I started my plan to watch all of AFI’s Top 100 movies tonight with #100: Ben Hur. While I’ve seen the movie before, it’s been a long time and I don’t remember too much about the plot. My first thought at the midway point was: Holy cow this thing is long!
It turns out that the movie is based on one of the best selling American novels of all time. Per the Wikipedia entry, it was the best selling American novel until Gone With The Wind came along. From a story standpoint, the book and subsequent movie fall into the historical fiction genre which has always been a favorite of mine. Not a big surprise as I’ve always loved History and have a degree in it from the University of Texas. The storyline of redemption through hard work and sacrifice are not uncommon to American literature. A lot of the mythology of our country is built on this very idea, so it’s no surprise that it was a huge seller.
Ben Hur, the movie, definitely falls into the “They Don’t Make ‘Em Like This Anymore” category. The sets are pretty impressive even if they’re mostly plywood when you realize they didn’t have digital effects back then. When watching the victory parade in Rome, I couldn’t help but wonder if the producers told the set designers “I don’t care what it looks like, just make it look ROMAN”.
The chariot scene is absolutely amazing, and get’s my vote at this point as the best action sequence ever filmed. Something that really stood out to me was the horsemanship involved, especially in the opening parade sequence. I’ve marched in a few large formations years ago when enlisted in the Army and know from experience that keeping a wide formation tight & straight in a turn is hard work. To do it with horses is even more amazing! Per the wikipedia entry (again!), the chariot scene used 15,000 extras and was the largest film set ever built at 18 acres. If you haven’t seen it in a while, take a few minutes and watch the YouTube clip below.
