The Movie
Every once in a while, I'm fortunate enough to watch a movie that truly merits that old cliché, "They don't make 'em like that anymore." In its day the most expensive motion picture ever produced, and also one of the longest, Ben-Hur boasted a cast of thousands in service of a grand tale of the fictional Jewish prince Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) whose life would intersect with his contemporary, Jesus of Nazareth.
The prince is reunited in Jerusalem with his boyhood friend Messala (Stephen Boyd), now a tribune charged with maintaining order on behalf of the unwelcome Roman Empire against local troublemakers. The two men are still close but have clearly grown apart, and when the dutiful tribune sees that he can no longer call the prince an ally, he uses an unfortunate accident to willingly persecute the innocent Ben-Hur and his family, dooming them all to horrible fates.
Jesus, meanwhile--whose face we never see--is making quite a name for himself with his acts of love and grace and kindness, and suggestions that others do the same. But these virtues only take you so far when you have almost four hours to fill (including the overture and entr'acte) and so Ben-Hur plays a lot like the Christian bible: Our hero swears Old Testament-style vengeance, while the messiah inspires peace, forgiveness and faith.
That revenge culminates in one of the most spectacular sequences ever captured on film, the fabled chariot race between Ben-Hur and Messala... and a bunch of other people with horses and funny hats. If you're in a hurry, it begins on Disc Two, Chapter 44. And there's still quite a bit of story following the race, with a climax befitting all that has come before on this long journey.
The Picture
Ben-Hur was filmed in glorious Technicolor using the MGM Camera 65 process, under the great Robert Surtees. Do not adjust your television, as the image is hereby presented in its proper, full-wide aspect ratio of 2.76:1, with unusually fat black bars top and bottom. Warner allegedly spend $1M giving the film a "makeover," which included a frame-by-frame restoration completed from an 8K scan of the original 65mm camera negative.
Taking notes was difficult because I didn't want to take my eyes off the screen. Figures even off into the distance are razor-sharp during grand processions, while we can also make out tiny pebbles and bits of straw in the foreground. This new master is all the better for us to appreciate the Oscar-winning costumes, the Oscar-winning sets, and I suppose the Oscar-winning special effects in the matte paintings which are revealed here, although they still remain largely convincing even to the modern eye.
Warner could have squeezed the entire program onto a single platter, but instead chose to split it across two, enabling a high video bitrate that ensures a picture with minimal noise. Grain is also extremely light. Faces show great immediacy, with every bead of sweat plain to see. As is to be expected for a movie of this length and age, some shots can go a little soft, while the blacks can range from the rich and outstanding to the somewhat mushy.
There's the rare missing frame of film, leading to a barely perceptible skip here and there. What I found really bizarre was the inclusion of a Government of India Central Board of Film Censors certificate from August 23, 1960, immediately following the end of the movie. Did you know that Ben-Hur was 18,790 feet long?
The Sound
The 8K, 65mm restoration has been paired with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack that shows a respectful restraint in its rechanneling of the original tracks. The mix definitely fills the home theater, even if it is sometimes strictly the music of Miklos Rosza that we hear in the surrounds. The music is also presented isolated in Dolby Digital 2.0, but the high-resolution multichannel playback can induce chills, it's so affecting.
Within the movie itself, we might hear a horn of celebration that resonates far behind us, or the sustained boom of a marching drum. Dialogue is exceptionally clear, while all the myriad sound effects are bold and precise. The cheering crowds at the chariot race envelop the listener, without ever reaching obnoxious levels. And I briefly lamented the limited bass for the thundering hoofbeats until I heard the real thunder unleashed in the final scenes, powerfully conveying a biblical event and one last miracle. All in all, a fine complement.
The Extras
Special features have been carried over from the two prior DVD releases, in standard definition. There are a pair of quite different hour-long documentaries from 1993 and 2005, a gallery of screen tests featuring uncast Leslie Nielsen and others, a half-dozen vintage newsreels and more. The entire 143-minute Ben-Hur from 1925--the silent one starring Ramon Novarro--carries over as well. It has its original tints and Technicolor sequences, as well as musical accompaniment.
New for this set is the 78-minute "Charlton Heston & Ben-Hur: A Personal Journey," in HD. It includes interviews with Heston's friends, coworkers and admirers, plus their offspring, in addition to the family's private 16mm home movies. Not one but a pair of lovely hardbound books completes this "Ultimate Collector's Edition" package: a reproduction of The Personal Journal of Charlton Heston (with a couple of nifty surprises) as well as a larger-format, horizontal production art book.
Final Thoughts
Ben-Hur also set the record for more Academy Award wins than any other movie (never broken but later tied by Titanic and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King), an event film in every sense and one that continues to astound and inspire viewers. Warner has thankfully done the dirty work necessary to breathe new life into the 1959 epic, assuring it will thrill audiences for generations to come.
Product Details
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| Video | |
| Audio | |
| Movie | |
| Extras |
