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| Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen
Boyd, Hugh Griffith, Martha Scott, Sam Jaffe |
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Anamorphic
widescreen |
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Dolby Digital
5.1 |
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DTS |
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Trailer(s) |
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Featurette(s) |
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Documentary |
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Audio commentary
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Deleted scenes
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Concept art
/ storyboards |
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Multi-angle
feature |
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Quintus
Arrius (Jack Hawkins): Your eyes are full of hate, forty-one. That's
good. Hate keeps a man alive.
A
Judean prince is unfairly exiled by his former childhood friend for
failing to offer the Roman Empire his allegiance; he then spends years
searching before he is reunited with his family.
 Unequalled
as an Oscar winner until Titanic came along, William Wyler's
1959 mammoth remake of the hugely popular 19th-Century 'Story
of the Christ' was at the time by far the most expensive movie
ever produced, the last hope for a near-bankrupt studio the movie
ended up saving. With its cast of thousands and its phenomenally
impressive set pieces, it remains perhaps the most definitive
sword-and-sandals epic of all time. What lets it down however
is the huge number of interminable, wooden indoor dialogue scenes.
At least three quarters of this epic spectacle actually consists
of two or three people standing in a room and talking to each
other. Of course this wouldn't matter if the dialogues were any
good, but they provide precious little in the way of subtlety
or character dynamics, especially when compared to a similar film
like Spartacus,
which is far more lively, with more interesting characters.
The set pieces however remain hugely impressive, with the chariot
race still surviving as one of the best action sequences ever
put together.
The extent to which the overdrawn dialogues make
the film such a taxing viewing experience is further demonstrated
by the inclusion on this new DVD set of the 1925 version
of the film: two-and-a-half hours is still a respectable length,
especially for a silent film, but Fred Niblo's monumental production
truly flies by at a much zestier clip than the rather more laborious
remake. And while it doesn't make use of the colourful widescreen
canvas that is another saving grace for the 1959 version, its
chariot race is equally exciting, as are its other action setpieces.
The inclusion of this older version alone therefore justifies
the purchase of this welcome re-release. |
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First released as a single-disc
double-sided version with a long documentary and audio comments
from Charlton Heston, a new four-disc box set is as close
to definitive a release as we can imagine, sporting a new
video transfer, the full 1925 version of the film, and numerous
new extras along with those featured on the previous release.
Identical releases of this four-disc set are available for
Region 1 and Region 2.
As on the previous DVD release, the
anamorphic widescreen image is framed at an aspect ratio of approx.
2.75:1. Ben-Hur was shot in anamorphic 70mm,
yielding an immensely wide image for the Super Cinemascope
screens of the late 1950s. As compared to the previous
release, this new transfer is a subtle but undeniable
improvement: the frame, which seemed cramped before,
yields additional information on all four sides of the
frame, resulting in a more natural look to the film's
mise-en-scène as a whole (see comparison
below). The color timing has also been corrected to
give the film a more authentic, rich flavor. The extremely
wide aspect ratio lends itself well for the spectacular
scenes like the chariot race, but most of the film actually
consists of dialogues between two characters, leaving
huge areas of 'wasted' space around a fairly minute
figure (depending on the size of your TV set). In any
case, Ben-Hur certainly
hasn't looked better than this since its initial release,
and probably won't ever.
Previous release
New release
The Dolby
Digital 5.1 audio
mix (identical to that mix on the previous DVD) helps
give Miklos Rozsa's dramatic score the presence and focus
it deserves, and even incorporates some subtle but effective
rear channel separations for the action sequences. The
audio elements sound dated and are somewhat lacking in
fidelity, but this is certainly an impressive presentation
of a movie over forty years old.
 As
on the previous DVD, the movie itself is spread across two
platters to accomodate its 222-minute length. Charlton Heston's
fragmented audio commentary, which only ran alongside selected
scenes, has been padded out to feature length thanks to the
inclusion of further input from historian Gene Hatcher, which
offers an informative (but incredibly long) listening experience. Miklos
Rozsa's score has again been granted its dedicated isolated
track in Dolby Digital 5.1,
but orchestral score enthusiasts will have to pick and choose
their way through many a silent scene in this track to find
the actual goodies here.
An entertaining new inclusion comes in the form of a new hour-long
documentary titled 'Ben-Hur: The Epic that Changed Cinema',
which is basically an extended hagiography in which various contemporary
filmmakers and actors sing the film's praises. It features generous
film clips from other popular films, but entertaining as it is, it
remains superficial and predictable throughout, with drawn-out comparisons
between the chariot race and the pod race sequence from Star Wars:
The Phantom Menace.
The rest of the extras are made up of a mixture of repeat items from
the previous DVD along with some new items. A selection of very amusing
screen tests is repeated here, with a young Leslie Nielsen (!) woodenly
taking on the role Masala opposite a popular Italian actor trying out
for the part of Ben-Hur. Playing more almost like a parody than a screen
test, this is a funny and informative addition to the disc. A new section
recreates sequences from the film through a nicely edited assemblage
of storyboards, sketches, music and dialogue, while extensive trailer
and newsreel galleries round out this exhausive package.
Dan
Hassler-Forest
Reviewed: December
3, 2005
Click
here for IMDB info on Ben-Hur.
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