Will we ever see the like again?

Rating: 10/10 (7 October 1999)

Though it was less than half a year ago I first saw this masterpiece, it has become one of my favorite movies of all time. And usually it takes a while for me to really accept movies and it takes a while before I really take them to me, this has been the case of almost every film I've ever seen.
As for Ben-Hur, this is not the case. I am not at all amazed (or even impressed) by the many Academy Awards it received. As far as I'm concerned, if a film that wins eleven Oscars, then the only thing to be sure of is that it appeals to Americans and a great American crowd. And that's not always a good thing.
Awards, nominations, hype and everything that has to do with frenzy put aside, this still is an enormous production. So very mighty and so very grand in scale, so very entertaining and so very well-made. We may never see the liking, the most of us have realized that we didn't see an equal in Titanic.
Charlton Heston gives the character of Judah Ben-Hur all the magnitude it needs and he brings a strong impact. Many people are fond of Hugh Griffith
in the role of Sheik Ilderiim for which he won an Oscar. I am too, but the most impressive actor of them all in my opinion is, Stephen Boyd as Messala. The scene where Ben-Hur and Messala speak to each other for the last time (the scene right after the chariot race) surely could have appealed enough to the American crowd to bring Boyd an Oscar. For a newcomer, he was an excellent and promising one.
The movie itself in its full glory may be dated, but not enough for it to be ridiculous at any standard at all. It still stands up among newcomers and will continue to do so for ages to come.
Truly nothing beats a classic.