Ben-Hur - Collector's Edition (1959)

×

Ben-Hur - Collector's Edition (1959)

Close

The film's prologue depicts the traditional story of the Nativity of Jesus Christ.In AD 26, Prince Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) is a wealthy merchant in Jerusalem. His childhood friend Messala (Stephen Boyd), now a military tribune, arrives as the new commanding officer of the Roman garrison. Ben-Hur and Messala are happy to reunite after years apart, but politics divide them; Messala believes in the glory of Rome and its imperial power, while Ben-Hur is devoted to his faith and the freedom of the Jewish people. Messala asks Ben-Hur for names of Jews who criticize the Roman government; Ben-Hur counsels his countrymen against rebellion but refuses to name names, and the two part in anger..

Ben-Hur, his mother Miriam (Martha Scott), and sister Tirzah (Cathy O'Donnell) welcome their loyal slave Simonides (Sam Jaffe) and his daughter Esther (Haya Harareet), who is preparing for an arranged marriage. Ben-Hur gives Esther her freedom as a wedding present, and the two realize they are in love with each other.

×

Ben-Hur - Collector's Edition (1959)

Close

During the parade for the new governor of Judea, Valerius Gratus, a tile falls from the roof of Ben-Hur's house and startles the governor's horse, which throws Gratus off, nearly killing him. Although Messala knows it was an accident, he condemns Ben-Hur to the galleys, and imprisons his mother and sister, to intimidate the restive Jewish populace by punishing the family of a known friend and prominent citizen. Ben-Hur swears to return and take revenge. En route to the sea, he is denied water when his slave gang arrives at Nazareth. As Ben-Hur collapses in despair, a local carpenter whose face is hidden from the viewing audience, but who is obviously Jesus, gives him water and renews his will to survive.

After three years as a galley slave, Ben-Hur is assigned to the flagship of Consul Quintus Arrius (Jack Hawkins), assigned to destroy a fleet of Macedonian pirates. As slave "Number 41," Ben-Hur's self-discipline and resolve are noticed by the commander who offers to train him as a gladiator or charioteer. But, Ben-Hur declines, declaring that God will aid him.

×

Ben-Hur - Collector's Edition (1959)

Close

As Arrius prepares for battle, he orders the rowers chained but Ben-Hur to be left free. Arrius's galley is rammed and sunk, but Ben-Hur unchains other rowers, escapes and saves Arrius's life and, since Arrius believes the battle ended in defeat, prevents him from committing suicide. Arrius is credited with the Roman fleet's victory, and in gratitude petitions Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (George Relph) to drop all charges against Ben-Hur, adopting him as his son. With regained freedom and wealth, Ben-Hur learns Roman ways and becomes a champion charioteer, but longs for his family and homeland.

While returning to Judea, Ben-Hur meets Balthasar (Finlay Currie) and his host, Arab sheik Ilderim (Hugh Griffith), who owns four magnificent white Arabian horses. Ilderim introduces Ben-Hur to his "children" and asks him to drive Ilderim's quadriga in the upcoming race before the new Judean governor, Pontius Pilate (Frank Thring). Ben-Hur declines, but hears that champion charioteer Messala will compete; as Ilderim observes, "There is no law in the arena. Many are killed."

Ben-Hur learns that Esther's arranged marriage did not occur and that she is still in love with him. He visits Messala and offers to forget Messala's betrayal in exchange for freeing his mother and sister, but the Romans discover that Miriam and Tirzah contracted leprosy during their five years in prison and expel them from the city. They beg Esther to conceal their condition from Ben-Hur, so she tells him that his mother and sister have died in prison.

×

Ben-Hur - Collector's Edition (1959)

Close

Ben-Hur (or Benhur) is a 1959 American epic film directed by William Wyler and starring Charlton Heston in the title role, the third film version of Lew Wallace's 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. It was composed by Miklós Rózsa. It premiered at Loew's State Theatre in New York City on November 18, 1959. The film went on to win a record of eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, a feat equaled only by Titanic in 1997 and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003

M-G-M was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy in the late 1950's, despite prestige (and often very successful) releases like 1958's Gigi. It was therefore a significant gamble when the studio put up the then unheard of sum of close to fifteen million dollars to underwrite the gargantuan production that Ben-Hur promised to be. It's hard to realize now, given the vantage point of what the film has become since its release, that there were really no guarantees for Ben-Hur, despite its impressive pedigree and its previous success as both a stage play and a silent 1925 film. (It's interesting to note that General Lew Wallace's original source novel took a few years to really ignite, and it wasn't until almost a decade after its initial printing that the book became an international sensation in the late 1880's). But looking back now Ben-Hur, much like Gone With the Wind a generation earlier, was a prime example of the stars aligning more or less perfectly to create a mammoth spectacular that virtually oozed filmcraft from every frame.

It's never totally safe to assume "everyone" has seen a film, but most are probably acquainted with at least the broad outlines of Ben-Hur. Heston portrays Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish prince from the "wealthiest family in Jerusalem." In the year A.D. 26, the Jews are obviously an oppressed minority in their own land under the thumb of Roman legions. Judah's childhood friend, the Roman commander Messala (Stephen Boyd), returns to take charge of Jerusalem's legions, and Judah hopes for a rapprochement which may help his people in the long run. Things get off to a promising (some have argued homoerotic) start, but almost immediately disaster strikes when Judah's sister Tirzah (Cathy O'Donnell) unwittingly pushes some roof tiles off of their mansion which injure a Roman General. Messala reveals his true colors and iimprisons Judah, his mother and sister, soon spiriting Judah off to spend his life as a slave in the Roman galleys. On his way to his life chained below decks as an oarsman, Judah collapses and is bathed in soothing water by a mysterious carpenter's son who seems to be able to magically restrain an arrogant Roman soldier simply by looking at him.

×

Ben-Hur - Collector's Edition (1959)

Close

That sets Judah off on a series of adventures which end up with him saving a Roman Consul named Quintus Arrius (Jack Hawkins), which in turn leads to Judah's freedom and actual adoption by Arrius, making Judah a Roman and someone with class prestige and power. That leads to a showdown between Judah and Messala in one of the most famous set pieces in the entire history of film, the chariot race which serves as the film's iconic climax. This brief overview barely touches on any number of salient plot points and sidebars, including a great Oscar winning turn by Hugh Griffith as a lusty Arabian prince, and not the least of which is the intertwined story of what happens to Jesus during this period.

Ben-Hur in fact posits Judah as a Christ figure himself. He is a victim of fate, a martyr whose belief in Divine providence carries him through one ghastly event after another. While some may find the film's subtext of a Jew saved by Christ at least modestly disturbing, the film's evangelical outlook was no doubt perfectly in tune with the late fifties' sentiment in which it was formulated. The film is inarguably reverential, sometimes just slightly comedically. Note for example the opening M-G-M logo, when the studio's iconic mascot Leo is frozen and is not permitted to roar. This may be one of the few documented cases of Christians triumphing over lions. In other ways, though, Wyler beautifully crafts this "Story of the Christ," never showing us Jesus' face but making the character's impact felt in virtually every frame of the story.

In one of the supplements included on this three BD set, it's mentioned that Ben-Hur may not have been the first epic by any stretch, but it was perhaps the first modern epic in that its story was motivated by character rather than events. And indeed Ben-Hur seems to presage the famous David Lean films that were to come which revisited epochal world events through the eyes of individuals. It's in that delicate balancing act between the intimate and the spectacle that Ben-Hur finds its most lasting impact, probably beyond even the film's inherent religious sentiment. As important as Christ's story is to Ben-Hur, it's Judah who remains the focal point and it's from him that the film derives its incredible emotional impact. That impact is still fully on display more than a half century after the film's release.

×

Ben-Hur - Collector's Edition (1959)

Close

Ben-Hur Blu-ray, Video Quality
Wow. Just stop there and you basically have the gist of everything that can be said about Ben-Hur's astonishing—really breathtaking, and I mean that literally—debut on Blu-ray courtesy of an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.76:1. Is there any other studio that has so lovingly gone back to its iconic catalog (albeit one that officially "belongs" to M-G-M) as Warner has? Once again the studio has returned to the original negative to source new high-res scans, along with a frame by frame restoration, to present this film in high definition, and to say the results are spectacular is something of an understatement. This well over three hour film has been wisely spread across two BD-50's, so kiss any latent fears of compression artifacts goodbye, especially since the bulk of the supplements are included on a third Blu-ray disc. Everything from the copious Roman foliage to the ornate grillwork in the Hur compound resolves perfectly, with precision and absolute accuracy. Colors are incredibly well saturated and those gorgeous Technicolor reds and purples are all that they should be. I came under some passing criticism for my review of Quo Vadis? on Blu-ray some years ago (for another site), but simply pull out that disc if you have it and compare the reds in that transfer to the reds in Ben-Hur and it instantly becomes apparent what a difference a careful transfer, including absolutely accurate telecine color timing, can make for a release. The film is also stunningly damage free, with nary a scratch, speck or other distraction in view.

True aficionados of Ben-Hur on various home theater media know that the film has routinely, if sometimes slightly, been misframed. We finally are offered the full glory of the M-G-M Camera 65 process (Camera 65 was a 70mm format that afforded 65mm for the image and 5mm for the magnetic audio tracks). Wyler worked hand in hand with cinematographer Robert L. Surtees to craft compositions which exploited the widescreen process and those artful displays of vast vistas are impeccably represented on this Blu-ray. Pay special attention to Surtees' expert use of focus, often in different parts of the frame, which also look spectacular in this high definition outing.

Previous trouble spots like aliasing and significant crush have all but disappeared in this new transfer. Shadow detail is often astounding. All sorts of information which was previously murky in such dank sequences as the nighttime scenes at the Hur compound or the bowels of the prison where Judah's mother and sister are held captive are now visible, from shiny rock surfaces to background matte paintings. In fact the increased resolution has one detriment, and that's that some of the admittedly gorgeous matte work as well as some of the miniatures (particularly in the sea attack scenes) are noticeably fake looking. Some of the process photography also shows its seams (literally), with fairly apparent haloing (not in the artifacting sense) around the foreground characters in front of the process backgrounds.

Ben-Hur instantly becomes the gold standard for what can be achieved in high definition restoration and transfers of catalog titles. While it perhaps may not be financially feasible to devote this much care and effort (not to mention copious moolah) to upgrade every catalog release to these standards, other studios (are you listening, Universal?) should take this new release of Ben-Hur as a sterling example of what can be accomplished if there is the necessary support and willpower.

×

Ben-Hur - Collector's Edition (1959)

Close

Ben-Hur Blu-ray, Audio Quality
At the risk of sounding repetitive: wow. Ben-Hur has an absolutely glorious sonic component on this new Blu-ray courtesy of a flawless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. M-G-M has obviously kept the original stems and mag tracks of this film in more or less pristine condition, and it shows throughout this stunning lossless presentation. From the first boisterous moments of Rózsa's incredible Overture, the difference, especially with regard to the low end frequencies, is instantly audible and incredibly fulsome. The 5.1 track is gorgeously spacious, with excellent use of side and rear channels, especially in some of the film's most famous set pieces, including the galley scenes and of course the iconic chariot race, which is awash in LFE and incredible panning effects. Dialogue is perfectly placed around the soundfield and is always easy to hear, but on reflection, it's the unbelievably gorgeous Rózsa score which perhaps benefits most from this new lossless audio offering. Brass blasts from the speakers in alarming clarity, while strings sound brilliantly bright but never strident. Rózsa's evocative use of harps and other percussion is also incredibly well reproduced on this new track, adding a whole new luster to one of the most celebrated scores in the history of film.

Movie Review from Blu.ray.com

BONUS FEATURES:

Audio Commentary by Film Historian T. Gene Hatcher with Charlton Heston
Music Only Track Showcasing Miklos Rozsa's Score

Please DO NOT MIRROR

If you'll find that my links are dead please let me know through the Private Messages.

&g... Blog Here <<<

×

Ben-Hur - Collector's Edition (1959)

Close