Rating: 
Summary: It's a classic!
Review: I have owned this video for several years and watch it at LEAST once a year! This is how an action movie should be made. Great acting and directing. The chariot race is the BEST part of the movie!
Rating:
Summary: THE STATE OF ART
Review: What else can I add to the virtues of this film? This movie has always been a reference match against all the others.
Outstanding script, superb performances. Heston as the jew and Stephen Boyd as Messala make a couple team unforgettable.
The race sequence I 've seen at least one hundred times. It's spectacular and arresting.
Amazing transference.
A timeless work.
Rating:
Summary: Really The End of an Era
Review: One of the last great grand sweeping epics. Truly a cast of thousands. I've never been a big Heston fan but you got give the man his due. He was born to play these larger than life characters. The chariot race is really all its cracked up to be. One of the greatest cinematic moments ever. The chariot race in the silent version is even better, if you can believe that. Just amazing.
Rating:
Summary: BY FAR THE MOST STIRRING OF THE ROMAN EPICS!
Review: "Ben-Hur" is the story of Jewish nobleman, Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston), who is imprisoned by his one-time boyhood friend, now the Roman tribune, Messalah (Stephen Boyd). Judah's path to God and Messalah's road to ruin parallel the Christ story. Made in 1959, at a time when the studio system, like ancient Rome, was crumbling, "Ben-Hur" is a masterfully paced, fully realized and intense 'religious' experience. This is by far the greatest of the Bible-fiction epics. It is told with such sweep and scope that one can only sit back and marvel at William Wyler direction, which rightfully placed the emphasis on the human drama and relationships set against the massive pageantry that one comes to expect from such film fare. The production values never overshadow the story. The climactic chariot race is fifteen minutes of pure adrenaline-infused exhilaration, topped off by the fact that both Heston and Boyd did their own stunt work, which must have been a harrowing experience! On Oscar night this movie topped out with 13 nominations and 11 wins including BEST PICTURE, the most Oscars ever awarded any movie until James Cameron's "Titanic" tied it some fifty years later. Warner Home Video has done an outstanding job on this transfer. Albeit, they have cropped the image to the more widely accepted 2:35:1 aspect ratio (MGM Camera 65 presented the film originally as 2:70:1) this is a dazzling anamorphic transfer, full of rich colors, fine detail and stunning clarity. Only in the darkest scenes does the disc falter slightly and lose its otherwise pristine image quality. No pixelization, edge enhancement, aliasing or fine detail shimmering is present. Extras include a thorough documentary with interviews from surviving principle cast and crew. The film itself is split across two sides of a flipper disc but is separated at the intermission half way mark - a forgivable stop. The 5.1 remix is stirring, powerful and engaging, particularly with Miklos Roza's brilliant score that fills the expanse and raises the hair on the back of one's neck. This is a must have for anyone who love Hollywood epics. Sadly, "Ben-Hur" also represents one of the last enduring masterpiece to emerge from Hollywood's greatest studio - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. I miss MGM! Thankfully, films like "Ben-Hur" endure.
Rating:
Summary: bend over messala
Review: One can almost smell the jockstraps in this astonishing study of homo-erotic wrath in the years between the death of Christ and the establishment of the Christian church by Saul of Tarsus.
Heston has never before nor after been such a hunk. It is sad to think that this gorgeous young man grew up to be a right-wing zealot. On the other hand -- that may be part of the kick for trend-setting young gays.
Rating: 
Summary: Classic, long-dead wide format
Review: This is one of the few films shot in MGM Camera 65 (later known as Ultra Panavision). Now generally I dislike anything to do with the Bible or religious nonsense, but there are some make-believe / fantasy films which define this genre that are entertaining to watch (the Ten Commandments, for example). The spectacular images inside the 2.76:1 widescreen aspect are amazing to take in; you will want to view this film on a screen 36" or larger, otherwise you'll be sitting REALLY close to the set. It's a shame films today aren't composed inside extremely wide frames like this one. I suppose its near-equivalent now would be anything in IMAX, but that format will likely never be used as a primary method for anything but specialty features. The commentary included does NOT run throughout the film. Heston is heard only during select scenes. Warner Bros. screwed that up. They could have easily hired a notable film historian for added value, but no.
Rating:
Summary: Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
Review: Prince Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston of Ten Commandments fame) was raised up with his best Roman buddy Messala (Stephen Boyd). Little did they know at the time that they would grow up become adversaries, and as a result this would lead to may adventures. In the process Judah leads many different lives that parallels and crosses the life of Jesus.
We see Judah in the mines, on the galleys, and even adopted by a roman Noble man as young Arrius. Mean time back at home his family is incarcerated by Messala leading to trials and tribulation that only Jesus can correct.
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A lot of time and money went into this MGM production that netted 11 Academy Awards, along with many others such as BAFAT, David di Donatello, Directors Guild of America, Golden Globes, Laurel, Writers Guild of America, ...etc.
You will be so intrigued that you may not notice the 212+ minutes depending on the version.
One highlight, the chariot race was reproduced many times in various forms.
Rating: 
Summary: Ben-Hur
Review: Grand. Opulent. Epic. BEN-HUR is a wide-screen extravaganza that saves all its serious paint for the action scenes. The plot may be thin, the characters shallow and the acting majestically wooden, but director William Wyler really knew how to paint in the wide screen corners. The famous chariot race is one of the greatest action scenes ever filmed.
How big? Consider this - of the eleven Academy Awards won by this one, the Supporting Actor winner Hugh Griffith didn't even first appear until an hour and forty minutes into the movie, a time when most good movies have gone to bed.
This movie really needs to be seen on the biggest screen you can put it on. The actors' nostril should be as big as hubcaps when they're shot in close-up. Even in its original 2:76-1 aspect ratio BEN-HUR loses a bit of its punch the smaller it's shown.
Rating: 
Summary: Pseudo epic from the 50's
Review: This film has dated very badly. First of all, the picture drags and is poorly paced and structured. Even the silent version isn't this dull. Most of the acting is wooden (Charlton Heston, Finlay Curie) or overblown (Hugh Griffith, Stephen Boyd). Haya Harareet (Esther) looks like a starlet who just walked through the doors of the MGM Make-up Department. At no time does she suggest someone supposedly living more than 2000 years ago. The music by Miklos Rozsa is overblown and keeps on blasting away even when silence would have worked better. Even the chariot race is so-so with the camera truck tire tracks clearly visible throughout. I think most people who rave about this film just have a hard time accepting the fact that something they liked when the younger simply hasn't held up very well.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it, but BEWARE of the DVD Special Feature
Review: The movie is great throughout the whole 3+ hours. BUT be careful if you're watching the DVD's featurette on the Making Of...they show a scene in the 1925 Ben-Hur movie of TOPLESS WOMEN. No kidding. The featurette is interesting, but you get NO warning for this and I had my 12 yo with me. :o(
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