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Ben-Hur review
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So it's settled: The greatest film ever made!

William Wyler's Epic Masterpiece BEN-HUR!

This Is The 3rd Big Screen Installment From Lew Wallace's Best-Seller, Ben-Hur (The First Was A Silent One-Reel Play In 1907, The Second Was In 1925 And The 3rd In 1959, Arugably The Best Installment So Far)!

Anyways, My Father Is A Big Fan Of Charlton Heston And Has Virtually Seen All Of His Movies! One Day, He Bought 3 Of Heston's Movies (Ben-Hur, Planet Of The Apes & The Ten Commandments) And Told Me To See These Movies As He Had Seen Them In His Lifetime! I Loved Planet Of The Apes & The Ten Commandments Straight Away But I Held Back On Ben-Hur, As The Time Limit Was Too Much (Its More Than 3 Hours)!

Now, For 2 Years, The Ben-Hur CD Was Kept In My Cupboard And Whenever I Would Take It Out, I Would Instantly Put It Back! I Know, Its Kinda Funny! Anyways, When EMPIRE Magazine's 500 Greatest Films Of All Time Was Released, I Was Quite Surprised To See All 3 Movies In That List, So I Decided To Give Ben-Hur A Try!

No Words Can Explain The Sonic-Boom That Came Upon Me When The Opening Theme Song Started! I Had Never Heard Such Beautiful Music All My Life! My Dad Also Joined Me And Pointed Out Who Was Who! Barely The Film Progressed 20 Minutes, I Was Starstruck! I Was HOOKED! And All That Time I Was Thinking That I Had Seen THE Movies! Geddit?

Anyways, This Is One Of The Only 3 Movies Which Each & Every Cast Impressed Me A-Lot (The Other 2 Are Singin' In The Rain & Schindler's List)! Heston Was Legendary As Ever, No Doubt About That!

The Best Supporting Are: Jack Hawkins As Quintus Arrius, Stephen Boyd As Messala And Hugh Griffith As Sheik Illdrim!

This Film Is Also Notable For Being The First To Win Both Best Actor & Best Supporting Actor Award (Charlton Heston & ugh Griffith, Respectively)... A Record That Was Held For 44 Years Until Clint Eastwood's Mystic River Came Out In 2004 (Sean Penn For Best Actor & Tim Robbins For Best Supporting Actor)

Anyways, The Chariot Race Has To Be One Of The Most Violent And Dangerous Scenes I Have Ever Seen! But My Most Favourite Scene Is The 'Galley Sequence'

Overall, I Would Give It 5/5, 10/10, 100/100 Stars For EVERYTHING! It Will Never Bore You, Nomadder How Many Times You Have Seen It! It Deserved All The 11 Awards That Were Bestowed On Them!!!

On An Aside Note: I Ranked The Chariot Race No. 5 In My List Of 100 Greatest / Memorable Movie Scenes Of All Time!

And I Also Ranked Ben-Hur No. 1 In My List Of 500 Greatest Films Of All Time (And Yes, The Godfather Is No. 2) No Gasping! Ben-Hur Is Miles Better Than The Godfather!

I Also Ranked Quintus Arrius's (Jack Hawkins) Quote, "You Have The Power To Fight Back, But A Good Sense To Control! Your Eyes Are Full Of Hate, 41! Thats Good, Hate Keeps A Man Alive! It Gives Him Strength!", No. 9 In My List Of 25 Greatest Movie Quotes Of All Time!

And The Last Words Spoken By Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston), "I Felt His Voice Take The Sword Out Of My Hand", Was Ranked No. 4 In My List Of 50 Best Movie Exit-Lines!

A Truly Epic And Memorable Film That Will Not Fade In Any Time!

10/10
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Added by Happy Vader
13 years ago on 19 January 2011 05:48

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propelasThe Cinephile