Ben-Hur

Ben-Hur
(1959) [Trailer]
Director: William Wyler [IMDB]

When I die I hope I'm remembered for something. I don't know, maybe this website and my words written down here will serve as a gateway into the kind of person I was (if the internet is still around then.) Maybe the music I write or the art I make will inspire someone I knew to create something meaningful to them. I just hope this wasn't all for nothing. I don't know what the hell this has to do with Ben-Hur, I just felt like writing, and this is my platform to do so... deal with it.

Synopsis: Charlton Heston plays a Jew who lives under Roman rule in the time of Jesus. He runs into some problems with an old Roman friend and.... what the hell... this movie is long as shit and it's next to impossible to summarize in the normal one to two sentences that I always use... it's an epic, you get the idea.

Ben-Hur is considered a classic masterpiece and in the AFI's top 100. I'm trying to knock out the 25 films I haven't seen in that list... so here you go.

This film is impressive and besides Gone With the Wind, it's the longest film I've ever sat through.  Unlike Gone With the Wind, I didn't love it. It's fine and something I would recommend you watch once in your life... but that's the thing... I don't think I'd ever watch this again.

I loved all the elements surrounding Ben-Hur and his struggle, but found the injection of the story of Jesus to be pointless and I don't think it helped the film. I think the two stories would work well on their own, but in culmination with one another, they felt unharmonious. There are lots of fantastic films about the life of Jesus, why try to marry it with Ben-Hur's story. I'm sure there are tons of people who would disagree, and that's fine, but for me, if they trimmed Ben-Hur up a little you may have found a better movie in there somewhere. Especially towards the end, it takes a huge dive and I really started to lose interest.

One quick note: The film craftsmanship is insane and the efforts it must have taken to make this thing are mind boggling... I can see why it won so many oscars.

I don't think I could ever make something as grandiose as Ben-Hur and reviewing it seems silly, but I have to keep busy... death is ever present and I'm just trying to forget it's on its way. Blog on.