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Ben-Hur
Director: William Wyler
Actors: Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Haya Harareet, Stephen Boyd, and Hugh Griffith
Rated: G (General Audience)
Retail Price (not our price): $19.96
Release Date: 2004-06-01
Theatrical Release Date: 1959
Studio: Warner Home Video
Run Time: 212 minutes
Format: Array
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Discs: 1


Editorial Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):

1) Amazon.com essential video
Ben-Hur scooped an unprecedented 11 Academy Awards® in 1959 and, unlike some later rivals, richly deserved every single one. This is epic filmmaking on a scale that had not been seen before and is unlikely ever to be seen again. But it's not just running time or a cast of thousands that makes an epic, it's the subject matter, and here the subject--Prince Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) and his estrangement from old Roman pal Messala (Stephen Boyd)--is rich, detailed, and sensitively handled. Director William Wyler, who had been a junior assistant on MGM's original silent version back in 1925, never sacrifices the human focus of the story in favor of spectacle, and is aided immeasurably by Miklos Rozsa's majestic musical score, arguably the greatest ever written for a Hollywood picture. At four hours it's a long haul (especially given some of the portentous dialogue), but all in all, Ben-Hur is a great movie, best seen on the biggest screen possible. --Mark Walker

2) Description
After his boyhood friend Messala's fanatic loyalty to Rome makes him a powerful enemy, Judah Ben-Hur is found guilty of an attempted murder he did not commit. His family is banished and he is enslaved on a warship. Through his ferocity in a raging sea battle, he is able to escape and become a horse trainer. To exact his revenge, Ben-Hur decides to compete against Messala in the Roman chariot races. They race, locked in a battle to the death. Barely surviving, Ben-Hur forsakes the sword for Christ and finally finds redemption. Winner of a record 11 Academy Award, including Best Picture and Actor (Charlton Heston).

Customer Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5

1) Great Video   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
This video covers the period of history when Christ was on the earth. It is told through the eyes of a family who lived through the time and their ability to forgive their enemies through the teachings from the young Rabbi of Nazareth. The story ends with the crucifixtion of Christ and the new birth of this family from unforgivenss to forgiveness.

2) Buy the 4 DIsc Collector's Edition   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
Buy the 4 DIsc Collector's Edition becuase at the price Amazon is offering it at, its a bargain. It is worth every penny. The first 2 DVDs are the fully reestored movie in Camera 65, 2.76:1 aspect radio. Extremely sharp with vibrant colors. Incredible sound quality. Also included on the 3rd disc is the 1925 version and the 4th disc contains 2 documentaries about Ben Hur and how the movie was made. If you have any interest at all in owning this movie, buy it now becuase you never know when stuff like this goes out of print. This is the way all movies should look on DVD. I see a lot of newer films that don't have the transfer quality this one does.

3) Do I look like a young Charlton Heston?   [Rating: 4 out of 5]
We watched Ben-Hur a few weeks ago, and I was struck by a few things...how men in film today do not often allow for themselves to often show the same range of emotion as Heston showed in this film, how usually these days such long films with meandering plots don't often get made, and how I look, at least a little, like Heston in this time frame...when I'm not wearing glasses, that is.The film itself was OK, though the plot (as I said) tends to wander around, and the conversion of faith that Ben-Hur experiences at the end is not handled well. When I was in high school, I took a class on writing, and the one thing that has stuck with me from that class is how a story should show, and not tell, of the inner workings of the characters. Ben-Hur doesn't come off at the end so well, because it tells us of the conversion in faith, rather than showing Ben-Hur work through his internal conflicts, and thus convert through epiphany. That chariot race was pretty impressive (and I was reminded of The Phantom Menace by it), and the effort put into a detailed recreation of Roman and Judaic life is impressive. I guess I wasn't as struck by the film as I was by the Ten Commandments, is all.

4) Better Quality Transfer   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
I had the older one disk version of this and after I got a Video Projector, I was surprised to realize the poor quality of the transfer, so I was very pleased to find this newer version. The picture is the best I've seen on this title for now anyway. I'll never understand why any company would take one of these great old films, often filmed in 65 or 70mm and then transfer it without even cleaning the transfer print sometimes. It's about time we got decent versions of some of these classics. I was also glad to get a good DVD version of the Silent 1925 Ben Hur. Also a great film that deserves a great presentation. If your DVD player can slow it down a bit, try it. It looks much better at a more natural speed. Fortunately for me, my DVD player also adjusts the sound pitch so the Carl Davis Score doesn't sound too bad slightly slowed down. One thing I noticed, but was not sure of is Chuck Heston's Narration seems to be chopped up and some other guy, T. Gene Hatcher, added to it. On the other disk I had, it was just Chuck talking I think and I think he had more to say. This seems to be edited together with this new younger historian guy's comments. I also couldn't find some out take footage from the Silent Version were you could see a car driving onto the set. I don't remember now however, where I saw that footage. It may have been on one of the earlier Laser Disk Versions of the Silent or Sound version. I have the Laser of the Silent Version and it has no Chapter Stops, so that alone was a terrific reason to pick up this 4 disk set.

5) Dad Loves It!   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
What better way to give the old man one of his all-time classics than on DVD, and with the Collector's Edition!! My dad was so happy with this gift, and has already watched it twice!