100. Ben-Hur

Directed by William Wyler
Starring: Charlton Heston, Stephen Boyd, Jack Hawkins
MPAA Rating: G
Released: November18, 1959
Running Time: 212 minutes
Budget: $15 million
Gross Revenue: $90 million
Academy Awards:

• Best Motion Picture
• Best Director
• Best Leading Actor
• Best Supporting Actor
• Best Set Decoration
• Best Cinematography
• Best Costume Design
• Best Special Effects
• Best Film Editing
• Best Music
• Best Sound

The basic plot in 100 words or less

Judah Ben-Hur is a Jew that won’t betray his people to the Romans.  His Roman buddy Messala is mad so he arrests Judah’s mom and sister and sends Judah away to become a galley slave.  Judah escapes the boat and saves the Roman commander who allows him to go back to Judea.  Judah finds Messala, challenges him to a chariot race, kicks his can, and saves his mother and sister who contracted leprosy while in prison.  The Christ essentially heals the women, Judah accepts Jesus’ message of forgiveness, and Judah lives happily with his mom, sister, and new love.

Buy it, Rent it, Don't even bother

Buy it.  It'll be cheap.  The movie takes a year to watch, but it's old so it won't cost a lot.  It's one of those movies that everyone should see.  In fact, I don't think you're allowed to pretend to be a precocious movie watcher without some classic epics in your repertoire, and Ben-Hur is a good one to have.

The movie was made in 1959, so it portrays some of those lovable, obvious Hollywood-isms that we never see anymore: the 2-D backgrounds, the Technicolor, the cover-your-face-when-you-cry-so-no-one-can-see-you're-not-really-crying gag.  But there's really something to be said for the humanism of the film.  If you will only watch one part of the movie, watch the chariot race.  Nine chariots pulled by 4 horses each, lining the track.  It's pretty incredible to see.  No computers were used.  All of the hundreds of people are real, not generated.  It's honest to goodness real.  Watch when Messala comes to get in line for the walk out in front of the crowds.  The control over the horses is amazing.  Four horses tethered together and working flawlessly as one unit.  It's incredible.  And did I mention that it's not CGI?  Seriously.

So despite the movie being long, it's worth watching.  I'm glad I did. I can now say, without shaming my father, that I have seen Ben-Hur.  And I even liked it.

Trivia

The film used over 1,000,000 props.

Paul Newman was offered the role of Judah Ben-Hur but turned it down because he said he didn't have the legs to wear a tunic.

The chariot race segment was directed by legendary stuntman Yakima Canutt. Joe Canutt (Yak's son) doubled for Charlton Heston. During one of the crashes, in which Judah Ben-Hur's horses jump over a crashed chariot, the younger Canutt was thrown from his chariot onto the tongue of his chariot. He managed to climb back into his chariot and bring it back under control. The sequence looked so good that it was included in the film, with a close-up of Heston climbing back into the chariot. Canutt got a slight cut on his chin, but it was the only injury in the incredibly dangerous sequence. Stuntman Nosher Powell, who worked on the film, states in his biography, that Yakima Canutt went pale as a ghost when the chariot crashed. The crash was not planned, and everybody - including Yakima Canutt - believed that Joe Canutt had died.

For more trivia go to IMDb.com