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BEN-HUR (1959) watch along (Patreon)

Published:
2024-09-13 20:54:19
Edited:
2024-10-12 04:11:39
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Content

Well....OK.

While this might not be my best reaction or favorite film, I’m here for you if you're looking to check it off your list too. There are definitely some highlights worth appreciating: the sets and landscapes, the lighting and some of the shots, and of course, the chariot race. I found myself using the word “beautiful” a lot in the outro (it was late) because there are some relatable and moving themes here. However, I think for modern audiences, the overarching religious themes might feel a bit heavy-handed. I believe it's crucial to watch the films that paved the way for cinema as we know it today. I genuinely appreciate classic films for what they represent and the influence they’ve had. It's important to explore more stories, especially those you might overlook or dismiss based on their content alone. There's so much value in challenging our perspectives and broadening our horizons.

Coming from a religious family myself, I’m open to watching all types of stories, and I wasn’t too bothered by it. I prefer to take away the elements that stand out to me. That said, I didn’t feel a strong emotional connection with the film overall. The relationship with Messala felt underdeveloped, though I did enjoy the focus on family and the messages of forgiveness toward the end. Ben-Hur’s character arc was interesting, but the film definitely could’ve benefited from being 2-2.5 hours instead of its current length.

I will say, I’m a bit frustrated that CEOTTK was bumped instead of this one. Maybe in the next anniversary edition, they’ll make a braver choice.

Every film has something to offer, and in this case, it’s a positive message of hope and forgiveness.

***Lastly, while this movie touches on themes of war and religion, I kindly ask that we keep the discussion respectful and avoid turning the comments into debates about current world events or personal beliefs. Let’s focus on the film and enjoy the conversation!

If you watched along with me, thank you! I appreciate you being here.

xx

ames

Files

BEN-HUR (1959) watch a long

Comments

Bill Maurer

I can understand and appreciate your view on this. Some people can and will be turned off by the religious storylines in this movie. But, in the 1950's , there where several major Hollywood productions of stories taken right out of the Bible: The Ten Commandments, David & Bathsheba, Samson & Delilah. Times sure have changed from then till now. The Chariot race is phenomenal. Must be discussed that this was all down without ANY Special Effects. Great, great stunt and camera work. Was way, way ahead of its time. PS: Charlton Heston did a Bud Light commercial in the 90's spoofing his chariot race. Sorry about the poor video quality. https://youtu.be/FeX8W7GgTdE?si=n9S1G0VL63N2H2AB

RFK Fan

Well said Ames. I think most here would totally agree with your assessment. I always enjoyed BEN-HUR largely because I grew up with it and for me? It's really a GREAT story. It's also a pretty accurate snapshot of the largely white, wholesome and Christian America in the 1950's as well. Shame they don't make movies in Cinemascope or Technicolor anymore. Something to be said about the vibrant colors of these old films...

Jeffrey Schmidbauer

Ben Hur did hold the record for most Oscar wins until "Titanic", so they did something right. But you're correct in saying some of the religious themes are kinda laid on thick. This film could've easily been directed by Cecil B. DeMille; it has that same aura (for lack of a better word) as "The Ten Commandments". (With Charleton Heston getting top billing there too.) The Chariot Race sequence is thrilling and definitely is the climax of the movie but it happens only halfway through the picture. The second half still has to be endured showing Ben Hur's life paralleling Jesus Christ. But we all know how that turned out.

VivendoBem

Ames, it's really interesting you note an underdeveloped relationship between Messala and Ben-Hur. The writing/adaptation of this movie was done by several people and there is much debate about it,. One of the writers, however, was the very famous Gore Vidal who always asserted that he contributed an unspoken homoeroticism between the two characters, even going so far as to suggest to the director William Wyler that he should tell Stephen Boyd (Messala) to play it as if he is in love with Ben-Hur and his anger stemming from being spurned, yet never tell Chuck Heston this. Wyler denied it, and the debate about this will, apparently never end, but it does make that odd feeling relationship make sense. I don't know who's right, I'm just a simpleton who likes the chariot race (A LOT more than the rest of the picture).

Toc

LOVE what you wrote. Couldn't agree more. This will not be the first time where you see a movie on the AFI list that will come up short for you. The majority of them, especially as the list goes on, i think you will find worthy. Not all!, but even those, you'll be happy to cross 'em off your list, like this one. And both the beginning and end of the list has the most "duds" in my opinion. However you feel about it, whatever your reaction to it.......it's yours and 100% correct! If it's an honest reaction, then it's a great one! I have no emotional stake in this one like I did with, say, Close Encounters or Paper Moon so.....my feelings sure won't be hurt! :P

Shawn Goforth

The beginning of the end of the classic studio system emerges in the form of extravagant historical epics, armies of extras, and the largest sets ever built (and then usually burned to the ground), captured by 70 mm framework. This was the era of wasting resources simply to prove they were still there to waste. Public tastes were about to change, as audiences were catching on to tactics of being lulled into a coma by spectacle or the “reel them in and never let them leave” marketing campaigns. The scale had become uncontrollable, and the studios were unknowingly swinging their own wrecking balls. In the span of 5 years, we got Fall of the Roman Empire, Cleopatra, Spartacus, The Longest Day, El Cid, Zulu, The Alamo, The 300 Spartans, Genghis Khan, The Great Escape, How the West Was Won, Ben-Hur, and even It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, which I group in as equally off the rails. Compare these to the quality and innovations in storytelling the Europeans began churning out on a shoe-string budget in the 60s under the leadership of Bergman, Visconti, Powell, Antonioni, Godard, Truffaut, Fellini, Bunuel, Bertolucci, Bresson, etc. and it’s easy to see how the new crop of filmmakers that would emerge in Hollywood by the end of the decade were influenced so heavily by international films from 1958-1968, and why they were so willing to allow Rome to fall. To clarify, I do appreciate this film very much. I do not, however, feel it deserves to be included in the top 100 American Films ever list.

AJ
>>149379504

Intersting. This sounds like what happened to American cars vs Japan maybe a decade later.

JM63
>>149375177

Interesting. I mean, in a way he is spurned so it makes sense.

JM63
>>149375356

Every film hits everyone differently. I didn't know what to expect revisitng it, but I feel like it ain't no dud! (Of course my feelings aren't hurt if that isn't the consensus here :)

JM63
>>149375893

Definitely felt a Star Wars vibe. And for Americans of the 1950s, the obvious parallel is the American Revolution (Britain = Rome).

Shawn Goforth

There is an old myth that a stunt performer who was run over in the chariot race actually died on set, and the director left the footage in the film, against the pleas of his widow. That, apparently, is not the case, but the stunt actor for Heston WAS actually tossed out of the chariot. He got up and walked it off like a beast. From what I've read, the real death of the stuntman came in the 1925 silent version, when the stand-in for Messala, actually did die from wounds (along with a few horses).

Randolph Tirazona

Excellent! Last time I saw this was like 1968. "Cleopatra" (1963) is also similar.

Toc

100% correct on everything you said bro. 100%. Also: the people in control of Hollywood, including most directors, had been around since the silent era, some as early as 1915. This is 1959, but stylistically it could have been 1939 in many ways.

James Rogers

Unlike the film-maker I'll try to keep this short. This is certainly one of the better spectacles of its kind. Would I put it in my top 100 American films? No. Then again I wouldn't put CEOTTK there either. Kind of why I think lists like that are dumb. See for yourself and judge according to your own standards. One note I have: When Judah gives Esther her freedom as a wedding gift your "gee, thanks" made me laugh out loud. Thank God there isn't a directors cut/special edition of this one. You might still be watching. Thanks for the marathon.

AJ
>>149395391

Erwin please keep the comments positive. It's OK to have different opinions of movies but personal attacks are out of bounds.

Hold Down A
>>149409135

Thank GOD no DC lol.. I’m glad u got a laugh.. sometimes I am lost for words lol glad you watched 😂😂 glad I got it ✔️

Michael Walsh

It's a straight forward treatment of the Christian Gospels, with the life of Judah Ben-Hur running parallel and intersecting with that account. Unless one believes religion cannot be a subject matter of film, which blots out an entire experience of life, the subject matter is fine. As are films that deal with Christianity in an ambivalent and hostile manner. Two films of Scorcese fall into the ambivalent category - The Last Temptation of Christ and Silence. Ben Hur is a film of Christian apologetics, it makes a case for Christianity, which in the 50s could even be done by non Christians like William Wyler, or someone seen as hostile to Christianity, such as the writer Gore Vidal, who worked on the script. Today, it would be impossible, outside of professed Christians like Mel Gibson and Christian production companies, to present Christian beliefs, as held by Christians themselves, without truckloads of irony and implied disapproval. I'd be open to a Ben Hur type film presenting Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, Jewish etc. narratives. I wouldn't feel in the least "less modern" by experiencing them.