Wolff rating: NOT BAD*
Plot summary: Judah Ben Hur finds himself at odds with his best friend from childhood, who has become an evil Roman conqueror of Jerusalem.
Biased, pithy comments: Ah, middle-brow drama. Like ``Titanic,'' this is a movie whose hype surpassed the quality of the film. Also like ``Titanic,'' it ain't great art but succeeds as good entertainment with tons of spectacle---literally tens of thousands of costumed extras, giant sets constructed just for this film (and then destroyed so they couldn't be used in cheap European knock-offs), and a young Charlton Heston. Heston is wooden (but muscular and toothy), Harareet has gone to the ```dull surprise'' school of acting, the pace is slow, and the script is unwieldly, but the whole thing has a charm that drags you through the entire 3+ hours. The star on the NOT BAD rating is for two scenes; the first (lesser) scene of the sea battle, and then the finest filming of a Roman chariot race ever. After the chariot race the film slides downhill into a dull Christian-friendly ending, but oy, see the race scene on laser disk or DVD with letterboxing on---it's amazing. In fact, you could skip the entire film and just watch the chariot race and you'd have eaten the yummy frosting off this monstrous slice of average cake.
Other Notes: I'm going to catch hell for this review, too, since ``Ben Hur'' remains a favorite to one generation as ``Star Wars'' is to my generation and ``Titanic'' will be to a whole flock of girls who were teenagers when it came out. And, of course, that I dis the ``Greatest Story Ever Told'' ending.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Haya Harareet, Stephen Boyd.
Directed by: William Wyler