1. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
2. A Streetcar Named Desire
3. It's a Wonderful Life
4. Some Like it Hot
5. The Terminator
6. Terminator 2: Judgement Day
7. The Princess Bride
8. Ben-Hur
Let me start by saying when I started watching this movie I had no idea what it was about. I pretty much knew that a) it was long and b) there was a chariot race of some sort, which actually I had already seen in 11th grade Latin class.
Turns out it is a movie about Jesus. It was even based on a novel called Ben-Hur: A Tale of Christ.
Basically, this 3 1/2 hour movie is about Judah Ben-Hur, a Jew living in Jerusalem during a Roman takeover. Judah angers an old friend, Messala, who is also a Roman tribune by not turning on his people and joining the Roman cause. Judah winds up sent to the galleys to be a rower which is basically the worst job ever. ("Ramming speed!")
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| Row 'til you drop! |
He winds up saving the captain of the ships life, and is then taken under his wing and becomes a powerful Roman citizen and a famous chariot racer. The whole time though all he can think about is getting revenge on Messala.
Which leads us of course to the life of Jesus Christ, taking place somewhat simultaneously to Judah's (they are about the same age). While Judah is hellbent on revenge, Christ is teaching forgiveness and love. They run into each other when Judah is first condemned to slavery, though Judah does not know who he is at that time. He does not see him again until the day of the crucifixion.
Judah overhears Christ on the cross say, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." This literally blows Judah's mind (as well it should) and he later tells his friend Esther "I felt His voice take the sword out of my hand."
I have to admit that I was also affected by seeing the story of Christ come to life in this way. Though I am not a particularly religious person I do believe that if the world followed Christ's message of love and forgiveness, at least as it is portrayed in Ben-Hur, it would be a much better place.
The movie handled the characterization well, too, in my opinion. You never really see Jesus's face, and no one really tries to describe him talks about how he is the son of God. He just sort of appears, gives Judah water, and stands quietly while Judah and the Roman guards look on in a confused state of awe.
It was seriously awesome when Jesus (SPOILER ALERT!) cured Judah's mother and sister of leprosy just by looking at them. The whole movie all I could think was how sad leper colonies were, since now we know that leprosy isn't particularly contagious.
Also, while the movie was quite long, I found there were parts that were easy to fast forward through without missing anything. Such as ten-minute treks through the desert where no one is talking and you only hear the swell of the epic movie score. So realistically I probably only watched about 3 hours of it.
Ben-Hur features Charlton Heston at its finest, and was a marvel in its own time, wining a record 11 Academy Awards. Even today you have to be impressed with the size and scope of the story and especially the special effects, considering the limitations of 1959 technology.
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| Admit it. This scene looks pretty cool for 1959. |
It is definitely worthy of its classic film status, and I'm glad I finally watched it.
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