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Ben-Hur [DVD] [1959] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

DVD ~ Charlton Heston

5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)

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6 new from �18.26 8 used from �14.99

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Region 1 encoding (requires a North American or multi-region DVD player and NTSC compatible TV. More about DVD formats.)

Note: you may purchase only one copy of this product. New Region 1 DVDs are dispatched from the USA or Canada and you may be required to pay import duties and taxes on them (click here for details). Please expect a delivery time of 5-7 days.

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	76% buy the item featured on this page: Ben-Hur [DVD] [1959] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] 5.0 out of 5 stars (18)
	10% buy Ben Hur - 50th Anniversary Edition [DVD] [1959] 4.0 out of 5 stars (1) �8.88
	6% buy The Ten Commandments [DVD] [1956] 4.3 out of 5 stars (19) �4.98
	5% buy Spartacus [DVD] [1960] 4.6 out of 5 stars (7) �4.98

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Product details

Actors: Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd, Ramon Novarro, Haya Harareet
Directors: Charles Brabin, Christy Cabanne, Fred Niblo, J.J. Cohn, Rex Ingram
Writers: Bess Meredyth
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Colour, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Original recording remastered, Restored, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Language English
Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
Region: Region 1 (US and Canada DVD formats.)
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Number of discs: 4
Classification: Unrated (US MPAA rating. See details.)
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Release Date: 13 Sep 2005
Run Time: 222 minutes

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)

ASIN: B0009UZG1O
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 51,357 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

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Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review

The biggest (and arguably the best) from Hollywood's Golden Age of Epic, Ben-Hur cost a staggering 15 million dollars in 1959 and was one of the largest film productions ever undertaken: the Circus Maximus set alone, constructed for the climactic chariot race, covered 18 acres and was filled with 40,000 tons of Mediterranean sand. Fittingly the movie scooped an unprecedented 11 Academy Awards that year, an achievement only equalled three decades later by Titanic, another bloated, wildly costly epic, albeit one with a distinctly less literate script (Gore Vidal provided uncredited script-doctoring for Ben-Hur). Director William Wyler, who had been an assistant on MGM's original silent version back in 1925, never sacrifices the human focus of the story in favour of spectacle (he had the good sense to leave the great chariot racing scene to second-unit director and experienced stuntman Yakima Canutt). Charlton Heston as Judah Ben-Hur dominates an appropriately vast ensemble cast, while Miklos Rozsa's majestic musical score adds immeasurably to the sense of occasion. The Christian theme, the very crux of Lew Wallace's original novel, is handled sensitively, focusing on the central character's love and compassion for his family (evoked by the discovery of their leprosy), and heavy-handed sermonising is thankfully avoided (the figure of Christ is seen but never heard--his presence signalled by a serene musical motif instead).

On the debit side, at four hours it's a long haul especially given some of the portentous dialogue--"You can break a man's skull. You can arrest him. You can throw him into a dungeon. But how do you fight an idea?"--but worst of all is having to watch it on a tiny TV screen (and any TV screen is too tiny for this movie). The movie's theatrical aspect ratio is 2.76:1, so the widescreen version plays out in a little horizontal band framed by two huge black borders; while the pan & scan version sacrifices great swathes of the original frame, making this vast epic look like a tame TV mini-series. All in all, a great movie but one best seen on the biggest screen possible. --Mark Walker

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Customer Reviews

18 Reviews

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Average Customer Review

5.0 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A film that lives up to its reputation., 21 Sep 2006

By	C. Mcsloy "I baptised a dog" (Nowhere in particular today) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Ben-Hur [1959] [DVD] (DVD)

I am 28 and somehow have managed to avoid seeing Ben-Hur until yesterday afternoon. Maybe I left it so long to watch because quite often these kind of big budget historical epics can tend to date quite badly and leave you feeling a bit disapointed. This is definately not the case with Ben-Hur, it is extremely well-paced, well acted and is a spectacle in the true sense of the word. The dvd transfer is really excellent and watched on a big widescreen telly you get a great sense of the scale of the movie. The performances are brilliant, especially Heston in one of his few non hammy roles (the only other one I can think of is that Orson Welles film in which he plays a mexican), he did most of own riding and you can tell he had a real sense of the part. The religous aspects of the film are sensitively handled by Wyler who like Juda was Jewish. It doesn't ram religion down your throat like some biblical films but yet still gives a sense of the effect Christ has on the main characters without allowing the narrative to veer too far away from being about Juda or becoming mawkish. Even if the rest of the film hadn't been great it would still be worth watching for the chariot scene. I had read somewhere that some of the stuntmen were killed in the making of this scene and watching the film this seems easy to beleive. However, watching the extras I found out this wasn't the case, it's a testament to the stunt co-ordinator and I director that I was convinced this was the case.

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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stupendous Epic, 27 Feb 2005

By	ianrmillard - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Ben Hur [VHS] [1959] (VHS Tape)

This must be one of the greatest films made. It was based on the book subtitled "A Story of the Christ" by an (?) American general and contains two themes: the Passion of Christ and the story of Judah Ben Hur, a high-ranking Judean and his family. It is amazing to realize that, when this film was made in 1959, even a studio (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) completely owned and run by Jews could make one of the most powerful pro-Christian films ever. Compare that to the degenerate Hollywood of today! The epic chariot race is probably the best known part of the film and indeed one of the best known epic scenes in any film. At least one extra was actually killed during the filming of that race. However, the religious aspect is the core of the film and the theme on which it ends, with the Blood of Christ running into and mingling with the waters of the Earth. Shades of the "Aetherization of the Blood"! If this film has one flaw, it is that it gives scant respect to the equally divinely inspired civilization of Rome.

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16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An All Time Classic!, 19 Jun 2002

By	E. A. Redfearn "eredfearn2" (Middlesbrough) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Ben-Hur [1959] [DVD] (DVD)

I bought the Video version quite a few years back, and had to buy the DVD version for it is quite simply superb. Still one of the all time great movies, it achieved eleven academy awards and even after all these years its easy to understand why. The story is about Judah Ben-Hur a rich Jewish merchant who is betrayed by his best friend Messala, a Roman Tribune. Sentenced to the galleys, he saves a Roman Consul's life (Jack Hawkins) is not sent back to the galleys, and returns to Jerusalem to find his lost mother and sister who have been imprisoned by Messala.

The second part of the film contains the famous chariot race which apparantly took three months to film and is one of the finest ever filmed. It ends with Christ's crucifixion and Ben-Hur being reunited with his family.

The highlight of this disc is of course, the making of Ben-Hur which contains facinating stories of how the chariot race was actually filmed. For a film that is 43 years old, the video transfer in widescreen of course, is quite simply superb with good sound. If you have a home cinema set up, then you are in for a treat. For serious movie buffs, this is a must buy.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A true classic
A film that can be viewed over and again and every time discover something you missed the previous times, due to the excellent acting of the cast, the screenplay and the... Read more

Published 4 months ago by Ioannis Sakellarakis

5.0 out of 5 stars Bet - hur than any other film
This has got to be one of the best films I've ever seen and it definatley deserved winning 11 oscars. Read more

Published 5 months ago by Mrs. Marilyn A. Rice

5.0 out of 5 stars a CORRECT BIBLICIAL DRAMA
jUDAH bEN hUR COMES ACROSS AS BEING VERY CONVINCING AS A BIBLE DRAMA THE ACTING IS FIRST CLASS, NO EXPENSE IS SPARED ON THE MAKING OF THIS FILM, AND YOU WOULD NEVER GET TIRED OF... Read more

Published 5 months ago by Derek Stiles

5.0 out of 5 stars Every time I see this I get charged
It's definitely one of my favorites of all time because it's got stuff that most movies don't have: Everything. Read more

Published 18 months ago by Jenny J.J.I.

5.0 out of 5 stars The very definition of epic
This movie is long, and those weaned on MTV might find it overly long. However, the story takes you away to another world, the story arc interweaving a revenge epic with the... Read more

Published 19 months ago by Dmitri M. A. Hubbard

5.0 out of 5 stars great film , bad transfer
one of my all time best movies.

BUT i've bought three, yes three copies of this film from three different sellers, all copies sealed and each one is defective arond... Read more

Published 23 months ago by spider-ham

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the great films
I have watched this film many, many times since my father took me to see it when it was first released. It is truly what the definition of an epic movie is all about. Read more

Published 23 months ago by gozeat

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect
What can I say that will add anything, Ben Hur is just the perfect film. Full of great acting, art work, suspense and so much more. Read more

Published on 19 May 2007 by "Smith" Reader

5.0 out of 5 stars The Greatest Film Ever Made
Every time i watch Charlton Heston play Judah Ben Hur the rich Prince living in the time of Christ i cannot forget the glaring mistakes especially during the famous Chariot Race... Read more

Published on 11 April 2007 by Mr. P. J. R. LEWIS

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Exciting and Morally uplifting
What a film. I would rate this as my all time favourite film. Forget the modern special effects, they just cannot make them like this anymore. Read more

Published on 15 April 2003 by foz-the-poet

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