Ben-Hur (1959)
Directed by William Wyler
In ancient Judea, a Jewish aristocrat opposing Roman occupation of his homeland reunites with his childhood friend, now a Roman commander — setting in motion a saga of betrayal, adventure, tragedy, revenge, and faith.
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What critics compared Ben-Hur to
…it breathes the same air as old school Hollywood epics like “Ben-Hur” and “Spartacus”…
It may be this decade’s Ben-Hur (1959). It could be this century’s Ben-Hur.
In the 1950s and 1960s, The Ten Commandments, (1956), Ben-Hur, (1959) The King of Kings, (1961), and The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) had white American actors of non-Greek descent playing Ancient Greeks.
…adapting Homer’s The Odyssey in a feature film could—and maybe should—easily reach the gaudy and over-indulgent Cecil B. DeMille territory…
…it’s challenging to point to one that towers over them all in the same way that William Wyler’s Ben-Hur(1959) still does for the tale of the Christ…
Like with the pilots in Top Gun: Maverick, Kosinski places viewers right in the driver’s seat with the drivers as they battle each other with their cars like the chariot riders in Ben-Hur.
In a reference to the Ben-Hur chariot race, they brandish hubcap spear hooks to disable their opponent's vehicle.
I’m in awe of Tarantino and cinematographer Robert Richardson for reviving the Ultra Panavision 70 process used on Ben-Hur in 1959 and defunct since Khartoum in 1966—curiously dispatched in service of what is essentially a filmed play, most of which takes place indoors.
The director and cinematographer Robert Richardson shot the movie using Ultra Panavision 70 lenses – the exact same used by William Wyler on Ben-Hur - and the result is a beautifully wide screen that the film utilizes with each shot.
In fact, Tarantino revealed that the lenses used to film this movie were the same lenses used to film 1959's Ben-Hur .
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I don?t know if German-born director Petersen, whose more recent credits include Outbreak, Air Force One, and The Perfect Storm , and writer Benioff, who broke onto the scene two years ago with the Spike Lee-directed adaptation of his own novel 25th Hour, intended for this to be a tribute to those extremely expensive, showy, and badly acted classics of the 1960s like The Ten Commandments and Ben-Hur, or whether it happened by accident.
Director Ridley Scott ("Alien," "Thelma and Louise") fashions an awesome spectacle, with a stunning computer-generated Colosseum that shows just how far Hollywood has come technically since the days of "Ben-Hur" and "Spartacus."
This summer, however, DreamWorks is going for the unimaginable with their most expensive movie to date: "Gladiator," a $103-million attempt to resurrect the long-dead ancient Roman epic, a once steadfast Hollywood genre that has been defunct since the mid-1960s when big hits like "Ben-Hur" (1959) and "Spartacus" (1960) were eventually overshadowed by colossal financial failures like "Cleopatra" (1963).
The theme of revenge and rivalry echoes Ben-Hur, and the slaves' struggle for freedom makes you think of Spartacus.
A Cinemascope epic retrofitted for the CGI age, Gladiator combines the autumnal Rome setting of The Fall Of The Roman Empire with the gladiatorial theatrics and populist politics of Spartacus and the nobleman-made-lowly plot of Ben-Hur.
Gladiator doesn't only remind you of earlier, better sword-and-sandal sagas like Spartacus and Ben-Hur.
Junkie XL works his percussion and horns sections here like Quintus Arrius works Charlton Heston and the other slave rowers in "Ben-Hur."
HiT or Miss: No, “Ben-Hur” won’t replace Charlton Heston’s blockbuster in our hearts and minds.
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Then, the numerous chases and frantic fights on wheels make for terrific theater the same way the violent, spectacular chariot races did in "Ben-Hur" (either the 1925 silent version or the 1959 remake).
Based on the novel by Max Brooks (son of Mel Brooks and Best Actress Oscar winner Anne Bancroft), World War Z the movie is radically different from its source material and had a convoluted production that led to skyrocketing costs and more screenplay rewrites than the 1959 Ben-Hur .