Hollywood's Great Epic

Rating: 7/10 (8 May 2016)

Hollywood has forgotten the epic. Instead of the grand, sweeping and powerful stories -- complete with an overture and intermission -- that characterized cinema of the late 50s and early 60s, our "epics" are shapeless bores without likable characters and original stories. Instead of chariot races charged with righteous vengeance (and moral ambiguity), we have Matthew Mcconaughey conquering the galaxy with Southern-tongued exposition unintentionally bespeckled with gleeful hilarity.
If you're thirsting for something loud and powerful (as I was), then Ben-Hur is the film for you. It's unabashedly epic, thunderous, and raw, eliciting wows at every twist, turn, and gargantuan set piece it throws your way. Charlton Heston plays the righteous Jewish prince, returned from wrongful imprisonment in the galleys to take revenge on the man who imprisoned him, his big shiny teeth flashing in the sunlight.
The action scenes themselves are stunning. The chariot race is one of the most fantastically involving sequences I have ever seen.
However, it's undeniable Jewish propaganda, especially considering the glaring historical inaccuracy -- or in this case, a purposeful exclusion of historical facts . And yet, with multiple Jesus cameos, it sees fit to pass itself off as a Christian film. As a sort of religious outsider, I have no right to comment on that, though. What I can comment on is the flowery dialogue. It's consistently sweeping, yes, but also consistently drawn out and occasionally laughably cheesy.
But it's epic. And I suppose that given the sheer entertainment value offered up by this film, its faults are barely more than an afterthought.