Excellent, a Must See

A Disappointing Continuation

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

This Television monumental version of 180 min and 2 parts about the renowned story during the time of Christ which was filmed several times, concerning on a wealthy Jewish named Ben-Hur results to be an acceptable movie with huge production design and wonderful scenarios . Ben Hur tells the story of two childhood friends whose lives go in drastically different directions leading to an unforgivable betrayal and lifelong quest for vengeance . The story is well known , a rich Jewish nobleman Ben Hur (Joseph Morgan -The Vampire Diaries- in the title role) and his confrontation to military Messala (Stephen Campbell Moore, Season of the witch , Hunted), though they were childhood friends . When happen a distress , a tile falls during a Roman parade, Judah and his family are wrongfully accused and Ben Hur incurs the hostility his previous friend and is condemned to galley slavery , reduced to manning an oar ; then his family is sent to prison during several years and subsequently his mother and sister are banished as lepers . Judah Ben-Hur is wrongly accused of inciting a riot that endangered the life of Pontius Pilate (Hugh Bonneville, Downton Abbey). As a result, Judah's former best friend , and now up-and-coming Roman soldier Messala (Stephen Campbell , earlier performed by Stephen Boyd) condemns . When he's in a galleon as slave rower saves to Quinto Arrio (Ray Winstone , previously played by Jack Hawkins) who subsequently appointed him as a heir . Years later he goes back to seek revenge upon his Roman tormentor .As he returns Palestina where his mother Miriam and sister Tizrah (roles performed by Alex Kingston and Kristen Krouk , and formerly by Martha Scott and Cathy O'Donnell respectively) are prisoned at Antonia fortress . This culminates in a groundbreaking chariot race . The classic tale is added religious issues about Jesus life , as are described the pilgrimage , Mountain sermon , Passion , crucifixion and resurrection .Lavishly produced by various countries , this miniseries does attempt to achieve television levels of epicness and by channeling HBO's Rome, this miniseries succeeds . Adequate main cast such as Joseph Morgan as the noble wrongfully punished and sent away to be a slave and Stephen Campbell as his friend and nemesis . Being a Britain/Spain co-production the film has an enjoyable cast formed by English actors as Joseph Morgan, Stephen Campbell Moore, Ray Winstone, Alex Kingston, Hugh Bonneville and Spanish players as Simon Andreu , Miguel Angel Muñoz and Lucia Jimenez . This 3 hr 12 minutes recounting of this religion-infused revenge saga turns out to be a not-terrible way to spend time . However , it has some inappropriate sexual scenes and nudism which does not fit with clean and pure earlier versions . The Series achieved success , it is probably related to the fact that nearly the entire cast has been featured in popular TV shows this season . Though its aspirations are far more modest, I went in expecting Ben Hur to be similar to the recent History Channel miniseries, The Bible. I slogged through it because I still find a lot of the stories exciting . Most sets designed by Benjamin Fernandez -who made Gladiator- , a real research, and several months of labor were required for the film . Well staged battle ships made by computer generator and a breathtaking chariot races , being filmed in Valencia , Spain . The dialogue , colorful images , majestic set design , glamorous photography by Ousama Rawi , evocative musical score combine to cast an entertaining movie . Rousing soundtrack by Rob Lane who composes thrilling as well as sensitive melodies . The motion picture was compellingly realized by director Steven Shill who has directed many episodes of famous series such as ¨Shameless¨ , ¨Missing¨, ¨V¨, ¨Law and order¨, ¨Rome¨ , ¨The good wife¨, ¨Los Tudor¨ , ¨Criminal Minds¨ , ¨Soprano¨ , among others . There are numerous renditions based on Lee Wallace's Ben Hur , as stage version , classic MGM's mammoth silent version ¨Ben Hur¨ (1926) by Fred Niblo with Ramon Novarro; and the remake Ben-Hur (1959) in which Stuntman Cliff Lyons worked as a stuntman/chariot driver in both Ben Hur (1925) and this 1959 retelling . Ben Hur is a big budget version by William Wyler that won a record of 11 Oscars and was the most expensive picture of its time , being one of the greatest movies of all history. Cartoon version (2003) by Bill Kowalchuk in which a prologue and epilogue narrated by Charlton Heston ; and this ¨Ben Hur TV series¨ (2010) by Steven Shill with Joseph Morgan as Judah Ben-Hur , Stephen Campbell Moore as Messala , Emily VanCamp as Esther as Kristin Kreuk as Tirzah , Ben Cross , Simón Andreu , Alex Kingston , James Faulkner , among others .

The main problem with these mini miniseries (2 episodes) is that the screenwriters forgot that the novel was subtitled " a tale of the Christ";and all that concerns Jesus is botched ;Wyler never showed his face and all his appearances in the 1959 version were memorable ,particularly when he gives some water to Ben Hur en route to the galleys.The first part of Lewis Wallace's- who said he was influenced by French writer Alexandre Dumas and his "Comte De Monte Cristo"- novel was entirely devoted to the Magi and the nativity.Ben Hur and Messala only appear simultaneously on page 74 of my edition!One should also note that there's an episode,never transferred to the screen ,when Ben Hur tries to raise an army to fight Rome and to save Jesus.He gives up,on the Golgotha,because a divine invisible intervention tells him HE must die.Joseph Morgan,as an user has already pointed out by an user ,is too "Nordic" to be a convincing hero;Emily VanCamp as Esther is too gamine to compare favorably with Haya Harareet in the 1959 version.Nevertheless ,the story is catchy and entertaining,in spite of (or because of) the changes the script has undergone:Messala ,for instance,is (so to speak) still alive -like in the novel-when the Christ is crucified;characters not present ,either in the silent version or in Wyler's were introduced in a tale even more melodramatic than the original: a Greek slave/courtesan who is skilled in love making (There is a hot sex scene between her and a virgin(?)Ben Hur)and in "special" beverages-perhaps an equivalent of Wallace's perfidious Iras;and a treacherous Jew named David,in love with Esther ;the valley of the lepers is ,if we are to believe the screenwriters,a safe place ,as we see Esther bringing bread to the unfortunate sick outcasts ;in Wyler 's version ,she kept her distance ,at least in her first visits.(in the book ,it's a servant who feeds the poor women and takes them to the Christ)The political side,on the other hand ,is more detailed in the MTV work in the first sequences ,and Messala's attitude makes more sense after the tile incident (caused by the hero,like in the book,not by his sister).By the way,the mother,Miriam (no name in the book)has become Ruth,we can wonder why.And in the end,the death of Messala is more human than in the 1959 movie or in the book ,in which the character works behind the scenes:he and Ben Hur do not have any conversation when they meet again.Save it for a rainy day:it's no masterpiece,and the chariot race seems cheap ,but the subplots are numerous,the hints at Juda/Messala childhood are relevant and the supporting cast is up to scratch,with Ray Winstone,the stand out.Best scene:the suicide of Arius in his bath ,as the water turns red.

I am only an hour into this version of Ben Hur - I love the 1959 version and must have seen it dozens of times. I never thought that it could be done as engagingly again. I think that Wyler's version might have benefited from a closer attention to the young Judah and Messala's relationship at the beginning as this TV version does, though briefly. I was a little disappointed with the casting of Judah Ben Hur - he does not have the masculinity of Charlton Heston - but Stephen Campell Moore as Messala is really good if not quite as evil as Stephen Boyd's young roman in 1959. This version works very well so far and has brought an interesting insight into Messala's motivations. He is not all bad as he was in Wyler's film.

Say BEN HUR and people immediately think of the Charlton Heston Hollywood epic: a film full of elaborate sets, huge crowds and epic chariot races. The powers that be decided time was ripe for a new version of the story, albeit in miniseries form, and no doubt to take advantage of the new-found popularity of the historical miniseries after the success of HBO'S ROME.I for one am a huge fan of such stuff, so I was immediately predisposed to enjoy this outing. I was engaged from the outset: to my shame, I haven't yet seen the Heston film, so watching the story play out was a fresh and involving experience. The total running time is around three hours, and I didn't find that a single moment dragged.As with many of these productions, the cast is packed with familiar faces. Ben Cross, Alex Kingston, Marc Warren, Art Malik and in particular Ray Winstone all seem to be having a ball with the roles they're provided. Stephen Campbell Moore, as the youthful hero, is sufficiently just, upstanding and likable enough, and watch out for a trio of highly attractive female cast members who ease the viewing experience: Emily Van Camp, Kristin Kreuk and, particularly, Lucia Jimenez.The budget is high enough for them to film in authentic, sun-drenched locales, with copious use of sets and extras to build a realistic portrait of the times. The use of CGI (such as in the naval battle sequence) is certainly adequate and the final chariot race doesn't disappoint. It's no ROME, but then, what is?