Ben-Hur

V: So I dragged out another classic for M to see. (It had been a long time since I'd seen it -- as evidenced by the fact that I remember the burping scene as my favorite. Yes, there's a burping scene, not really the most important part of Ben-Hur - which you surely realize if you've seen Ben-Hur. I mean, deep and heavy sweeping epic BEN-HUR . . . and I remembered the burping scene. I was young, OK?) The movie goes a little slowly for our modern taste. The people kind of pause and stare at each other for uncomfortably long, dramatic periods of time. And I wonder . . . did people really used to do that, y'know, back in the day? Were they actually slower than we are now? I digress. It is really, still, a very cool movie. Did you know it held the record for most academy awards until 1998's Titanic? Almost 40 years! It has amazing costumes and sets - and the chariot race! Even people who haven't seen Ben-Hur have seen the chariot race. And M's boss's dark humor was revealed when we watched the galley scene. "We keep you alive to run this ship. Row well . . . and live." Hey! says M, That's what my boss is always telling the associates! Ha, ha, ha. (watch this scene and you'll see. It's hilarious.) It's long. It's good, though. And I even watched the long making-of documentary afterward. (Well, this spread over a couple of days.) It's a winner. Who am I to say otherwise? 4 stars

M: I agree that Ben-Hur is, well, epic. It is absolutely amazing how many costumes and actors are in this movie. No special effects, just tons of man-power and time. And a 3 1/2 hour originally composed sound-track to boot. Really pretty amazing. For me, the whole religion thing clashed a bit with the rest of the show. I know it was an important part, and I am probably a bad person for saying that, but it didn't quite fit for me. That is perhaps the only thing keeping this movie from getting absolute top marks. Even still, Ben-Hur is amazing to watch. There is no way this movie could ever be made today. No way. I cringe when I hear that Titanic broke the record for academy awards. Titanic?! My nemesis. Check out Ben Hur. It is worth seeing an epic that doesn't rely on computerized graphics. A classic. 3 1/2 stars