Rating: 
Summary: Great Movie, Stupid Brothers
Review: Ah, Ben Hur... that timeless epic, with amazing visual scene, compelling plot and awesome acting. The sound quality is great, you are able to hear the dialogue as well as the action at a reasonable volume, the picture quality is clean and stunning.THe stupidity lies in Warner Brothers inability to dual layer the DVDs or at least break the film into two discs, one for the film and the other for the Special Features... such as Fight Club, etc. This would eliminate the need to switch the disc over during the intermission. However, this is not such a problem, since their is an intermission in the movie. if this were a shorter film (like what WB did to Stargate) it would be appalling and horrible to destroy the movie's continuity by having to flip it.... but its ok and you should buy the DVD anyway. Great things lie within.
Rating: 
Summary: Ben-Hur .. A DVD materpiece
Review: Ben-Hur has always been my most favourite film of all time and I eagerly awaited its release on DVD. I consider myself lucky that I did get to see a 25 year re-release of Ben-Hur on the BIG screen so I could see the grandeur of this epic film. I also own a widescreen version of the movie on VHS. The DVD release of this film is SUPERB. The quality of the film appears clearer than what I saw on the big screen. The sound is absolutely sensational and full credits must be given to the tehnicians that converted the original mono soundtrack into wonderful 5.1 digital sound. The music of Ben-Hur is just one of its strong points and the 5.1 sound on this DVD makes the best movie of all time even better. The bonus material included on the single DVD is really outstanding. I was concerned that this movie that won the most Acadamy awards (prior to Titanic) had not been released on DVD. After purchasing the long awaited DVD release of Ben-Hur, all I can say it that it was worth the wait.
Rating:
Summary: A stunning cinematic landmark.
Review: Ben-Hur Score: 95/100 If you haven't seen it, or at least not heard about it, where have you been for the past century? Ben-Hur is one of the most globally acclaimed films of our time, and it won a record-shattering 11 Oscar's! It's hard to fault this classic, and if you have not yet seen it, go and do so now and thank me later. Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) lives as a rich Jewish prince and merchant in Jerusalem at the beginning of the 1st century. Together with the new governor his old friend Messala (Stephen Boyd) arrives as commanding officer of the Roman legions. At first they are happy to meet after a long time but their different politic views separate them. During the welcome parade a brick falls down from Judah's house and barely misses the governor. Although Messala knows that they are not guilty he sends Judah to the galleys and throws his mother and sister into prison. But Judah swears to come back and take revenge. Ben-Hur is an endlessly indulgent and involving movie that gets more famous, more brilliant every time you watch it. There is not a fault in the acting: Charlton Heston pulls off a legendary turn as Ben-Hur, winning himself an Oscar, and Stephen Boyd captures the evil nature of his comedy and really makes you hate his character, but not his acting skill. William Wyler's focused direction and Karl Tunberg's script only make it more recommendable, while the thunderous score, delicious set design and breathtaking cinematography make this film non-stop entertaining until the exhilirating last acts. Absorbing, excellent and cinematically brilliant, Ben-Hur is the masterpiece that has changed cinema history forever. It is quite simply one of the finest epic movies that has been bought to our screen.
Rating:
Summary: A towering achievement
Review: Along with The Ten Commandments, one of the two greatest epic movies ever made. Charlton Heston in his finest role as a Jewish prince wrongly imprisoned along with his mother and sister and his subsequent, miraculous adventures on the high seas, in Rome, and back in Judea. However wooden Heston may have been in some of his roles, not so here, he is wonderfully human even if some of his one liners are a bit clipped. Stephen Boyd is magnificent and chilling as his boyhood friend and Roman antagonist. The climactic chariot race between Heston, racing for Judea with a team of white horses owned by an Arab sheik, and Boyd, racing for Rome with his team of black horses, is one of the very few greatest scenes ever filmed, one can scarely breathe even if one has seen it a dozen times. Wonderful supporting acting throughout, and of course the story is all the more profound because ultimately it is a tale of the rise and death of Christ, woven into the plot ever so gracefully and subtly, and ending on a beautiful note of redemption and peace. They don't make em like this any more. Absolutely compelling and mandatory.
Rating:
Summary: Where have you Ben- Hur?
Review: Excellent movie! I have been collecting DVD's for about a year now and just when I thought I had all my favourites I discovered Charlton Heston!. I think the best scene in the movie is after the chariot race where Messala (Stephen Boyd) lying wounded waits for Judah (Charlton Heston) to appear and evetually stands in the door way -Excellent and directing!!!!!. The rest of the movie took a little while to get use to because of the overacting(compared to acting styles of today). I can not wait for the following movies. Cleopatra and El Cid.
Rating:
Summary: Arghhhhhh
Review: Ben-Hur is probably one of the greatest movie of our time. I watched DVD version last night. Picture and sound qualities are very good. Unfortunately people from Warner Studios suffer from stupidity. I cannot believe that they put a whole movie along with bonus material on only one disc. That is just inexcusable. They could put everything on 2 discs and spare us form hassle of flipping the disc in middle of the movie. The movie itself is worth 5 stars but this DVD edition only deserves 4.
Rating:
Summary: Step aside, Gladiator!
Review: The reason people liked Gladiator was because it was built upon movies like Ben Hur and Spartacus. Ben-Hur is (obviously) the best movie ever made; it has great acting, directing, music, dialogue, cinematography, and most of all, a deep religious meaning. This is a movie of Biblical proportions (both literally and figuratively). I only wish I was alive to see its theatrical release. Buy this movie today! Your DVD collection isn't a collection until you've got this one!
Rating:
Summary: Three and a Half Hours of Highlights
Review: When James Cameron accepted "Titanic"'s 11th Oscar with the words "Ben Who?" the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences should have risen as one and pelted him with copies of "Ben Hur". Unfortunately it was the Academy who handed him the Best Picture Oscar that year (for reasons known only to themselves). "Ben Hur" -- one of the greatest movies ever made -- consists of three and a half hours of highlights and two minutes of exposition. It is so well constructed -- it's story so well told -- that time flies by. At the same time, one feels one has experienced the struggles of Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston's best performance). The wonderful moments are too numerous to mention: A customer stopping by Joseph's carpentry shop and inquiring after Joseph's negligent son; Joseph calmly replies that his son -- Jesus, of course -- is off walking in the hills (communing with His Father Who Art in Heaven). Reviews of "Gladiator" -- contrasting Ben-Hur's repeated references to Christianity with "Gladiator"'s non-mention of it -- failed to note that the subtitle of the book Ben-Hur is based on is "A Tale of the Christ". Or when Judah meets up with a man who breeds and trains chariot race horses, especially the scene where the beautiful white horses arrive in the tent to "say good night." Or Judah speaking to Esther on the roof of his house -- a wonderful scene of love and restraint (i.e., sexual tension). This film has everything: A tender love story; humour; friendship; action; revenge -- one might think we were discussing "The Princess Bride". Ben-Hur -- There isn't a dull or extraneous moment in the film.
Rating:
Summary: One in a Thousand
Review: Since my birth in 1951 I have seen probably at least a thousand movies. This one is the best. If I was told I could only have one movie to take with me on a desert island, in space, etc. this would have to be it. As so many people have said it's the compilation of so many things that make it outstanding. The acting is super. No doubt in my mind this was Hestons best work. The effects have aged well. I dare anyone to find fault with a chariot race or a sea battle for that matter that even today make us believe they could have been filmed as they occured in ancient Roman times. Althouth I love the music from Gladiator, Star Wars, and others I still think that more emotions are touched by Ben Hur's musical score. I have to assume we are telling you kids to see this because any adult that has not seen it and loved it had to be on an island with no TVs for about 40 years.
Rating:
Summary: The best film score in history accompanies this classic.
Review: I don't wish to belabor the point that this is the most dynamic and exciting film I have ever seen. This movie succeeds on every level for me. Forget the acting; forget the excitement; forget everything about this film except the music, and you still have the best that has ever been created. Miklos Rozsa's score stands, in my opinion, as the most sensational achievement ever in film history. and that's just the beginning. The color, the costumes, the flawless direction of Mr. Wyler as many have alluded to, drew once-in-a-lifetime performances out of the entire cast. When I was a senior in high school, my girl and I double- dated with another couple and we saw this movie. As soon as the opening fanfare caught my attention, I was hopelessly hooked. I have owned the music for this movie for over forty years. It is something I have never tired of. There is something new in the score each time I listen to it. It, like the film itself, is timeless. And I agree with others that Titanic, while it is a nice expensively-done film, cannot match the majesty of Ben-Hur for its marvelous sequences that offered little in the way of special effects. The Chariot Race alone is worth the price of admission. I have given this movie the five stars only because that's all that is allowed.
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