Ben-Hur: Difference between revisions

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More than three years later, we see Ben Hur working one of many oars. He is going by "41" (or is that XLI?), his seat number, and he is full of hate. A Roman consul, Quintus Arrius, has boarded the ship, and it goes to war almost immediately. The consul wants Ben Hur for a charioteer, and doesn't understand why Ben Hur has any other hopes of life after the galleys; if they succeed in battle, he'll keep rowing, and if they don't, he'll die chained to the oar. Ben Hur makes clear that he dislikes the idea of dying chained to the oar; this has a delayed effect; at the time, "back to your oar," but the consul orders him unchained after all the galley slaves had been chained.

There is a firefight with [[Arrows On Fire|real fire]]. Things are burning all over the place. The ship gets rammed; for some reason, instead of trying to get the ship out of the way, those slaves who are chained try to remove the chains. Since the enemy ship appears to be holding up their ship, it almost works out. Ben Hur is unlocking slaves, and major fighting is going on on deck. Then Quintus is shoved overboard. Ben Hur goes to save him, shoving a torch into the face of a mercenary along the way.

There is a firefight with [[Arrows on Fire|real fire]]. Things are burning all over the place. The ship gets rammed; for some reason, instead of trying to get the ship out of the way, those slaves who are chained try to remove the chains. Since the enemy ship appears to be holding up their ship, it almost works out. Ben Hur is unlocking slaves, and major fighting is going on on deck. Then Quintus is shoved overboard. Ben Hur goes to save him, shoving a torch into the face of a mercenary along the way.

Ben Hur saves the consul and gets him on a raft of debris. Then he has to knock out the consul to prevent the fella from committing suicide, and chains the mercenary to him. After the consul wakes, still wanting to die, he reminds him that staying alive is the motivation he gives his slaves... Quintas wanted to commit suicide because he thought he'd lost overall. He hadn't, and so there is a triumphant return to Rome. Ben Hur gets to see the Emperor and then becomes the charioteer. Quintas actually tried to get him cleared of wanting to kill that Judean governor, but didn't pull it off...

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A live theatrical show, properly entitled [[Exactly What It Says On the Tin|"Ben Hur Live",]] was released to public viewing in Europe in 2009.

A live theatrical show, properly entitled [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|"Ben Hur Live",]] was released to public viewing in Europe in 2009.

* [[Academy Award]]: Cleaned house. ''Ben-Hur'' was nominated for 12 Academy Awards and won 11, missing only Adapted Screenplay. The film won Best Picture, Wyler won Best Director, Heston won Best Actor and Hugh Griffith took home Best Supporting Actor for playing Sheikh Ilderim. The 11 Oscars set a record, since tied by ''[[~~Titanic (Film)|~~Titanic]]'' and ''[[The Lord of the Rings (~~Film~~)|The Return of the King]]''.

* [[Academy Award]]: Cleaned house. ''Ben-Hur'' was nominated for 12 Academy Awards and won 11, missing only Adapted Screenplay. The film won Best Picture, Wyler won Best Director, Heston won Best Actor and Hugh Griffith took home Best Supporting Actor for playing Sheikh Ilderim. The 11 Oscars set a record, since tied by ''[[Titanic]]'' and ''[[The Lord of the Rings (film)|The Return of the King]]''.

* [[Ancient Rome]]

* [[Arab Oil Sheikh]]: Ilderim, if you replace oil with gold. Or horses.

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* [[Enforced Method Acting]]: The stunt coordinator for the 1959 version was the legendary veteran stuntman/director Yakima Canutt; his son Joe was one of the stunt charioteers standing in for Heston. Joe is the one you see driving -- and nearly flipped right out of the chariot -- as the horses jump some wreckage in their path. That was unplanned, and Wyler kept it in, putting in a shot of Heston climbing back into place. Joe was unharmed.

** See the [[Homoerotic Subtext]] described below.

* [[Epic Movie]]: Spars with ''[[Gone ~~With~~ the Wind]]'' as the quintessential example. For that matter, the 1925 silent version was the most expensive movie ever made at the time.

* [[Epic Movie]]: Spars with ''[[Gone with the Wind]]'' as the quintessential example. For that matter, the 1925 silent version was the most expensive movie ever made at the time.

* [[The Faceless]] / [[The Voiceless]]: Jesus, in both film versions.

** In the stage production of the novel, Jesus wasn't even portrayed by an actor; He only appeared as a beam of intense white light.

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* [[Protagonist-Centered Morality]]: Quintus Arrius is a slave-keeping imperialist just like Messala. But because he's nice to Ben Hur, he's considered a good guy. Even Pontius Pilate gets off relatively lightly.

* [[The Queen's Latin]]: In the movie, Roman characters are mostly played by Brits, and speak accordingly.

* [[Rated "M" for Manly]]: Well, it isn't exactly a macho movie, but the galley battle and chariot race scenes are like testosterone and adrenaline mixed together. This only adds to the aforementioned [[Ho Yay]], but then again... "[[Airplane! ~~(Film)~~|Jimmy, do you like movies about gladiators?]]"

* [[Rated "M" for Manly]]: Well, it isn't exactly a macho movie, but the galley battle and chariot race scenes are like testosterone and adrenaline mixed together. This only adds to the aforementioned [[Ho Yay]], but then again... "[[Airplane!|Jimmy, do you like movies about gladiators?]]"

* [[Real Men Love Jesus]]: Judah is a [[Badass]], and devout in his Jewish faith. In the end, he embraces the teachings of Jesus.

* [[Shining City]]: Rome and Jerusalem.

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* [[Splash of Color]]: Most of the 1925 silent version is shot in black and white, but all of the scenes that deal with Christ are in color, as is Ben-Hur's triumph and the final scene.

* [[Sword and Sandal]]

* [[X Meets Y]] / [[Recycled in Space]]: The novel has often been referred to as "''[[The Count of Monte Cristo (~~Literature~~)|The Count of Monte Cristo]]'' meets ''[[Quo Vadis]]''" or "''[[The Count of Monte Cristo (~~Literature~~)|The Count of Monte Cristo]]'' in the first century AD".

* [[X Meets Y]] / [[Recycled in Space]]: The novel has often been referred to as "''[[The Count of Monte Cristo (novel)|The Count of Monte Cristo]]'' meets ''[[Quo Vadis]]''" or "''[[The Count of Monte Cristo (novel)|The Count of Monte Cristo]]'' in the first century AD".

* [[You Are Number Six]]: Ben Hur being called 'Forty-One' on the Galley.