Over-rated bore

Rating: 5/10 (16 August 2002)

Of all the over-rated films in the world, this has got to be in the top ten of over-rated bores. Yes, the chariot race is a masterpiece of staging and cutting (but have you noticed how closely it follows the twenties version?) And the burning of the slave ships is pretty good. But what else? A ponderous quasi-Christian plot, with a lead actor clearly out of his depth. Charlton Heston for Best Actor? Never! And certainly not for this. Give me Francis X Bushman any day.