William Wyler’s Ben-Hur, an Oscar-winning three-and-a-half-hour epic starring Charlton Heston, is now available for fans to bring home on 4K Ultra HD.

This isn’t a formal review of the film in as much as it is a simple home entertainment release announcement. I first watched the film over the course of several days when I was in either middle or high school. I’m not sure exactly which. Until the 4K UHD announcement, I never felt an inkling to revisit the film. Moments after pressing play, I was reminded why. Despite the Judea setting, I am not the audience for this film, seeing as how it’s based on a Christian book. I’ll personally stick to other films dealing with Judea that have more of a Jewish angle.

Synopsis

The winner of 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor, Ben-Hur stands as one of the greatest Hollywood epics ever filmed. A member of the Jewish nobility living in Jerusalem, Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) lives a religious life and peacefully opposes the tyrannical occupation of Judea by Rome. When a boyhood friend, Messala (Stephen Boyd), returns to the region as a Roman official, he and Judah become estranged due to Messala’s fanatical loyalty to Rome and ruthless indifference to the fate of Judea. Casting friendship aside, Messala fabricates a charge of treason against Ben-Hur, his sister and mother, all of whom are arrested by Roman soldiers.​

Bonus Features

• Ben-Hur: Anatomy of an Epic (NEW)
• The Cinematography of Scale (NEW)
• Charlton Heston & Ben-Hur: A Personal Journey
• Ben-Hur: The Making of an Epic
• Ben-Hur: A Journey Through Pictures
• Screen Tests: George Baker and William Russell
• Screen Tests: Leslie Nielsen and Cesare Danova
• Screen Tests: Leslie Nielsen and Yale Wexler
• Screen Tests: Haya Harareet and Make-Up Test
• Commentary by Film Historian T. Gene Hatcher with Charlton Heston (2 Parts)
• Music Only Track Showcasing Mikos Rózsa’s Award-Winning Score (2 Parts)

DIRECTOR: William Wyler
SCREENWRITER: Karl Tunberg
CAST: Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Haya Harareet, Stephen Boyd, Hugh Griffith, Martha Scott, Cathy O’Donnell, Sam Jaffe, with Finlay Currie, Frank Thring, Terrence Longdon, George Relph, André Morell

MGM released Ben-Hur in theaters on November 18, 1959. Grade: /5

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