Decades before the sword-and-sandal exploits of Gladiator, Troy, Alexander, Braveheart, the recent 300, and the rest of the pile of epic upon another epic that plagued the screen for such a time, there was Ben-Hur. Mighty and über-grandiose, many critics were calling it one of the finest actioner of epic proportions in film history. In fact, it was awarded by the American Film Institute as one of the Top 100 Movies of All Time.

This one of the mind-boggling questions that raced around my head after watching this film. As mentioned, Ben-Hur is a landmark in filmmaking. Its breadth and scope of camera-works remains transcendent today, filling the gaps of fact that upon filmed decades ago, CGI doesn’t exist at all and that all the scenes including sets should be done manually (and built laboriously). Even Gladiator’s battle scenes are no match to Ben-Hur’s jaw-dropping chariot race scene alone. One of the most brilliantly constructed ethos of cinema, the gripping, entertaining chariot race that most epic movies right now had been trying to encompass. By this moment alone, it demands to be seen by audience with a virtue and love for cinema.

Indeed there were many moments that are quite unforgettable, and if not for some weakling performance, this Ben-Hur in my opinion would have catapulted more into my “list of greats”. Charles Heston, respect his boundary, delivers a tight, ostensibly woody performance as Judas Ben-Hur, a Jewish leader who was compelled to fight for his beliefs against the Roman rule and was thrown into slavery. For the character alone, it’s the kind of role that would magnetise actors to portray, and would turn out to be an Oscar Best Actor magnet as well, but Heston, although big and burly, lacks the emotional core that sometimes his uttered dialogues felt being read and said, not being felt and expressed. Oratorical, his lines. Also, the fact that this is a Biblical epic with underlying themes of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection and one’s question about faith and miracles, this doesn’t shy away from being ultimately hailed by the religious as a proper imagery of faith and conviction. Judas Ben-Hur, a man that was abandoned by his faith, suddenly turns into revenge as his family was taken by the Roman army for a sin they did not commit. Redemption was this film’s promise, and after half of the three-and-a-half hour run, it suddenly turns into a family drama where Ben-Hur looks for his mother and sister who were forced to hide because of leprosy. And 30 minutes before the film finishes, it again abruptly turns another way around that would have made Mel Gibson become inspired again by his Passion of the Christ into a preachy Good Friday biblical viewing with Heston returning back to Christ the favour of feeding the man with water.

Nevertheless, the experience was compelling. If not for its shallow plotlines, it would have been a better cinema extravaganza. But indeed it deserved the awards it gathered and such statuette of being a beloved piece doesn’t change the fact that Ben-Hur is a giant. The spectacle is bloated, but the plot is thin. Thanks to the chariot race (including the real unstaged death of 3 stuntmen during the making of this film) and the glorious sets, it covered the flimsiness of its depth.

Rating: A-