Yes "Classics should not be touched"! I agree without a doubt.

I had a teacher who happened to be an extra in the crowd in the chariot scene. From what I remember, she said there seemed to be about 1,500 to 2,000 extras present on day of shooting. So perhaps the scenes that suggested more people than that were achieved with different angle shots, some matte paintings etc. My teacher told me they were given a costume, lunch, and told to cheer wildly on cue. Just being able to watch the chariot race was an experience of a lifetime, she said.

@Shan - You should also watch Cecil B. DeMille's "The Ten Commandments," starring Charleton Heston as Moses and Yul Brynner as Pharaoh. Magnificent! Also, perfect for Easter!

Ben Hur, 10 Commandments and El Cid. 3 essential films to watch.

A word on remakes, THIS version of Ben Hur is actually a remake of a 1925 film, so not all remakes are bad!!

My interpretation is that Messala on his deathbed was taunting Judah: "You'll find them in the valley of the lepers...IF YOU CAN RECOGNIZE THEM." (Also, there's a nice reverse-symmetry: the woman who loves Judah hides the truth from him. But the man who hates him reveals the truth in one final act of spite.)

Because of this movie , watching it when it came out I had to watch it right away again. This movie made Charlton Heston my favorite actor of all time.

Regarding the scene where Mesala dies, it was definitely Mesala's last little revenge on Ben Hur, but it was also a way to ridicule Ben Hur's thirst for revenge

Messala, with his dying breaths, taunted the Prince of Hur. If he was redeeming himself and ‘making amends’ he wouldn’t have added “…if you can recognise them!”. That in itself was a mocking comment. Why would anyone add that jibe otherwise? He would have left it at the revelation that the mother and sister are in the Valley of the Lepers. ‘nuff said.

You mus watch CLEOPATRA now with Liz Taylor.

A Roman talent was around 32Kg... so the wager was roughly 32 tons of gold. These bois were making it rain :)

I really hope that you'll react to "The Ten Commandments" with Heston and Yul Brunner soon too!!! 👍👍👍

Masala's informing Ben Hur of his family's fate was his "Final Revenge". Done so in order to reduce Ben Hur's triumph into a pyrrhic victory. Though I watched this movie on television, I did once view both "Ben Hur" and "The Ten Commandments" on the wide screen at a Film Festival. Not certain if movie studios will ever do that again. BTW, fantastic reaction and evaluation.

An excellent movie from beginning until the end. Aside from the leads, Jack Hawkins is the standout performance playing Quintus Arrius of the movie. Fun Fact: The chariot race has a 263-to-1 cutting ratio (263 feet of film for every one foot used), probably the highest for any 65mm sequence ever filmed. Bonus Fact: The only Hollywood film to make the Vatican-approved film list in the category of religion.

The Ten Commandments is also fantastic

For other classic epic blockbuster films I highly recommend: The 10 Commandments, Lawrence of Arabia, Gone With the Wind, Dr Zhivago, and Once Upon A Time in the West

Ben Hur won 11 Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor.

What a rewarding reaction to watch. Thank you. You might also appreciate the film that earned this director his first Academy Award for Best Director, The Best Years of Our Lives (1946).

A fascinating movie. I am very glad to see you reviewing it. Maybe "Spartacus" with Kirk Douglas and "Cleopatra" with Elizabeth Taylor (which happens to be my all-time favourite movie) could be done at some point as well? Either way, this one was great. As for Messalahs' last act, the fact that he added "if you can recognize them." does hint towards an act of spite rather than an act of redemption. As in: You may have won this battle but I can still hurt you even now. If that were not the case, just telling Ben Hur where his family was would have been enough. But essentially Messalah made him loose them a second time instead.

OMG, I was in suspense waiting for part 2! Shan, love your intelligent commentaries and your fantastic reactions. It's so much FUN watching you react to great movies you're seeing for the first time. Ben Hur is a classic and I'll watch it anytime it's on TV. You must see Lawrence of Arabia and other classics from the same era! I saw Ben Hur and Lawrence of Arabia on the big screen in special wide-screen screenings at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood - just A-MA-ZING! The way they were meant to be experienced! And they truly were an EXPERIENCE! I always cry at the end of Ben Hur, my heart melting just like Judah's! Yes, Masala was trying to get the last vengeful dig at Judah before he died -- "You may have won the chariot race, but I can still HURT you even while I'm on the verge of death!" Hate and a desire for revenge keep us chained, imprisoned. Love, compassion, and forgiveness sets us free! A wonderful message for all of humanity, for all time.

The last scene to me is Messala attempting to beat his rival one last time before Messala dies. He lost the race, but he still can claim victory forever. He has destroyed the love in Ben Hurs heart his mother and sister. The healing at the end, from the rain of tears of god at his son's death, is a symbol of love being reborn. In a way Ben Hur's life itself is a collection of miracles. Surviving the galleys, becoming a son of Rome, his love of horses and how they help him best his rival, finding his true love again, and the healing of his family. I have both films, but the only one I rewatch is this version.

Another good Hesston movie worth watching is "55 Days at Peking". And if you want another good sci-fi movie of his, please check out "Soylent Green".

As far as I remember the Colosseum was achieved with a combination of actual physical sets, hanging miniatures (forced perspective) and matte paintings. However, since I could be mixing up movies, if anyone does know for sure, can they let me know. Ben Hur (his stunt double) was unexpectedly thrown over the front of his chariot, but held on and climbed back. This was unintended, but too good to leave out of the film.

This film is a masterpiece and I grew up watching it so I feel so giddy seeing you enjoy it so much! 😊

Hollywood sure doesn't make 'em like this anymore. In fact they went 180 degrees the "other" way. At any rate, what a fantastic film. I tear up at the end every time. And yes, the shepherd leading his flock is most definitely symbolic.

I bought the autobiography of Charlton Heston ( my mother idolized him) while writing about his other movies he takes a while to explain how long it took to film the chariot race...It was a long time.

Heston was also pretty good in "The Agony and the Ecstasy," in which he played Michelangelo.

That stunt at 4:26 where Judah's chariot goes over another chariot was performed by a stuntman. Flying out of the chariot and climbing back in was an accident - the stuntman was supposed to stay in the chariot. When they checked the footage the "mistake" looked so great they decided to put it in the movie. To do so, they ended up shooting a closer matching shot with Charlton Heston climbing back into the chariot.

One of the best films of all time. Unbelievably, the story of the man who wrote it, Lew Wallace, is every bit as incredible. After you watch this vid check out History Guy Lew Wallace to hear his story. He was one of the most interesting Americans youve never heard about.

You just saw the greatest action scene in cinema, how do you feel?

If you’d like to see more of director William Wyler’s films, I highly recommend “The Best Years of Our Lives”. His best work!

Charleton Heston did not perform that stunt himself, the stunt of him being flipped was performed by a stuntman who was the son of a very famous stuntman. His father warned him to never forget his safety harness to which he scoffed. That day, he did forget his harness, and was not supposed to flip out if the chariot, but it looked so cool, that was the take they chose for the finished film.

Ben Hur is always in my top 5 movies of all time! I’m so happy you’ve finally watched it! And I’m loving the comment section! I think I’ve watched it like 35 times and every single time I’m like 😮 and yeah please do The Ten Commandments next, perfect for Easter! Another one that will blow your mind!

"...and I felt his voice take the sword out of my hand..." What incredible dialogue. And a phenomenal cast.

Alright, so enjoy to watch next "Quo Vadis", "Cleopatra", "The Robe" - all based in ancient Roman time. Also do watch "The Big Country" and "Lawrence of Arabia". Then you have a nice sweep through monumental movie classics. 😄

Yep - Heston won best actor oscar and the movie won a huge amount of awards that year.

Spartacus 1960 also has a massive amount of extras and huge scenery.

Love that u watched and reacted to this gem. A lot of people became Christians after watching this film. Of course Charlton Heston also played Moses in The Ten Commandments.

It was one of his best performances to be sure Shan - but as others have said, you need to watch Ten Commandments and El Cid - both Heston movies, both truly superb 'Epics'.

Shan, "Lawrence of Arabia" has to be your next epic film. It's an 11 out of 10!!!

What's so wonderful for me is, you are watching a movie from my childhood; which I consider a very rich place. My town, my country, the entire world was so incredibly different considering the time passed. More than the reaction, you offer the detailed review. And to some degree, you offer a glimpse into the era gone by from the unique perspective of someone younger. I hope you continue to watch these classic movies from this era -of course if you haven't already seen them.

There are two more epic pictures with Charlton Heston (The Ten Commandments and El Cid) and two great science fiction films with Heston (The Omega Man and Soylent Green). "Spartacus" with Kirk Douglas and directed by Stanley Kubrick, is also not to be missed!

"Spikes. They will come into play for sure". ...Shan, Would you have it any other way???

I think Heston won an Oscar for Best Actor for this. Ben Hur truly is an experience and defines the term epic.

The story is the co-writer Gore Vidal struggled to come up with a reason for the antagonists' savage animosity. He and Stephen Boyd came up with the idea of 'spurned lover'. You can see Boyd acting up a storm playing the spurned lover while Heston is entirely oblivious.

Maximus Decimus Meridius was a spaniard, I mean a natural from the "old" Spain. Another, great fictional character from Spain is Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar known as El Cid. In cinema El Cid was play wonderfully by Charlton Heston. You are going to enjoy this film.

This is a remake of the silent film and the chariot race from that movie is practically identical. Ben-Hur was MGM's first big hit and the remake was their last big hit. It really bookends the studios life.

Heston's stunt double in the jumping chariot scene, Joe Canutt, was the son of Yakima Canutt, who was Clark Gable's stunt double in the burning of Atlanta scene in Gone with the Wind.

"Classics should not be touched" Hear, hear! Now, on to those other classic epic movies, Cleopatra and of course... Laurence of Arabia

One of the best things to ever be made by man also charlton Heston is such an amazing actor

Thanks so much for doing this (and all the classics). Enjoyed it all! I HIGHLY recommend checking out other films by this director, William Wyler. His casts won the most best actors/actresses of any any director, because he really knew how to get a performance! The first, natural follow up is "The Big Country" (1958), and I'd also very much recommend "The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946) and "Roman Holiday (1953). Some of the best movies ever made.

Being old enough to have seen this masterpiece in the theater , It still amazes me ! The actress playing his sister , reminded me of another great movie she was in . The Best Years of Our Life , The story of men coming home after WW2 , A Great movie . Directed by William Wyler .

This film was shot in what was called MGM Camera 65, later known as Ultra Panavision. It used 65mm film, along with anamorphic squeeze lenses to produce an amazingly detailed image, with an aspect ratio of 2.76:1. The same lenses used to photograph Ben-Hur, were pulled out of mothballs and used to shoot Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight.

To this day there has been no other scene in any movie that makes me wonder if what I'm watching is real or not, like the chariot scene in Ben Hur. I've seen the movie multiple times and my jaw still drops every time. No action scene ever can match it in terms of realism and scale. The whole movie is a masterpiece and in a class of its own in my opinion! The cinematography, acting, story, spiritual elements, musical score, the ending. It just embodies the word "epic".

I saw this movie a few years ago for the first time. My heart was pounding during the chariot race and i was crying my eyes out at the end of the movie. Very powerful epic film! Thank you for reviewing it. God bless :)

@Shan - Another all-time great movie is "The Agony and the Ecstasy," in which Charlton Heston plays Michelangelo. P.S. Jack Hawkins is also in "Lawrence of Arabia."

A short reaction for a long film. Leslie Nielsen was almost cast in Boyd's role. Test footage exists

Since you enjoy Heston's performances I would suggest 1961's El Cid

They arranged for the actors who were driving to chariots to be able to practice every day for 6 weeks. There were 2 actors who were there every day; Charlton Heston and Stephen Boyd. They became so good it allowed them to be used in closeups that they didnt plan on and added enormously to the authenticity. The camera work was done by a group of the few 65 millimeter cameras of the day. They were huge and enormously expensive. During the chariot race one of them fell out of chase car, destroying it to the tune of a quarter of a million dollars.

My father (R.I.P.) was a Catholic born in Pakistan. BEN HUR and THE TEN COMMANDMENTS were banned in his city as it was a mostly Islamic city so he was not able to see the movie until he arrived in Canada in 1974. He said it was one of the 1st things he did when he came to Canada because he waited so many years to see these movies. Even though I am not religious , I loved watching these movies with him as they were epic movies and always have a special place in my heart. Hope you watch TEN COMMANDMENTS soon, as I'm sure you'll love it. Its Heston's most famous role. Keep smiling 🤘 🙂

Ooooh here come the tears 😭😭😭 The cinematography of the charity scene, the music during the rain scene…pure beauty

Messala was mocking him. He was broken and even Ben Hur didn't hate him anymore. So he MADE him hate him. Just to hurt him.

cinematic masterpiece that won 11 oscars including best actor for charlton heston.

I prefer Heston in Soylent Green.

Great reaction - I appreciate that you also watch OLD films, ones prior to 1960. Before computer generated effects took center stage, box office hits mostly relied on great scripts, and William Wyler was akin to Stephen Spielberg in that he often directed some of the biggest hits of the day. He was an actor's director, and has directed the most Oscar winning Actors of all time, including two from this film. Despite directing popular dramas, he never resorted to cheap sentiment to generate tears. His films are very mature and span a lot of genres. For this particular film, he received a lot of flak from "prestige" film afficionados for tackling a "sword & sandal" epic, a genre that was the "comic book film" of the day - adjusted for inflation, films like Ben-Hur, The Ten Commandments, and Quo Vadis? still rank among the most popular films of all time. My favorite film by Wyler is The Heiress, starring Olivia de Havilland and Montgomery Clift, from 1949, it's based on the popular stage play of the same name, which itself is based on the book Washington Square, by Henry James. I can't imagine you ever tackling it, but who knows? One can hope! Other candidates by Wyler that you may just end up posting are The Best Years of Lives, about servicemen returning from WWII (Wyler served, too); Roman Holiday, one of the best romantic comedies of all time; Funny Girl, a musical which made Barbra Streisand a film star; and Mrs. Miniver, probably the most successful propaganda of all time (helping rally Americans around supporting the war effort during WWII as many were against it). Lastly, there is an incredible documentary you'd probably enjoy called "Five Came Back", about 5 all-time great directors that served during WWII: Frank Capra, John Huston, John Ford, George Stevens, and William Wyler. It's about their contributions to the war effort and the effect it had on their filmmaking. It's narrated by Meryl Streep, with commentary by Spielberg, Del Toro, Greengrass, Kasdan, and Coppola. It's available on Netflix and is SO engrossing and worth a reaction video. It's about filmmaking and WWII with a lot of archival footage! Keep up the great, insightful work!

The chariot race was the crowning achievement of legendary 2nd unit director Yakima Canutt..he told Heston "Hang on to the reigns I guarantee you'll win the race". Ben Hur won 11 Oscars including best picture it held the Oscars record until Titanic in '97.. The stunt that launched Judah over the chariot took several days to coordinate and shoot,that particular five seconds was performed by Yakima Canutt's son who had a physical resemblance to Heston.. Stephen Boyd (Masala) had to wear contacts to disguise his deep blue eyes,the casting director hired to many blue-eyed actors.. As for the miraculous ending.. WHAT'S YOUR FAITH?

One of my favourite movies of all time, General Lew Wallace The writer of Ben-Her was the governor of New Mexico the time Billy the kid become famous he was governor for around three years and he also supposably secretly met Billy the kid about a possible pardon in exchange to testify against certain people, He was also the US minister to Turkey

A pure master piece ! And yes, there was a dumb guy who tried to remake it recently. It was pathetic, of course :)

BenHur, published in 1880 became the best selling novel until Gone With The Wind 50 years later! The author, Lew Wallace, was a Civil War General, governor of the territory of New Mexico and ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. He wrote novels in his spare time.

I've read that Ben Hur at the turn of the previous century travelled the world as a stage play. And when it appeared in the theatre in Melbourne the chariot race had teams of horses on stage on treadmills

Shan I love This Movie but my Favorite Movie with Charlton Heston in "The Ten Commandments" where he plays Moses, the Actress that played his mother in Ben Hur also plays his Mother In The Ten Commandments.

I believe this movie won 11 Oscars. So well done. Epic. One of the best there is. Good reaction Shan.

Fantastic review and movie! From IMDB: The chariot race required 15,000 extras on a set constructed on 18 acres of backlot at Cinecitta Studios outside Rome. Tour buses visited the set every hour. Eighteen chariots were built, with half being used for practice. The race took five weeks to film.

A fantastic movie with a fantastic direction, cinematography, acting. SO GREAT.

1 talent was 7 years worth of salary, 1000 talents of gold meant 7000 years worth of salary

Awesome reaction sir

The Roman Empire gets a bad rap in the movies, but generally speaking, its rulers allowed conquered peoples to retain their own culture, gods, etc. As long as they also paid respect/homage to the Emperor, paid their taxes, etc. Many of the wealthy classes of Judaea assimilated into Roman culture to a certain extent. The problems in Judaea erupted when the Romans insisted on setting up idols in the Jerusalem Temple, where idols were forbidden. Not all the Judaeans participated in the various revolts against Rome. As usual, there were various factions among the populace. Another historical note: Jews in Roman Judaea did not wear yarmulkes (aka skullcaps or kippot). They wore turbans and other Middle Eastern headwear. Skullcaps were worn by Medieval European scholars, and yarmulkes emerged around that time. My favorite scene in the movie is the sea battle. And the scene in which Ben-Hur talks to his horses.

If that doesn't make a person cry at the end when they are healed... wow. I saw this the first time on TV I was probably 8 or9 years old... maybe 1969 or 1970. Still today my favorite movie.

Every time I see the end of this film, I cry! The film works towards the ending that it arrives at. A true masterpiece. Thanks for reacting / reviewing. It is always a joy to watch a film such as this through the eyes of someone else. The scene with Masala is clearly him trying to inflict as much pain as possible. His dying breath hurt Juda. Be safe.

Fun fact: A 'talent' was a weight measure of gold used in ancient times, the way we use troy ounces today. The precise weight of one talent of gold varied from region to region, but in Imperial Rome it was roughly 32.3kg (71lbs. 3 oz.).

I was fortunate to see this in the theater on the huge screen the year it came out. I think this movie is the best and my favorite movie ever. It has everything from great production, scenes, plot, acting, music, and REAL people, not CIG. We know it is financially impossible to make a movie like this today without fakeness.

Boyd's harness came loose on the chariot race. He really did fall and was drug for a while. His skin was peeled of his back. Boyd stated it was the worst pain he ever felt. He died young(45) of a heart attack. One of the greatest actors ever.

Other movies with music by Miklos Rosza worth watching are: "Quo Vadis"; " El Cid" (with Charlton Heston); " The Golden Voyage of Sinbad"; "Jungle Book" (1942); "Double Indemnity" and "Spellbound".

This movie, along with "The Ten Commandments" and "Quo Vadis" were about the only movies shown in theaters during easter week in my country (Dominican Republic) every year until the early 80"s. Going to the cinema to watch them was literally a part of the easter traditions, and I saw them all as a kid. My father gave me the novel when I was sixteen, and the movie is very respecful of the original story, although of course the novel has a lot more information. This was the definition of Epic, the remake was the definiton of Dissapointment.

If you haven’t seen Heston in The 10 commandments, you definitely should. It’s his best role, IMO. His “mother” in this, also played his “mother” in that movie, if I’m not mistaken. As good as Heston is in that, Yul Brynner is even better.

in this movie, the actor who plays the wise man Balthazar, is in the David Lean movie Great Expectations 1946 as the convict. still my favourite movie, please watch Great Expectations 1946. it is a masterpiece

A common myth is that a stuntman died in this chariot race. This is untrue for this movie, but a stuntman did die in the chariot race at the Rome location of the 1926 film Ben Hur.

I love when Marsala says, “this god of the hebrews is the hope of the hopeless,” and I was like, you got THAT right!

Awesome reaction and commentary 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻let's go for Soylent Green(1973), an other good Charlton Heston ,not zs epic as Ben Hur but still really good.

Heston won the Best Actor Oscar for Ben Hur

Fun fact: director William Wyler was Jewish. Born in Europe, he emigrated to the US in 1921. If you want to watch one of the best movies ever made, see Wyler’s “The Best Years of Our Lives.” Made right after WWII, it’s about what veterans faced returning home. A view of that experience rarely portrayed until that time. It won multiple Oscars, including for a real veteran who acted in the film, who lost both his hands in the war. One of the most moving films about the people who lived through the war.

If you like Heston, there is the film "The Agony and the Ecstasy." 1965. Heston and Harrison. About Michelangelo. Great film in Todd-AO!

Other Charlton Heston movies you might want to check out. Omega Man, Touch of Evil, Soylent Green.

He won an Oscar for this, but Charlton Hestons best performance is in El Cid, which I'm sure you'd enjoy.

Heston won a best actor Oscar for this movie

Great review of my favorite movie! If you want to learn more about the production of Ben Hur, get the 50th Anniversary Limited Edition Blu-ray Box... It comes with Mr. Heston's detailed personal journal (including his workout sessions to make him even more believable) also a documentary and lots of production data.

The composer's name is Miklos Rozsa. His 'historical' scores often include authentic material. Judah's mother has an ancient Yemenite Hebrew melody and two ancient Greek tunes appear.

The chariot race from Ben hur 1925 used 42 cameras. And a lot of horses were injured/put down.

Hi Shan, I am glad you finally got to review Ben Hur. It is one of my favorite films of all time. Yes there are various documentaries of the film that you might like. The film won 11 Oscars including Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Director. The film took years to make and was the most expensive film up to that date to produce. Ben Hur was supposedly filmed on three continents. I'm happy you enjoyed the movie.

"In William Wyler's Ben-Hur, a staggering 15,000 extras were used to form the baying mob that watched Judah and Messala race to the death, a truly colossal logistical undertaking. Horses were flown in from Spain and Austria, sand from Mexico, and more than 300 sets were built for the film."