“In the year of our lord, Judea – for nearly a century – had lain under the mastery of Rome. In the seventh year of the reign of Augustus Caesar, an imperial decree ordered every Judean each to return to his place of birth to be counted and taxed. The converging ways of many of them led to the gates of their capital city, Jerusalem, the troubled heart of their land. The old city was dominated by the fortress of Antonia, the seat of Roman power, and by the great golden temple, the outward sign of an inward and imperishable faith. Even while they obeyed the will of Caesar, the people clung proudly to their ancient heritage, always remembering the promise of their prophets that one day there would be born among them a redeemer to bring them salvation and perfect freedom.”
In the war going on between Paramount and Netflix over the purchase of Warner Brothers, I must admit I am on Paramount’s side totally. If Netflix wins, you can kiss goodbye seeing films on physical media, and Warner’s iconic cinematic past will just be eye candy for those 3-inch screens. If you needed any proof, you merely have to look at their current actions. Netflix stood in the way of del Toro’s Frankenstein, and we as critics never saw it at a screening. It took Criterion to finally give it a release. On Paramount’s side, look what they have done with many of their classic films. I’ve reviewed so many here. And if you want to see Warner classics like this one to continue, you need look no farther than this brand new UHD Blu-ray release of the classic film Ben-Hur. This is going to be one of the most impressive discs in your collection. What do you think you would have gotten if Netflix was pulling the strings? Yeah, that’s what I thought, as well. Here’s a list of the classic Warner films you can expect in the future if Netflix takes over Warner: Yep, that’s all of them.
“One God. That I can understand. But one wife? That’s uncivilized.”
The 1959 version was a remake of a 1925 silent film, which was a remake of a 1907 film. All are taken from the book A Tale Of Christ written by General Lew Wallace. They tell the story of Judea at the time of the birth of Christ and as he comes of age and is executed. It’s a clever way to tell the story, because Christ himself is not really a central part of the story. It begins with the first Christmas and the birth of Jesus, but quickly moves ahead as Christ becomes a man, but it’s not Christ we follow. It’s a man named Judah Ben-Hur, played by Charlton Heston. Judah is a wealthy and influential Jew living in Judea, but like all of his people, he is living on land occupied by the Romans. He has reason for hope when he learns that Messala, played by Stephen Boyd, is set to be the new Tribute from Rome. The two boys grew up with each other and were close friends as young boys and men. But it becomes too clear when they reunite that both are hoping the other will be sympathetic to their positions. They are meant to fall out, and when an accident on Ben-Hur’s roof appears like an attempt on the life of the new governor, it’s the excuse Messala needs to break up the family that once treated him as one of their own. Ben-Hur’s family are sent to prison, while he himself is exiled as a galley slave. On the way he meets a man his own age who offers him water as the soldiers deny him. Ben-Hur is changed just by a glance at this man, and while they will not meet again for some years, it has changed the man’s soul. It’s another accident that changes everything.
A sea battle goes badly, and General Quintus Arrius, played by Jack Hawkins, sees something in this man. When battle comes, slaves are chained so they go down with the ship, but he orders Ben-Hur to remain unchained. He doesn’t even know why himself. But it puts Ben-Hur in the position of saving Arrius’s life when the ship does go down. Arrius takes him back to Rome and adopts him as his own son, but now freed, he seeks to discover what became of his family. The thing we remember most from the film is his meeting and getting revenge on Messala through a chariot race. It’s an iconic scene, and you know if you know only one part of the film, it’s this one.
“How do you fight an idea… a new idea?”
But Ben-Hur is more than that story. We see how his life appears to parallel that of Jesus Christ. In one of director Wyler’s most brilliant moves, you never see the face of Jesus. You see him from the back, or you see him in a long shot where his face can’t really be made out. It’s brilliant because of how powerful it is. We come to completely know Jesus not by his own actions, but by the incredible reactions we see on every face that does encounter him. It’s so much more compelling and one of the most brilliant devices in cinema history.
William Wyler was chosen as the film’s director because he had been on the crew of the 1925 silent film. He turned into an extraordinary choice, and it was his subsequent choices that make this film stand out in a way few films ever would. It was all a risk. The studio could have gone broke on the money the film was going to cost, but the risk was taken, and it’s one of the most memorable films in the history of the industry. There are so many compelling performances here, and the location shooting shines like nothing else. It’s a epic in every sense of the term, and Paramount has shown the release a lot of love here. This is no mere re-release of an old classic film.
Pre-production started in 1954 with Marlon Brando as the intended lead. When he could not be had, the film actually began pre-production with Richard Burton in the Ben-Hur role. At that point the director was Sidney Franklin, but in early 1957 there was a major shake-up at the studio, and Franklin resigned under the new MGM leadership. A new deal for distribution was struck with Lowes, Inc. (not the hardware stores), and Burt Lancaster was sought for the part after Paul Newman said no because he had had such a bad experience making The Silver Chalice that he wanted no part of that kind of a shoot again. By early 1958 Heston was in place, and the production started. But complaints were coming in that the dialog sounded too modern, so Christopher Fly was brought in to make the period dialog better. An example of one of his changes still exists out there. A line said: “Did you enjoy your dinner?” it was changed to “Was the food to your liking?” This was the point when Ben-Hur was being coaxed to belch in appreciation for the food. Fly made a huge contribution but was denied script credit by the guild. Whoever got the credit, Ben-Hur was an instant classic with 11 Oscar nominations and 10 wins.
The 1950’s was a great decade for Heston. He worked also with Orson Wells in Touch Of Evil and Cecil B. DeMille in The Ten Commandments. It was an impressive decade, and now all three films are available in UHD/4K.
Video
Ben-Hur is presented in a slightly altered original aspect ratio of 2.75:1. The ultra-high-definition 2160p image is arrived at by an HEVC codec with an average bitrate of 75-80 mbps. The ultra-high-definition image presentation is as perfect as I’ve ever seen. Originally filmed in MGM’s own 65mm, this thing has a native resolution of nearly 8K. The film is split on two discs. This was a very brave choice. I know some will complain of having to change the disc. Trust me. It’s worth it. The change happens at the intermission of the film, so you’re not getting jolted out of your experience. This gives us plenty of bandwidth to breathe, and so the film comes alive like I have never seen before. Until now My Fair Lady was the most impressive image presentation I’ve encountered. Ben-Hur just took the top spot. I could go on and on. Colors are so vivid and bright. Heston wears a blue cloak before the race, and it just dazzles. You get detail in long shots, for crying out loud. This makes the race so much more interesting to watch. Textures are as real as you might ever see. The HDR offers so much color variation that I was stunned. The contrast also kills it. In the early part when we see a star field where the star will guide the Wise Men, it’s a stunning display of brilliant pinpoints of light against a dark deep blue sky. You will use this disc to show off your system, I promise you. The grain is still there, so the organic nature of the image is retained. This is as close to perfect as I’ve seen. I wish I could invite every one of you to my home theater (The Reel World) to see it. Bravo, Paramount, and this is why they deserve to win Warner Brothers. Warner has classics like this, and so far they have also done a great job.
Audio
The Dolby Atmos audio presentation defaults to 7.1. The surround mix both allows you to exist in this space, but it doesn’t distract you from the original atmosphere of the film. Of course, it was mono in 1959, but this fits quite nicely, and you can still enjoy it in mono if you like. What you get in the bump is some strong subs that add more body to even the dialog. The music is some of the best released in that time. It’s sweeping and pulls you so far into the story that the surrounds merely enhance that experience that was already there. Scenes like the sea battle and the chariot race deliver the most, obviously. There’s quiet here, and the audio presentation respects that quiet.
Special Features
The extras are found on the Blu-ray extras discs. Most of this material is merely ported over. There are two new pieces, but they each run under 10 minutes and are separated only because of royalty considerations. They are really one piece. Film historians and authors talk about the lasting impact of the film, and these are worth watching, but far too short.
Final Thoughts:
The film was remade in 2016, and it was as instantly forgettable as the 1959 film was memorable. Too many changes with the religion aspect, and it felt like the film didn’t trust the audience to understand such ideas on their own. Wyler allows you to experience it all for yourself, and it works. For 3 ½ hours you are completely captivated. From the moment UHD began, I hoped the time would come when we would get to see film releases with this kind of splendor. “Yes, this is that day.”
