2. BEN-HUR (1959)

For some reason, the 50s were fertile ground for grand Roman epics; in back-to-back years, Hollywood produced Ben-Hur and Spartacus. We are the lucky beneficiaries of this cinematic hubris, since it would likely be too expensive - even for James Cameron - to assemble one of these leviathans today. Both of these classics feature enormous sweeping scenes with thousands of extras and miles of "ancient" landscape. Indeed, the chariot sequence from Ben-Hur is considered one of the finest achievements in film history. You will be amazed at how good this forty-year-old segment still looks today.

Ben Hur is an epic tale of two boyhood friends - one a Judean Jew, the other a Roman noble - who grow to be leaders of their hostile sides. After the Roman, who has newly been appointed Tribune to Judea, crushes his friend's family to prove his bad-assed-ness, people get angry. Charlton Heston - the most amazing voice this side of Darth Vader - plays Judah Ben-Hur, sentenced to years of hellish torment as a rower aboard a Roman galley. Needless to say, he's a little bitter. The famed chariot scene is the redemptive sequence in which Judah gets medieval. You'll enjoy it.

This movie takes the ancient biblical struggles between Jews and Romans and updates it with echoes of WWII, still relatively fresh in the minds of those who created this film. This film is the first Hollywood blockbuster, costing a record $15,000,000 to create and taking 6 years to plan; it still plays wonderfully and you'll see why your parents get misty when they hear about it.

Notes:

  • Nominated for 12 Academy Awards, including Best Picture

  • Won 11 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, Cinematography, Art/Set Direction, Costumes, Visual Effects, Film Editing, Score, and Sound. It only lost the Best Screenplay Oscar. Damn!

  • Placed #72 on the American Film Institute's "100 Greatest Movies" List