DVD reviews
Immortals
"... a thundering example of style over substance."
Midnight In Paris
“...a delightful tribute to nostalgia and romance.”
The Illusionist
“...a film that generally brings warm smiles rather than belly laughs...”
Treasure Guards
"A willing suspension of disbelief should get most viewers across the line."
search the site
newsletter
Enter your email address below to receive the weekly Filmink newsletter
Ben Hur (DVD)
Year: 1959
Rating: G
Director: William Wyler
Cast: Jack Hawkins , Stephen Boyd, Charlton Heston
Release Date: October 26, 2011
Distributor: Warner
The Film: 4.5
The Disc: 2.0
FILMINK rates DVDs and Blu-rays out of 5"..a 4 hour melodramatic spectacle, but it’s still wonderful to watch."
William Wyler's Ben-Hur is big. And so very long. For its time it was the most expensive film ever made and considering the sheer scale and amazing visuals (remastered for the DVD), you can understand the 12 Oscar nominations that led to 11 wins.
The film does have everything; from romance to tyranny, revenge to religion. The story follows Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston), a Jewish nobleman in a Roman controlled Jerusalem. When his childhood friend, Messala (Stephen Boyd), returns to Jerusalem as a Roman officer, differing political views sour their friendship and Messala has Ben-Hur arrested and sent away as a slave. After some considerably fortunate events, Ben-Hur becomes a free man and decides to return to Jerusalem to avenge his family, thus bringing us to the end of disc one and the first half of the film. The second disc has the famous edge-of-your-seat chariot race. Ben-Hur gets his revenge, yet struggles with Roman control of his people until he sees Jesus Christ's self-sacrifice.
The film is a 4 hour melodramatic spectacle, but it's still wonderful to watch. This 50th anniversary edition includes six collectable character costume sketches, an audio commentary with film historian T. Gene Hatcher and Charlton Heston, and a music only track to showcase the film's score.
