Ben-Hur
by William Wyler
List Price:
Our Price: $14.99
You Save: $4.97 (25%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $6.70 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Charlton Heston, Haya Harareet, Hugh Griffith, Jack Hawkins, Stephen BoydDirector: William Wyler
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Published)
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 1.85:1
Running Time: 212 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-06-01
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: Warner Home Video
Movie Reviews of Ben-Hur
Movie Review: No Hyperbole Here!
Summary: 5 Stars
You don't have to be a Christian (though I am) to enjoy this massive Magnum Opus of drama, forgiveness, revenge, action, and rich dialouge. Besides, there is no story in the bible that mirrors this, as the origins of this movie is historical fiction. Now that even satanists have no way to back up their hate of this movie because it's not shoving any bible stories (and their messages, if any) in their face!
Though this movie is extremely long at four hours, this movie doesn't move along at a snail's pace. Rather, this movie truly benefits from the extended scene lengths, never rushing anything, letting each subtle human emotion and character come through through slow self discovery on the viewers part. Case in point. When Judah and Messala meet for the first time, watching them go from erratic emotion of being reunited, and watcing that emotion dissolve into disagreement, then finally parting in anger, well, that path would take time in the real world, and Ben-Hur nails that aspect with great ease. It's just one fine example, and it's the reason why the movie does a great job of telling the story and all of it's emotions.
The action sequences, when there are ones, are also not rushed. The Chariot race is painstankingly done in great detail, you can feel like your actually there. The camera shots, well, the film snob in me could go on and on with production techniques and other ways that makes this movie as engaging as it is.
And wow, the production values are amazing. They spend their money well. The sets on here are absolutely grand, as for the props. JUST LOOK AT THAT TEMPLE! The whole backdrop of the shooting star in the prolouge, gorgeous. I find the bible landscapes amazing when I picture them in my head, and this movie only further shows why I think it that way. Even if you don't, well, shame on you.
I don't want to spoil much of the plot, but it's truly long-winded. While it's very easy to follow, it's extremely sprawling and by the time it is over, you will feel like you have gone all kinds of places. My rather dry description of it's epic feel doesn't really do justice to it's amazing use of that at all. I do apologize. The acting itself is very good, and the actors make the aforementioed pace of the scenes interesting and engaging throughout.
The DVD itself has fine picture quality (obviously), though my only petty prude complaint is the . All the bonus features only add to it, and it features plenty of essential DVD mainstays (commentary) to keep you entertained long after it's four hours. And this doesn't even include the fact you can watch it more than once!
This is the only movie that truly deserves that many Academy Awards, something that Titanic or Lord of The Rings wish it deserved. But I digress. If you want a thought-provoking, entertaining, and grand movie Ben-Hur is not to be missed. Truly inspirational and still awesome to watch today.
Summary of Ben-Hur
After his boyhood friend Messala's fanatic loyalty to Rome makes him a powerful enemy, Judah Ben-Hur is found guilty of an attempted murder he did not commit. His family is banished and he is enslaved on a warship. Through his ferocity in a raging sea battle, he is able to escape and become a horse trainer. To exact his revenge, Ben-Hur decides to compete against Messala in the Roman chariot races. They race, locked in a battle to the death. Barely surviving, Ben-Hur forsakes the sword for Christ and finally finds redemption. Winner of a record 11 Academy Award, including Best Picture and Actor (Charlton Heston).Ben-Hur scooped an unprecedented 11 Academy Awards? in 1959 and, unlike some later rivals, richly deserved every single one. This is epic filmmaking on a scale that had not been seen before and is unlikely ever to be seen again. But it's not just running time or a cast of thousands that makes an epic, it's the subject matter, and here the subject--Prince Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) and his estrangement from old Roman pal Messala (Stephen Boyd)--is rich, detailed, and sensitively handled. Director William Wyler, who had been a junior assistant on MGM's original silent version back in 1925, never sacrifices the human focus of the story in favor of spectacle, and is aided immeasurably by Miklos Rozsa's majestic musical score, arguably the greatest ever written for a Hollywood picture. At four hours it's a long haul (especially given some of the portentous dialogue), but all in all, Ben-Hur is a great movie, best seen on the biggest screen possible. --Mark Walker
Action & Adventure DVD Video
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Movies most talked about in 20 More of the Greatest Musical Scores & Songs in Movies of All Time
Jarhead (Widescreen Edition)Universal; Release date: 2006-03-07; DVD
Best price: $1.94
Price in other shops:
8 Mile (Widescreen Edition)Universal; Release date: 2003-03-18; DVD
Best price: $1.99
Price in other shops:
Half Baked (Fully Baked Widescreen Edition)Universal; Release date: 2005-02-15; DVD
Best price: $5.68
Price in other shops:
Friday (New Line Platinum Series)Warner Brothers; Release date: 1999-03-02; DVD
Best price: $4.98
Price in other shops:
To Kill a Mockingbird (Universal Legacy Series)Universal; Release date: 2005-09-06; DVD
Best price: $14.14
Price in other shops:
The Illusionist (Widescreen Edition)TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2007-01-09; DVD
Best price: $5.44
Price in other shops:
Midnight Cowboy (Two Disc Collector's Edition)TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2006-02-21; DVD
Best price: $6.84
Price in other shops:
Pee-Wee's Big AdventureWarner Brothers; Release date: 2008-11-04; DVD
Best price: $12.14
Price in other shops:
Apocalypse Now - The Complete Dossier (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)Paramount; Release date: 2006-08-15; DVD
Best price: $9.27
Price in other shops:
Easy RiderFONDA,PETER; Release date: 2002-06-04; DVD
Best price: $5.87
Price in other shops:
Similar DVD Movies
BarabbasSony; Release date: 2002-03-05; DVD
Best price: $4.13
Price in other shops:
Jesus of NazarethLION'S GATE ENTERTAINMENT; Release date: 2002-03-01; DVD
Best price: $12.99
Price in other shops:
The Agony and the EcstasyRelease date: 2005-02-22; DVD
Best price: $4.94
Price in other shops:
CleopatraTwentieth Century Fox; Release date: 2006-02-07; DVD
Best price: $9.00
Price in other shops:
CasablancaBOGART,HUMPHREY; Release date: 2000-02-15; DVD
Best price: $3.06
Price in other shops:
The Greatest Story Ever Told (Movie Only Edition)Release date: 2004-07-06; DVD
Best price: $5.76
Price in other shops:
El Cid (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (The Miriam Collection)WELLSPRING/GENIUS; Release date: 2008-01-29; DVD
Best price: $14.53
Price in other shops:
Lawrence of Arabia (Single Disc Edition)Sony; Release date: 2002-08-27; DVD
Best price: $5.60
Price in other shops:
The RobeRelease date: 2001-10-16; DVD
Best price: $7.39
Price in other shops:
The Ten Commandments (50th Anniversary Collection)Paramount; Release date: 2006-03-21; DVD
Best price: $14.75
Price in other shops: