#100: Ben-Hur

Counting down the 10th anniversary edition of the American Film Institute's Top 100 Movies of All Time list is a difficult venture. Doing it in one year is even harder. When #100 is a three and a half hour epic, even getting started proves arduous. I can't say I was particularly excited about watching the 1959 Charlton Heston film, Ben-Hur, but now that it's over, I'm delighted to say that it was all I could have hoped for.

The tricky thing about the AFI Top 100 list is that the criteria that must be met for a film to reach it doesn't necessarily mean it has to be "good." Look at The Jazz Singer for instance. That film was on the older version of the list for technical achievement (it was the first talking picture), but ask critics what they think and more than a few will express their disapproval. Well, Ben-Hur meets the criteria and then some. It isn't only a technically sound film or only an Academy Award winner or only a box office giant. It's also a thoroughly enjoyable movie on top of all that and it still stands up today. Given how short our society's attention span has become, the fact that I made it through this movie without keeling over is something. The fact that I was enamored with every facet of it is even more amazing.

Ben-Hur is an epic for the ages, a film filled with so much grandeur you'll swear you're staring into the heavens, which is appropriate given the subject matter. In the film that takes place during the days of Jesus Christ, a Jewish man named Judah Ben-Hur, played by the great Charlton Heston, is seized by the Roman Empire after refusing to work as their informant by going against his own people. Flash forward years later and he's on a galley rowing to and fro at the request of the men on board. He is their slave, but soon a fight between ships breaks out and he breaks free, but not before saving the life of Roman Consul Arrius, played by Jack Hawkins, who takes him in as his son.

So much more happens than what I've detailed above, including a run in with Christ, a search for Judah's mother and sister and a spectacular chariot race late in the movie that works as a catalyst for Judah's revenge against his former friend, Messala, played by Stephen Boyd, but it would be impossible to fit it all in here. Ben-Hur is a multi-layered movie with a narrative as gripping as any I've seen and the three and a half hour runtime is justified because there isn't a single scene that could have been taken out.

Every facet of its production is simply mind blowing. The sets are extravagantly detailed and extras go as far as the eye can see. This movie was a gamble in more ways than one. Setting aside the fact that the film was a last ditch effort to pull MGM away from the brink of bankruptcy (which it did with an impressive box office intake), it also risked being overpowered by its elaborate design. The message and meaning of the picture could easily have been stripped away, but it isn't. The embellished design worked only as another piece of the puzzle in its prodigious scale. Nothing is taken away because of it.

Ben-Hur may have religious connotations, but it isn't necessarily a religious movie. What it does is center itself around Jesus Christ, but never focuses on him (in fact, he's only in a handful of scenes and you never see his face). This is a movie that can be enjoyed by Christians, atheists, agnostics or the undecided. Tack onto this amazing performances from the entire cast, an engaging musical score and a truly phenomenal chariot race late in the picture that is impressively shot and surprisingly heart stopping and you have a wonderful cinematic achievement.

If #100 is this good, I can't wait to see what the rest are like.

-Joshua Hylton

"BEN-HUR" - An Epic Masterpiece...to say the least

Wow...I know that I am 50 years late on this one, but I just finished the 1959 version of "Ben-Hur". I am still trying to get over the fact that this film is #100 on the AFI TOP 100 list (the 2007 updated list).

To be completely honest, I was dreading the fact that I had to sit through a 3 hour and 40 minute film on a Sunday night. Since Josh and I are counting down from 100 to 1, we had to get this one "out of the way." Well, I can't think of a better film to kick off this countdown. There were times where my brain actually thought I was watching a modern day film because the effects, editing and score were so ahead of it's time.

Let me start off with the effects. I saw a film earlier this week entitles "2012", which was a $250 million epic directed by Roland Emmerich. Emmerich has yet to master green screen effects. Anytime he has a human being on screen and there is a disaster behind that person, it looks absolutely fake. So, I am sitting here watching "Ben-Hur", which was made 50 years prior, and thinking about how amazing the green effects looked. There was one particular scene where Ben-Hur (played by Charlton Heston) is floating on a piece of wood after a battle that took place while he was aboard the Roman ship. He dove in the water to save one of the Roman higher up's and there is a shot of both of them sitting on the wood while the ships are being destructed in the background. This shot looked absolutely EPIC and better than any green screen that I saw in "2012."

Let's talk about one of the film scores I have ever heard. Miklos Rozsa created one of the most memorable scores I have heard and I just listened to it less than 15 minutes ago. I walked up my stairs and into my room, humming the score. The particular scene when I realized it's true genius was the scene where Heston is on the Roman ship as one on the oar men. He had dozens of other men were operating the oars by hand. There was man at the head of the men, beating a drum which told Ben-Hur and the dozens of men how quickly to move their arms. This drum was synced with the film score and it just flowed perfectly. That stuck with me the rest of the film.

Being that the film took home 11 Academy Awards, it is known to be one of the best films of all time. I know that I am not breaking any ground here but I was truly blown away by how epic the story was. Even though the film was three hours and forty minutes long, I was not bored for one moment. There were just so many details to the plot that kept my mind interested. The film's major drama comes from Ben-Hur and Mesalla (played brilliantly by Stephen Boyd). Ben-Hur and Mesalla used to be child friends but when Mesalla went off to Rome, he came back with the task to take over Jerusalem. He asks his best friend Ben-Hur if he will help, but Ben-Hur politely declines, which begins the downfall of their friendship and the start of the film's story.

What made the film feel so epic was, while this story is happening between Ben-Hur and Mesalla, we are also learning the story of Jesus Christ. The film's plot takes place during Jesus' birth and death. All of the films plot points happen in between those two events and have effects on every character in the film. It is rather genius if you think about it. I also noticed many parallels between Jesus and Ben-Hur's character.

I am sorry that this blog post is going on forever but I want to point a few more things that I enjoyed about the film. I liked how the writers did not feel that the audience was dumb. In most modern day films, we get a text on screen that says that so many years have passed by, i.e. Ten Years Later. In this film, time passes and the audience figures this out by the character's dialogue and actions. There were moments where three years had passed in a simple cut. The filmmakers didn't have to explicitly tell us this, which was refreshing.

The film is RATED G. There is no chance this film would pass for less than a PG-13 in today's standards. There were definite moments of horrific violence, especially during the famous chariot race scene. There was some rather disturbing images during the scenes that took place aboard the Roman ship as well.

Finally, I can't blog about "Ben-Hur" and not bring up the chariot racing scene. Could that scene have been directed better? Not a chance! That was one the most riveting chase scenes I have seen in a film to date. Not only was it well directed, but the set design was perfect. The director, William Wyler, kept showing this shot from above that had a piece of statue in the frame. Wyler shows it each time the chariots rounded this one particular corner. Even the green screen/blue screen effects looked fantastic here. Roland Emmerich needs to take lessons from William Wyler.

In short, I am so happy to be counting down these films from 100 to 1. I have truly been missing out on some of the best films in history and "Ben-Hur" is one that I am ashamed to have not seen until now. I actually now feel bad for anyone who has not seen this movie.

-Kevin McCarthy

The Beginning Redux

Hi, my name is Kevin McCarthy and I do reviews for CBS RADIO and FOX TV. My pal Josh Hylton and I feel that since we are younger critics, people look down upon us, assuming we have not seen the necessary "classics." We have set out to prove everyone wrong by watching all 100 films, in order, from 100 to 1 in less than a year. Each week, we will watch at least, but probably more, of the films on the list and report back with our feelings. We did start a little prematurely this weekend with "The Maltese Falcon" and "The French Connection" but we will wait to post those as we approach them on the list. This weekend, we will be going into battle to watch a three and a half hour long film entitled "Ben-Hur." Wish us luck. P.S. Together we have seen a good amount of the films on this list already but we are going to re-watch all them and comment on each. My only issue is that my favorite film of all time, "True Romance", does not appear on this list. Therefore, it is not valid. Either way, I will adhere to this challenge and I welcome all negative comments. Good Night and Good Luck!

The Beginning

Hello one and all and welcome to the Counting Down the Classics blog. What is Counting Down the Classics you say? Well, it's kind of like the Julie/Julia Project except totally cool and way less feminine (maybe—we'll see where it goes). I, along with my co-blogger Kevin "BDK" McCarthy, will be counting down every movie in the American Film Institute's Top 100 American Movies of All Time list in one year and relaying our thoughts on them to you via this blog.

What's the reasoning behind this? Well, I'm only 23 years of age, so the argument is made that I'm "too young" or "haven't seen enough classics" (despite having already seen a good third of the movies on this list). While I can't speak for Kevin, I personally want to put these criticisms to rest.

I do not plan on reviewing these movies (but be sure to check out my current movie reviews over at my other blog, jhylton.blogspot.com). Although I will inevitably give my thoughts on why I do or do not consider the movie in question one of the "best," I simply want to discuss the different aspects of them. I want to go into why the movie is on the list, as well as whether or not it holds up today, because the mark of any great movie is its ability to last over the course of time.

It might be a frivolous exercise and it's sure to be laborious at times, but I'm excited about this personal endeavor Kevin and I are embarking on. Will we finish it? Hard to tell, but we're sure going to try.

It is important to note, however, that we are counting down the updated, 10th Anniversary list released in 2007 because we feel it is more timely and it allows us to reminisce on movies released post-1998 that deserve their rightful spot in film history (like The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring). With that said, let the countdown begin.