Ben-Hur

"Peace! Love and peace. Do you think I don't long for them as you do? Where do you see them?" Ben Hur is right, there is no peace and yet we yern for it. Ben-Hur was a man who believed in peace until he was betrayed and his family was seperated. Ben-Hur was a classic movie, but it never made me want to pay attention. The story line, at first, was good. But, as it went on it dragged on and i eventually lost interest.The best part about this movie were the stunt doubles; that I would pay attention too.



Ben-Hur was supposed to be the protagonist of the story. But, too me, he seemed like the antagonist. He was supposed to be this "just" and "right" man. Instead, he gave me the vibe that all he wanted was revenge/vengeance until he received what he wanted. Ben-Hur at the beginning of the movie was this kind, gentle man who wanted only to promote peace and lead by example. When the accident happens and he is sold into slavery. He makes himself a promise to get his vengence on Mesalla and he will succeed at any cost. Does this sound like a "just" and "righteous" man? Not, to me. He contridicts himself and to me causes more problems then he does solve them. He kills his best friend and he betrays his new "father" by not becoming a Roman. The only thing he did right in the movie was by giving water to Jesus so he could drink. Again, Ben-Hur is the antagonist, not the protagonist.



Esther is a women who longs for love, but she will not receive it from Ben-Hur. When her father asks Ben-Hur if she can be wed, Ben-Hur tempts and flirts with her in hoping she will stay. She is a fool to believe that Ben-Hur will love her when all he wants is revenge on Mesalla. He almost kills her when he finds out that she was hiding the where abouts of his mother and sister. To me, if I was Esther, I would feel betrayed because he does not understand why they don't want him to see them. Esther is a fool and she will never find love.



Rating- 3 out of 10

Overall, this movie was a bit of a let down for me after hearing all the hype about winning the academy awards. I feel the only reason they earned these awards were beacause of the stunt doubles and the amount of people they had to use for their cast. The story line was vague and was very slow throughout the movie. Also, I feel the story of Jesus in the movie was somewhat just thrown in. He has a minor role in the movie and really only mattered at the end of the story line. Honestly, the movie could have been made without the role. What really bothered me was the charriot scenes. It is supposed to be an upbeat scene, but they made it very slow and most of the time all I seen was horses running around a track. Just like Gone with the Wind, this may have been a classic in the day, but now it would fail miserably.
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