Ben Hur (1959) & Ben-Hur (1925 Silent Version) (4 Disc Collectors Edition)

Star Review

The silent BEN-HUR was the first epic produced by the new
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corporation. They had inherited a fiasco - Louis B. Mayer fired the original director and most of the cast and stormed off to Italy. For director Fred Niblo's company, everything was going wrong. They had built a huge arena - and no chariots had raced. The had built a Roman
fleet - and extras who said they could swim couldn't. When they plunged overboard from a burning galley it was a miracle all were saved. Mayer brought the company back to California, rebuilt the arena in Culver City and ordered Niblo to reshoot the picture. The chariot race, directed by
Reaves Eason and shot by 42 cameramen, was among the most brilliant action sequences filmed up to that time. William Wyler was an assistant director, signalling to vast crowds who were enlarged still further by special effects. Despite everything, the picture was a huge success, but it was so
expensive that it could not recoup its costs. And to think that on its eightieth anniversary this great film has been reduced to a DVD extra! Never mind; it is correctly tinted, its has Technicolor sequences and a magnificent Carl Davis score.

Kevin Brownlow on 6th December 2005

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Film Description

100,000 costumes, 8,000 extras, 300 sets and, in its day, the biggest budget in movie history. Charlton Heston brings a muscular presence to the role of Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish nobleman in Palestine whose heroic odyssey includes enslavement by the Romans, a bold escape from an embattled slave galley, vengeance against his tormentors during a furious arena chariot race and fateful encounters with Jesus Christ. The film won a total of 11 Academy Awards. Also includes the equally famed and, for its time, equally spectacular silent version directed by Fred Niblo (and on which Wyler was an assistant director), starring Ramon Navarro as Ben-Hur.

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DVD Extras

• 4 discs
• Newly Remastered and Restored from Original 65mm Film Elements
• Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio
• Commentary by Film Historian T. Gene Hatcher with Scene Specific Comments from Charlton Heston
• Screen Tests
• Vintage Newsreels Gallery
• Highlights from the 1960 Academy Awards Ceremony
• Theatrical Trailer Gallery
• The 1925 Silent Version: The Thames Television Restoration with Stereophonic Orchestral Score by Composer Carl Davis
• New Documentary: Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema - Current filmmakers such as Ridley Scott and George Lucas reflect on the importance and influence of the film
• 1994 Documentary: Ben-Hur: The Making of an Epic Hosted by Christopher Plummer
• Directed by William Wyler - 1986 Emmy Award nominated documentary featuring the last interview with Wyler before his death
• Ben-Hur: A Journey Through Pictures - New audiovisual recreation of the film via stills, storyboards, sketches, music and dialogue.

Film Details

Cast

Charlton Heston, Hugh Griffith, Jack Hawkins, Ramon Novarro, Francis X. Bushman

Technical Details