[The filmmakers] can't give it an imaginative size to match its physical size... Nevertheless if we must have films of this kind, this is the one to have.

Full Review | Aug 10, 2022

Death by spectacle

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | May 8, 2022

62 years later, there's not much to say more than this is; an absolute masterpiece. What was accomplished narratively and technically all those years ago is a work of film geniuses. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 10/10 | Feb 11, 2021

Perhaps best known for the intensely climactic and lengthy chariot race, resulting in urban legend stuntmen deaths and one of the most widely recognized sequences ever filmed.

Full Review | Original Score: 10/10 | Aug 15, 2020

One of Wyler's greatest achievements is the way he portrays Jesus Christ, made with elegance and genius. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Jul 24, 2019

Watching it was like waiting at a railroad crossing while an interminable freight train lumbers past, often stopping completely for a while.

Full Review | Jul 11, 2019

The chariot race still holds up.

Full Review | Original Score: A | Apr 12, 2019

William Wyler never lets spectacle and size interfere with the elemental passions and conflicts of his human story. The spectacular aspects emerge naturally from the story -- the time and place and the customs of the society in which the characters live.

Full Review | Nov 19, 2018

Clocking in at three hours forty-two minutes, Ben-Hur overstays its welcome. Still, despite scenes that occasionally run too long, the movie doesn't start to drag until after the chariot race and many of the early scenes are engaging.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 7, 2018

The most egregiously boring movie ever graced with the Best Picture Oscar... though in fairness, egregious boredom is one of the cornerstones of the Bible epic genre.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | Dec 6, 2016

[VIDEO ESSAY] It's worth sitting through four hours of Charlton Heston's hammy pregnant pauses of strained dialogue and toothy grimaces just to savor the legendary larger-than-life marathon where single rider chariots...

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Jul 25, 2015

Although it is a spectacle film, the story of how a man takes on the tyranny of the Romans, with all sorts of horrible consequences to himself and his family, is powerful and gripping.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Jan 1, 2015

1959 Biblical epic has fierce blood-spilling, cruelty.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 9, 2014

At 212 minutes it is far too long, and large swathes of the action appear redundant or unnecessary. "Bigger than Ben-Hur!" they say. That may not be a compliment.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Feb 23, 2014

Some critics believe that William Wyler's box-office smash is no match for the 1925 silent version, but there's no denying that the race that forms the famous climax is one of the most iconic sequences in Hollywood history.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Feb 12, 2014

Epic in both length and stature, Ben-Hur goes on for-bloody-ever... but the action set-pieces remain unrivalled, even in the age of CGI.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 11, 2013

A masterpiece of epic filmmaking, a profound religious experience and one of the greatest films ever made.

Full Review | Original Score: 10/10 | Jan 29, 2012

There is no reason to feel guilty about not loving this mammoth epic.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 18, 2011

The biggest and the best of Hollywood's super-spectacles.

Full Review | Aug 22, 2008

Mostly tedious Sunday school tale.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Mar 2, 2008