the original Ben Hur was a pretty good flick, imho i doubt a new one from TODAY’s mostly-screwed-up Hollywood could be better
but i will try to see the new one and see, thanks
I found it A LOT easier to follow than the original.
It was great. The slave ship scenes are amazing. The race scenes are spectacular.
I spent the whole on the edge of my seat. 2 1/2 hours went by like a flash.
It had NONE of the liberal crap in it like Noah or Exodus remakes had.
I hope word of mouth picks up ticket sales to the point where a strong message is sent to Hollywood.
The family and I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and will probably buy it when it comes out on disc.
I am so tired of re-makes.
The first sentence of the review shows he doesn’t know much about the movie he’s talking about. Ben Hur is one of the most remade movies in history, the 1959 version is the 3rd, there’s been 2 more since then, plus the play, the musical and the TV miniseries. The classics get revisited all the time.
I won’t watch any movie which has the racist Morgan Freeman in the cast.
Saw it last night on 3D and it was excellent. I would give it 5 stars and liked it better than the original. The actor who played Jesus brought out the part much like the Passion.
Pray America wakes
I have seen both the 1959 and the 2016 version. I agree with the reviewer, about the Massala character in the latest version, very weak. After many years in the Roman army, he returns home as just the same guy who seemed to not have learned anything from traveling throughout the world.
I think evil characters are stronger in movies where they can articulate their reasons for what they are doing. Massala (1959) was very clear why he did what he did to Ben-Hur. You don’t have to agree with him, but at least you could see his point. And even after losing the race, he stuck it to Ben-Hur one last time, telling him his mother and sister were lepers. There was no reconciliation.
The ‘59 version won 11 Academy Awards. Hard to top that.
Hahahahaha! I hate Hollywood. So damned stupid.
They should have made this an all-girl film to, and called it Ben-Her.
-PJ
Saw it at a drive-in. Fell asleep. Did he win the chariot race?
The new guy playing Ben Hur looks like a Ben Her.
Also the movie has Morgan Freeman (who likes sex with little girls) in it.
As an aside. Why are movies like this that take place a couple of thousand years ago have actors with perfect white teeth and look all nice and clean and spiffy like they just stepped out of a shower? Nice clean clothing and all?
Both my wife and I feel that the movie is much better than the 1959 version. Way better.
I saw it today, with my two daughters, and the review is pretty much spot on. I didn’t like the dark lighting through much of the film, but maybe it was the 3d glasses.
I came away thinking what a great actor C. Heston was, to carry a three hour epic. I think the story developed better in the 1959 version.
My wife and I saw Ben Hur last night. I thought is was splendid! More spiritual than the original. We intend to see it again which is our measure of a worthwhile film. Not many of those lately! I didn’t care for either of the leads, that notwithstanding, the message of forgiveness and redemption is powerful! I loved the original, however, I found this better in many ways. Great reminder about the power of good women to influence and touch the lives of others if we’ll just get out of the way. Jesus is well cast, very touching and realistic performance. “King of Kings,” indeed!
More proof that Hollywood cannot make a good movie today.
Ben Hur was a perfectly good movie that needed no remake. Hollywood is so inept they can’t think of a good story without having to go back and make unnecessary remakes like this.
There is such a deep body of literature in the world, and all of it now known at finger’s reach on the internet, there is just no excuse for remaking a classic movie that cannot possibly be improved upon?
What’s next? Remake Casablanca for millenials? Who are you going to cast to top the original? How can you possibly top it?
Hollywood sucks. It jumped the shark decades ago. Every ones in a while a gem sneaks out but mostly it is pure crap today. Pure. Crap.
ping