ben-Hur" is a truly timeless film and it's larger than life sets, 100,000 costumes, and 8,000 extras are only part of what makes it so grand in scope.

This is a film that everybody both young and old and religious or not should try and view and will be rewarded for their time! The film barely squeaked into the AFI Top 100 Films of all Time list at #100 but in my opinion should sit a little higher than it currently does.