Ben Hur

Lest you get the wrong idea, not all the movies in my cabinet are obscure little gems, or massive bombs, I too have my fair share of big blockbuster hits and favorite classics. But then again, you've probably seen Aladdin, the Indy Jones flicks, the Star Treks, the Ahnuld films etc.., and don't need me to tell you about them (but I will anyway, it's my home page, I'll do what I want! (insert evil laugh here - ed.). This time, we're going to take a look at the most impressive of the Charlton Heston Biblical Era Movies (pat. pending), Ben-Hur.

For those of you who are perhaps too young or disinterested to know the plot, here is a brief summary. Judah Ben-Hur (Heston) is a rich young Jewish Prince. Messala (Stephen Boyd) is a Young Upwardly-mobile Roman Tribune (YURTie), who was also Judah's boyhood chum. Messala comes back to Judea after making a name for himself in the Roman army, and tries to enlist Judah in a plan to quiet the rebellious Hebrews. Judah tells Messala that he can't, and, after a freak accident gives him an excuse, Messala throws Judah's mother and sister into prison, and has Judah sentenced to death (or to life as a rower on a warship, it was the same thing back then apparently). When the inevitable sinking of the ship arrives, Judah saves the life of an important officer (Jack Hawkins), who adopts him as his son. While in Rome, Judah becomes a leading Chariot Racer (kind of like a Roman Richard Petty), and all around Roman hero. But, he still pines for his family, and the girl he left behind (Haya Harrareet, the only principle of the film actually from the Israel / Palestine area). When a friend of his adopted father gets assigned the governorship of Judea (for those of you not schooled in Biblical history, said governor is Pontius Pilate (Frank Thring)), Ben-Hur decides the time is right for his return. When he reaches the promised land (oops, sorry, wrong movie), he is befriended by an Arabian sheik (Hugh Griffith) , who asks him to train his team of horses for the big races, which leads us up to the confrontation between Ben-Hur and Messala in the big Chariot Race scene. Messala dies, Judah lives, finds his family (who were released from prison, but only because they had leprosy), experiences a miracle (while watching the Crucifixion, some of Jesus' blood falls on the lepers, and heals them), and lives happily ever after.

This film is a fine example of my big pet peeve about normal home video releases. The Pan and Scan. Ben-Hur was filmed in an extremely wide screen format, and without letterboxing (which my version fortunately has), scenes such as the chariot race, and the sea battle are turned into major jokes. The original format for the movie wasn't even wide enough for some of the shots they tried to make, so when you're watching it panned and scanned, it's just pathetic. (ed. note - this was written before the advent of DVD's and the easy access to widescreen formatted movies)

Video transfers aside, this is a fantastic film, with one of the all time best action sequences ever (for those of you mentioned before, that would be the Chariot Race), so beg, borrow, or steal (temporarily) a copy of the 35th Anniversary Letterboxed edition of this film. It includes a documentary on Ben-Hur and it's history on film and the stage (can you imagine the chariot race scene on a theater stage?). If it matters to you, although the film is rated G, the documentary would probably be rated at least PG. It contains some early attempts at color footage in a very old version of the film, with nubile young girls running topless before the conquering hero, and includes some rather frank discussion about the making of this film. You'll need several hours free, but it is more than worth the effort to watch.