Few films sum up how much Hollywood loved epics as well as Ben Hur. William Wyler‘s film broke records and won an impressive 11 Oscars turned 65 in 2024 and is one of cinema’s greatest classics.

With a cost of 15 million dollars, the film “saved” MGM in 1959 and influenced recent great hits such as Gladiator, to name just one. It is also one of the last biblical films that were successful, long (almost 4 hours), and full of unforgettable scenes.

Some believe that the story of Ben-Hur has real facts and characters, but it is a work of fiction imagined by the writer Lew Wallace, a politician, lawyer, Civil War hero, and diplomat who began working on the story in 1876 and published Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ in 1880, selling more than 250,000 copies. In his book, which has a strong Christian tone, he imagines the story of the Jewish prince Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston), who lives in Roman-occupied Judea with his widowed mother, Amrah, and his beloved sister Tirzah. He has his affairs overseen by his devoted butler Simonides and his beautiful daughter Esther. When Judah’s childhood friend, the Roman Messala (Stephen Boyd), returns as a Roman tribune, an accident transforms the lives of Judah and his family. He is condemned to slavery and swears revenge for the injustice, going through a journey of challenges and tragedies. Along the way, he also meets a carpenter from Nazareth who changes the lives of Judah and those he loves.

While mixing fiction with history is still confusing and criticized today, when the book became a bestseller, there were criticisms that the story of Ben Hur was an almost blasphemous appropriation of the Gospels, despite its enormous success. There were adaptations for radio, cinema (in 1907 and 1925) and theater.

The 1959 version, the one we are most familiar with, was filmed in CinemaScope, a great novelty at the time. The respected William Wyler (who also worked on The Heiress) signed on to direct, casting Charlton Heston – initially thought of as Messala – as Judah Ben-Hur (after Paul Newman and Marlon Brando turned down the role). Kirk Douglas wanted the title role, refused to be Messala, and decided to create his own epic: Spartacus, which premiered the following year.

Filmed in Rome, it featured a newcomer Sergio Leone helping out in the chariot race sequence, the climax of Ben Hur. The film broke box office records around the world and had behind-the-scenes drama and controversy, such as the script that makes it clear that Messala and Judah could have been more than just friends at some point.

Ben Hur was nominated for 12 Oscars, winning 11, including Best Picture, Actor, Director, Supporting Actor, Score, Editing and others. A record that was only equaled 40 years later, by Titanic. In 2010, they adapted the story into a miniseries and another one for the cinema in 2016, of course, without the same response.

In the end, Ben Hur is yet another story borrowed from The Count of Monte Cristo, brushed with grandeur and religion, but it is still a revenge story. It is one of the films that can be defined as spectacular without the adjective being questioned: everything is grandiose to create a great spectacle.

Of course, of all the moments, the climax of revenge is also one of the most memorable events in the history of cinema, which is the violent chariot race between Judah and Messala. Brutal, tense, and extremely well filmed, it still impresses today, 65 years later.

Ben Hur is a spectacular epic that is a must-see for fans of Seventh Art, a timeless and perfect combination of technique, emotion, and visuals. Clearly, unsurpassed.

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