Ben-Hur | The Pinnacle of the Classic Hollywood Historical Epic
Ben-Hur is a classic Hollywood Epic through and through. For most of the film, I was simply in awe of the scale of the film. The massive sets filled with thousands of extras, meticulously designed period-accurate costumes, ultra-wide close-ups, and sweeping camerawork make for the pinnacle of classic Hollywood Epic filmmaking. But despite the epic scale, the film also has some fantastic close-ups that sell the emotions of many scenes, be it the intimacy and longing of Judah Ben-Hur's romance with Esther or Judah's rage and heartbreak in his revenge plot.
The filmmaking all works in favor of a narrative that's as grandiose as the rest of the film. Judah Ben-Hur's journey through Rome, from respected leader to enslaved person to a respected Roman, is taken to the most overt theatrical extreme. As a sweeping epic, this overly theatrical tone works incredibly well and significantly impacts Judah's journey. Plus, I find something so inherently compelling about each relationship Judah forms throughout the film, be it the intimacy of his romance with Esther, the rivalry between Judah and Messala, and even the friendly bond that Judah forms with characters such as Arrius, Sheik, or Balthasar. There's also something so moving about Judah Ben-Hur's spiritual journey in the film's last act. After finally fulfilling his acts of vengeance, Judah becomes a husk of a man and, in his meeting with Jesus, finds new meaning beyond anger and hate. I'm not religious, but I still find the last act of this film to be incredibly touching.
Any review of Ben-Hur isn't complete without mentioning the film's climatic Charriot chase, which is legitimately one of the best action set pieces ever put into a movie and is undoubtedly the best of the classic Hollywood era. The scene is a masterclass in every area of filmmaking, with phenomenal practical stuntwork, pitch-perfect editing, and a fantastic combination of close-ups and wide shots that make the scene feel tense without sacrificing understandability. Such a masterful scene, though, slightly overshadows the battle at sea earlier in the film, which I feel is just as fantastic of a set-piece. A genuinely massive battle sequence culminates with one ship colliding with another, which makes for a destructive sight to behold, all captured with practical effects that look remarkably ahead of their time.
For such a grand epic, the film clocks in at a weighty runtime of three and a half hours. However, the runtime rarely felt cumbersome to me, as the long runtime allowed the film to build and develop Judah's story and relationships naturally. In the film's opening act, I felt the runtime most. Being the most exposition-heavy act of the film also made it one of the slowest. Once the plot got going, though, I was on board for practically the entire rest of the film.
Despite its slow start, Ben-Hur is a shining example of the classic Hollywood historical epic at its best—a sweeping, grand Hollywood story of betrayal, revenge, and spiritual enlightenment. When I wasn't growing increasingly captivated by Judah's journey through Rome, I was simply in awe of its sheer scale, which is on a level beyond any movie released in its time.
Available to Rent and Buy on Google TV, Prime Video, Apple TV, and more in the U.S.
