Good

Rating: 7/10 (21 June 2012)

Ben-Hur is one of those sword and sandal epics that, like The Ten Commandments or Spartacus, is a good film, well acted, well directed, but ultimately, is just a good excuse to eat junk food, for there's nothing of any real depth to it. In many ways, it is sort of Part Two of Charlton Heston's three part 'religious epic', which started with The Ten Commandments and ended with El Cid (a bit better of a film than the two others). The difference is that this is the least religious of the trio, despite its subtitle being A Story Of The Christ.
The film has a few standout scenes, excluding the justly famed chariot sequence (which includes the accidental flip of Hur over the chariot- done by a stuntman, of course), including the two exchanges of water between Christ and Hur, and the dialogue between Hur and Arrius, before their connection is formed, wherein both men counter-taunt each other with words; Heston seeming to make a career over ironic taunts, which would reach its apogee in The Planet Of The Apes. But, mostly, Ben-Hur is good old fashioned movie-making; an epic that has few weaknesses and a number of strengths, even if it is barren of anything of depth. Believe me, there are many worse ways to spend an afternoon than watching Charlton Heston kick ass on the past.