At the time, William Wyler’s 1959 version of Ben-Hur (the 3rd film version) was the absolute biggest spectacle
the cinematic world had ever seen. If the film was not a success,
it would have spelled doom for MGM. At the time of pre-production
they were nearly bankrupt, and with the budget surpassing
a then unprecedented $15 million mark, MGM literally had all
fingers crossed and needed a success. Of course it was, and
MGM continued on for nearly 50 more years (selling out this
year to Sony, with the 2005 remake of The Amityville
Horror being the last true MGM film.) It is safe
to say, if you enjoyed any of MGM’s releases for the
past four-plus decades (the Bond films, the Pink Panther films, etc.), you owe it to Ben-Hur.
Winning eleven Oscars at the 1960 Academy Awards and four
Golden Globes, Ben-Hur was the most decorated
film of all time and remains so (only in 1997 did James Cameron’s Titanic match it.) Having worked in film
for years, most notably in The Ten Commandments and Touch of Evil, Charlton Heston was further
solidified as a remarkable lead actor with his starring role
in Ben-Hur. His portrayal of fictional Jewish
prince Judah Ben-Hur who (depending on your outlook) converts
to Christianity is probably the best performance of his career,
and earned him the Best Actor Oscar.
 Despite
the fact that Lew Wallace’s original source novel was
subtitled “A Tale of the Christ”, the
film version is far from it, focusing almost exclusively on
the character of Judah. This was a brilliant move by the screenwriter,
because even with the religious overtones, the film remains
accessible to all audiences by never being preachy. While
the Roman politics, Christianity and Judaism play an integral
part in the scope of the film, as well as character motivation, Ben-Hur is an action film. Perhaps it is
the most literate action film ever, but this was a Hollywood
epic and the action scenes are as spectacular as they come.
The chariot race, to single out only one scene, has been highlighted
in more film compilations than can be counted, and has been
stolen from by more filmmakers than that.
Ben-Hur is no forgotten classic. It is not
a trivial film, nor is it unrecognizable. Nearly everyone
who is a true fan of cinema has seen Ben-Hur and, most likely, seen it multiple times. Therefore, there
isn’t much need to discuss the plot any further, despite
the incredible depth to it. If you are reading this and are
considering purchasing this comprehensive set, you are probably
more interested in presentation and features, so let’s
just concentrate on that.
Presentation
Thankfully, we are living
in an age where getting films in their original aspect ratio
is the norm. This wasn’t always the case and, as a result, Ben-Hur was completely unwatchable on VHS
and even the remastered laserdisc was unspectacular. Ben-Hur
was filmed with the very expensive Camera 65 process using
65MM film, so it is wide – very wide. Attempting to
pan & scan this would not only be a daunting task, but
must have felt like murder to do so. Thankfully, we get it
in its complete glory.
 This
set is the film’s second DVD release, and while I don’t
recall any complaints about the first release’s transfer,
this one improves on it dramatically. It retains the 2.76:1
anamorphic transfer, which Warner Bros. has remastered quite
brilliantly, making the film look brand new. Just take a simple
glance at the comparison
shots. Shadow scenes are incredibly black. I didn’t
see any spots, grain, or any other print damage throughout
the entire run-time. For a film nearly fifty years old, this
is an impressive feat. Frankly, new movies don’t
look this good. The audio is excellent as well, but doesn’t
seem to be changed any from the prior release. You will not
have any problems understanding dialog at all. It’s
presented in 5.1 Dolby Surround in both English and French
(French was only 2.0 on the prior release) and is subtitled
in English, French, and Spanish (dropping the Portuguese from
the last release.) Sadly, none of the extras are subtitled.
Extras
The extras on the first dual-sided,
single-disc release of Ben-Hur were slight,
but valuable. This mammoth 4-disc set reuses those extras,
and adds quite a bit of worth as well.
Audio Commentary by Film Historian T. Gene Hatcher, with
Charlton Heston
This runs for the full length of the film, (now spread
out over two single-sided discs) with very few pauses and
is continually engaging from start to finish. Heston’s
on-site stories provide insight that no other could possibly
provide. Hatcher proves himself to be a wealth of information
on Ben-Hur. Not just the film, but the novel,
prior versions of the film, and the history of the actors,
both before and after the film. Heston’s bits seem to
be cribbed from the solo commentary on the previous release,
which despite being labeled so, was not feature length.
Isolated Score by Miklos Rozsa
One of my favorite, albeit rarely used, DVD features.
The score for this film was Oscar winning and deservedly so.
Here you can hear it devoid of any sound effects or pesky
dialog; it also runs for the entire length of the film.
 The
1925 Silent Version
The third disc houses the complete 1925 silent film epic Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ as directed
by Fred Niblo. Considering that the footage is now eighty
years old, it looks remarkable. There is naturally grain here
and there, and other disruptions to the print, but it is as
restored as it is likely to get, and certainly far from unwatchable.
Some of the footage used a primitive color process (note,
not colorized) and the film runs for 124 minutes with a recently
recorded score by Carl Davis. It is an interesting and extremely
well done film on its own. Having this on DVD is a wonderful
thing, and a perfect addition to this set.
Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema – (57:41)
Beginning with this incredible documentary, this and all further
features are on disc four. This is a newly done and exceptional
piece showing what this film did to change the standards of
Hollywood. Among the many people interviewed you have film
historian Bruce Crawford, directors Ridley Scott and George
Lucas, producer Arnon Milchan, Heston’s son Fraser Heston,
and William Wyler in archival footage. Essentially, this ode
features the above people talking about how they have used,
and seen the filmmaking tricks of Ben-Hur in many of the important films since then. Ridley Scott mentions
shades of techniques used in Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven and George Lucas mentions how he
looked at the chariot race when creating the pod race scene
in Star Wars: Episode I. All and all, a very
well edited piece solidifying the film’s historical
significance.
Ben-Hur: The Making of an Epic – (58:10)
A hold over from both the 35th Anniversary laserdisc and original
DVD release, this still stands as one of the best (if not
the best) making-of documentaries of all time. In less than
one hour, we are given complete insight and history of not
just the making of Ben-Hur, but also the
1907 and 1925 versions, as well as the history of the original
novel. Special focus is given to the importance of the film
to MGM’s survival as a studio and the acclaim that it
earned upon release. Possibly, the quickest hour you will
spend on any feature, on any DVD. I never tire of watching
it.
Ben-Hur: A Journey Through Pictures – (5:07)
This is a very short bit, which is more enjoyable than the
average “gallery” feature. A lively animated bit
featuring various stills, posters, sketches and other images;
all accompanied by the score and various quotes. A neat little
feature for sure.
Screen Tests
Four screen tests of actors who didn’t make the cut.
Leslie Nielsen tries out for the titular role along side both
Cesare Danova (6:59) and Yale Wexler as Messala (11:26). Yale’s
sequence is silent, but accompanied by the score. The other
two scenes are of George Baker and William Russell trying
for Ben-Hur and Messala respectively (5:33), and hair and
make-up tests on actress Haya Harareet (5:07) (who did get
the role of Esther). These are interesting; imagining Leslie
Nielsen as Judah opens a world of ‘what-ifs'. I would
be more interested in seeing screen tests of the actors who
did actually land the roles though. Some of this was on the
previous DVD but they have been expanded upon.
Vintage Newsreels
These are six different newsreels that used to play before
films and on television to promote the film and report on
the success of it. Interesting in a historical context, but
you aren’t likely to gain anything from it. Fluff.
Theatrical Trailers
No less than five trailers for the film. All of them pretty
good as far as trailers go, and an interesting advance trailer
with no footage just proclaiming that it will be screened
in the same theatre.
One of the nicest extras is a paper reproduction of the original
34-page program book entitled “The Story of the
Making of Ben-Hur” faithfully reproduced down to
the yellowing of the pages. It’s fantastic, and I wish
more studios did nice supplements like this.
All and all the only things not brought over from the previous
release are some text features and a photo gallery. You won’t
miss your old release if you choose to upgrade.
Fine
There are no doubt hundreds
of films released on DVD that didn’t get the care and
attention that Ben-Hur did on its first go-round.
I can’t imagine there was anyone clamoring for a bigger,
better release. Yet, Warner Bros. has given us just that.
For your money you’ll get a completely remastered film  with
a vastly improved commentary, the 1925 version, and two amazing
documentaries. Additionally, gone is the flipper disc (which
annoys many DVD collectors), and it is replaced with a four-disc
set in absolutely amazing packaging with an awesome booklet.
It is impossible to not recommend this film to anyone who
cherishes cinema, and this is certainly the version to purchase. Ben-Hur has never looked better and DVDs don’t
get any better. Even if you have the old release, you should
pick this one up with great haste.
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