BEN-HUR : Wednesday 31st August 2016.

'BEN-HUR' is the fifth feature length big screen adaptation of the 1880 source novel 'Ben-Hur : A Tale of the Christ' by Lew Wallace. First made in 1907 in the form of a fifteen minute film, it was remade in 1925 in an epic silent film, the classic William Wyler Directed epic of 1959 with Charlton Heston, and an animated feature in 2003 starring the voice of Charlton Heston and made by his production company. The 1959 production of 'Ben-Hur' against which this 2016 version will inevitably be judged was budgeted at US$7M and blew out to US$15M and was the most expensive film ever made for its time, and used 1.1 million feet of film for principal photography, that was edited down to 19,000 feet for the final cut. The theatrical release ran for 212 minutes, and used a cast of thousands, literally, including 200 camels, 2,500 horses, 10,000 extras with 365 Actors having speaking parts. Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Rock Hudson, Paul Newman, Marlon Brando and Leslie Neilsen were all considered for the role of Judah Ben-Hur which went to Charlton Heston. The film opened to huge critical acclaim and delivered US$74M in Box Office receipts delivering MGM Studios over US$20M in profits and saving it from bankruptcy. The film was nominated in 12 categories at the 1960 Academy Awards and won an unprecedented eleven including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography and Best Effects. It also won four Golden Globes and one BAFTA - all up 27 wins and 13 nominations. It's Oscar wins have not yet been surpassed, matched only by 'Titanic' in 1998, and 'Lord of the Rings : The Return of the King' in 2004. Will Timur Bekmambetov's 2016 retelling of this classic tale live up to those heady expectations - both critically and commercially - you'll have to decide for yourself!

And so for a whole new audience possibly unfamiliar with the source material or the earlier films, comes this US$100M production Directed by Timur Bekmambetov. Most of you will know the age old story set in AD33 with Jack Huston playing Judah Ben-Hur - a Jewish Prince who has grown up with his adoptive brother, Messala Severus (Toby Kebbell), a Roman orphan in privileged surroundings in Jerusalem. The two have grown up to adulthood very close, as if blood brothers, with their mother Naomi (Ayelet Zurer), father Simonides (Haluk Bilgier) and sister Tirzah (Sofia Black D'Elia) whom Messala has the hots for. There is also a servant in the household, Esther (Nazanin Boniadi) whom Judah has the hots for too, but because of their differing 'station' in life he has to keep his distance.

The film opens eight years earlier with the two brothers horse racing (they like to challenge each other) and although Judah crossed the finish line first he is thrown from his horse and is knocked unconscious hitting his head on a rock. Messala carries his injured brother home on his back some distance, and is nursed back to strength by his mother over night. After a couple of days the two men are laughing about their exploits. However, underlying their brotherly love for each other Messala feels alienated in his adopted family given their differing backgrounds - them Jewish and he a Roman by birth. Under cover of darkness Messala bids farewell to his brother Judah and makes off for Rome to join the Roman Army to conquer new lands in the name of the Roman Empire. Meanwhile Judah marries Esther.

Fast forward three years and Messala returns home to Jerusalem the all conquering hero and a decorated Roman officer under Pontius Pilate (Pilou Asbaek) himself. After reconnecting with his family, and celebrating over dinner, Messala asks Judah to consider acting as his informant against the 'zealots' - those that stand up against the tyranny of the Romans, who seem to be making an increasing nuisance of themselves much to the disgust and distrust of the Romans whose aim is to stamp them, their families and associates out at all costs. Given his status in Jerusalem Messala also asks Judah to ensure that a pending visit of Pontius Pilate to Jerusalem go without any incident and guarantee the Governor of Judea safe passage. Judah agrees to do what he can, but cannot make any guarantees.

Needless to say Pilates passage through the streets of Jerusalem does not pass quietly and an assassination attempt in made on the Governor by a zealot from the rooftop of Judah's house who was secretly being nursed back to health following an attack by the Romans. The zealot escapes, but the Romans descend on Judah's house and coerce a confession out of him to safeguard his family. Judah's father is killed in the process and the women are taken away for cruxifixction. Judah is sentenced to be slaved aboard a galley, and Messala turns his back on his once close brother. Whilst being marched towards his fate aboard the galley he stumbles and falls walking through the crowds of onlookers. Jesus (Rodrigo Santoro) comes to his aid, and offers him water with Roman soldiers looking on.

With Judah thrown in the galley to spend the next five years as a rower under the command of Quintus Arius (James Cosmo), he becomes a battle weary yet a strong and determined slave to find his freedom and his family. During a sea battle with a Greek fleet Judah's galley is destroyed with all souls aboard perishing, except his! Going down with his galley mates he frees himself from his shackles and clings to a mast, floating at sea for days under the fierce heat. Eventually he washes ashore and is found by the wealthy Sheik Ilderim (Morgan Freeman) who recognises Judah to be a slave and as such plans to hand him back to the Romans. Judah however, persuades him otherwise by agreeing to tend to a sick horse, given that he knows a thing or two about horses, and the Sheik agrees.

Having proved his worth with the horse and formed a bond with the Sheik's other horses, Ilderim agrees to train Judah to become a chariot racer. In Jerusalem the construction of the new Circus is nearing completion, and a grand chariot race is to be staged for Pilate featuring his champion charioteer, Messala. Ilderim seeks to engineer Judah's entry into the upcoming race by laying a huge bet on his man that Pilate can hardly refuse together with Judah's freedom, and so Judah's place in the race is secured together with Rome's finest and those others from more far away lands. In the meantime, Judah returns to Jerusalem and encounters Esther who has become a follower of Jesus, but her new ideals are in direct conflict to his in seeking revenge on his brother.

As the race approaches, Judah reconnects with Messala at the old family home supposedly in secret, but Messala rocks up with half the Roman Army in tow. Judah makes a hasty retreat to evade capture, but to retaliate for his insolence twenty Jews are rounded up and summarily executed in the street. By now Esther is completely at odds with Judah, sharing completely differing views on his desire to compete in the chariot race and eek out his revenge on Messala. Meanwhile it has come to light through a former Roman Army official that Judah's mother and sister are in fact still alive and were saved from cruxifixction. Judah travels to where they are imprisoned only to discover that they are now both lepers.

The action moves to the epic scene in the Circus where eight charioteers face off against each other - 'First to Finish, Last to Die' is Ilderim's advice to Judah, and to start off slow and let all others perish before moving in for the kill. And so it goes, in what is a reasonably executed race sequence but the end result is inevitable where good overcomes evil, and as all other fall by the wayside it leaves just Messala and Judah to battle it our for line honours. The race goes to Judah, as Messala crashes and burns and is flung from the wreckage of his chariot. The crowd goes wild that the Jew has prevailed and the Roman Champion is dethroned. In the aftermath, Ilderim walks away with his winnings and the freedom of Judah, and the zealots are empowered that one of their own has won the day and stood up and been counted.

Afterwards when the dust has settled, Judah seeks out his brother who has survived, but has had a leg amputated at the knee as a result of his injuries sustained in the race. The two reconcile their differences. Meanwhile Esther is present when Jesus is taken captive in the Garden of Gethsemane, and then paraded through the streets bearing the cross and wearing the crown of thorns. Jesus stumbles and falls under the weight of the cross, and Judah is on hand to help him, just as Jesus did in reverse years earlier, but is prevented from doing so by a Roman soldier. Judah attends the cruxifixction and makes eye contact with Jesus looking down from cross, muttering his last words 'forgive them, for they know not what they do'. At that the clouds close in, the skies darken and the heavens open with a downpour of torrential rain. . . and all around miracles occur - including Jadah's mother and sister being cured of leprosy. Ilderim pays their ransom so that they may be set free reuniting them again with Judah and Messala. And they all rode off into the sunset and lived happily ever after!

In the final analysis I thought this retelling of 'Ben-Hur' was better than critics give it credit for, but it is not up there with William Wyler's 1959 epic and nor is likely to garner any Academy Award wins or nominations for that matter I would think. Nonetheless, it is a solid enough retelling of the film that does not veer too far from the story as told in 1959 - it just condenses it into under two-thirds of the running time. The chariot race scene is well executed without being too violent or over bloody, the following of Jesus is not melodramatic or overplayed and contributes to Judah's story arc, and the building of the journey that both Judah and Messala take in their lives only to come full circle is reasonably well conceived, although different from Wyler's film in that Messala (Stephen Boyd) dies from his injuries after the chariot race. It's worth a look for sure and on the big screen too. The film has so far taken US$53M.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-