Lew Wallace's classic tale book turned into the greatest epic movie of all time.

Rating: 10/10 (26 March 2019)

Having read the book as a youngster, then watched the film, which have some differences, proof that with a good source material and a lot of effort (and a lot of money), you can produce something spectacular.
Everything is just so right. Yet it is a simple tale of one man's revenge for what happened to his family and himself. When a story is so right it is difficult to single out anything that is outstanding.
Leading the list of outstanding are the performances of:
Charlton Heston as The Prince of Hur.
Jack Hawkins as Quintus Arrius.
Finlay Currie as Balthasar.
Claude Heater as Jesus Christ - and shockingly he was uncredited.
Best scenes:
The Chariot Race - In the book it took place in Antioch. Lew Wallace knew that Jerusalem would have been too much of a political hotbed of rebellion to ever hold a chariot race there. Archaeology has never found any evidence for a race circuit in Jerusalem.
The Cruxifiction - I watched this scene once on a wall screen in a pub (it was on TV) on a Good Friday. The images were very powerful for such a day.
My number 1 film of all time up till now. 26th March 2019.