Starring Charlton Heston
Directed by William Wyler
The advent of the Blu-Ray disc and the high definition television have sent film fanatics across the city of Toronto and the world into a frenzy to allow them to see their favorite films in the closest resolution to the original film negatives as humanly possibly; as they were originally intended to be seen. Out recently from our friends at Warner Home Video in a special 50th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition and out again on Feb. 7th as a standalone disc of the movie it’s time for the winner of 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture in 1959. It’s time for “Ben-Hur”.
“Ben-Hur” is the tale of Judah Ben-Hur; a Jewish Nobleman at the beginning of the 1st century whose life plays out side by side that with the story of Jesus Christ, and through a set unfortunate circumstances and accidents is sent on an epic odyssey to enslavement by the Roman’s, to seek vengeance against his former tormentors and a series of fateful encounters with a carpenter’s son from Nazareth.
After having underwent a painstaking 8k, frame by frame scan of the 65mm camera negative for the 50th anniversary re-release, “Ben-Hur” hasn’t looked this good since originally airing on screens in 1959. Regarded as one of the finer director’s of Hollywood’s golden age perhaps second only to John Ford, William Wyler’s biblical epic was one of the more grandiose and expensive films ever made at the time but always kept the human aspects of the story in balance with the spectacle of it all. Arguably one of the more influential films ever made, the nine minute chariot race sequence remains one of the most thrilling sequences every put to celluloid and the stunning musical score by Miklos Rozas influenced future composers for years to come and remains one of the longest theatrical scores ever recorded. Despite the herculean run time of 3 hours & 42 minutes, “Ben-Hur” never drags and is a testament to Wyler’s ability as a story teller since taking on such an epic tale and managing to keep the viewer engaged throughout the entire saga is not any easy task by any means, but was aided greatly by Heston’s masterful performance.
In his only ever Academy Award win, Heston commanded the screen as Judah Ben-Hur and kept the viewing audience enthralled as we experienced his harrowing journey back from the gallows to be reunited with his loved ones and his people. Heston was surrounded by an excellent supporting cast that included the likes of Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd, Frank Thring and Hugh Griffith as the larger than life Sheik Ilderim who played a big part in returning Judah Ben-Hur back to prominence in his homeland. Despite the spectacle of it all, the characters and the actors playing them never got lost in the bombast of the story and the personal connection they all make to the viewer only enhances an already wonderful viewing experience.
The Special Feature’s on the 50th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition include:
- Commentary by film historian T. Gene Hatcher with Charlton Heston
- Music-only track showcasing Miklos Rozsa’s award-winning score
- New Feature Length Documentary: Charlton Heston & Ben-Hur: A Personal Journey - Retrospective on the Ben-Hur star, written and directed by his son Fraser C. Heston, featuring never-before-available images and footage from the Heston Family archives.
- Documentaries: The Epic That Changed Cinema and Ben-Hur: The Making of an Epic
- Ben-Hur: A Journey Through Pictures – Audiovisual Recreation via Stills, Storyboards, Sketches, Music and Dialogue
- Screen Tests
- Highlights from the 1960 Academy Awards Telecast
- Newsreels and Trailers
- Monumental Collectibles!
- Charlton Heston: The Ben-Hur Diaries - Reproduction of Charlton Heston’s personal and insightful diary from January 1958 to April 1960, chronicling his time before production started through the Academy Awards
- Exclusive book with rare photos, production art and reproductions from the original theatrical press book
- The 1925 silent version of “Ben-Hur” the Thames Television Restoration with Stereophonic Orchestral Score by Carl Davis.
To put it simply; “Ben-Hur” is one of the all time classic pieces of cinema and is a must own for any film fan out there, I’d recommend tracking down the 50th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition if possible but re-experiencing this film on Blu-Ray is an absolute must since it looks flat-out fantastic.
5 out 5 stars.
“Ben-Hur”: The 50th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition may still be available at video stores across Toronto; you can click here for a list of some of the finer stores near you. You can also track it down online at Amazon.ca.
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