One of the greatest

Rating: Null/10 (18 October 2003)

"Ben-Hur" is the kind of film which Hollywood will never produce again. For one thing, in today's spectacles, so much of the scenery and even crowd scenes would be CGI and not real sets or people.
Compare the pod race from "The Phantom Menace" with the chariot race in this film. The first one looked like a videogame, no real suspense or drama. But Ben-Hur vs. Messala for all the marbles was one of the greatest scenes in movie history.
I remember that for the 2000 Oscars, most of the pre-ceremony commentators were talking about how "Gladiator" might match "the record of 'Ben-Hur' with 11 Oscars." Well, it didn't. "Gladiator" was good, but "Ben-Hur" is one of the greatest films of all time.
Funny though that no one mentioned that the record was no longer really held by "Ben-Hur" alone, but was JOINTLY HELD by 1997's "Titanic" and the 1959 classic. It meant obviously that, while Hollywood people still thought so highly of Ben-Hur 40 years later so as to proudly state that it "held" the record for most Oscars, it seemed that by 2001, lots of folks were already cringing over how "Titanic" had actually been accorded so many awards as well in 1997.
The drama and the power of the storytelling will enthrall you even as the film runs 3 and a half hours. A great movie experience, one which should really be felt on the big screen or at least on widescreen TV.