MOVIEmeter
Top 5000
Down 52 this week

Ben-Hur (1959)

8.1
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 8.1/10 from 96,742 users  
Reviews: 325 user | 91 critic

When a Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend, he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge.

Director:

Writers:

(novel), (screenplay), 4 more credits »
Watch Trailer
0Check in
0Share...

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 960 titles created 10 Mar 2012
 
a list of 1269 titles created 5 months ago
 
a list of 137 titles created 6 months ago
 
a list of 1623 titles created 4 months ago
 
a list of 347 titles created 3 months ago
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: Ben-Hur (1959)

Ben-Hur (1959) on IMDb 8.1/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of Ben-Hur.
Top 250 #172 | Won 11 Oscars. Another 20 wins & 5 nominations. See more awards »
Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Adventure | Drama | History
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X  

The Egyptian Prince, Moses, learns of his true heritage as a Hebrew and his divine mission as the deliverer of his people.

Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Stars: Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter
Adventure | Drama | History
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

The Bounty leaves Portsmouth in 1787. Its destination: to sail to Tahiti and load bread-fruit. Captain Bligh will do anything to get there as fast as possible, using any means to keep up a ... See full summary »

Director: Lewis Milestone
Stars: Marlon Brando, Trevor Howard, Richard Harris
Action | Adventure | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X  

When Robin and his Moorish companion come to England and the tyranny of the Sheriff of Nottingham, he decides to fight back as an outlaw.

Director: Kevin Reynolds
Stars: Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
Hatari! (1962)
Action | Adventure | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

A group of men trap wild animals in Africa and sell them to zoos. Will the arrival of a female wildlife photographer change their ways ?

Director: Howard Hawks
Stars: John Wayne, Hardy Krüger, Elsa Martinelli
Action | Adventure
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.3/10 X  

The cruel King Louis XIV of France has a secret twin brother who he keeps imprisoned. Can the twin be substituted for the real king?

Director: Randall Wallace
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich
Action | Adventure | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

A young man, falsely imprisoned by his jealous "friends," escapes and uses a hidden treasure to exact his revenge

Director: Kevin Reynolds
Stars: Jim Caviezel, Guy Pearce, Richard Harris
Spartacus (1960)
Action | Adventure | Biography
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X  

The slave Spartacus leads a violent revolt against the decadent Roman Republic.

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Stars: Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons
Agora (2009)
Adventure | Drama | History
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

A historical drama set in Roman Egypt, concerning a slave who turns to the rising tide of Christianity in the hopes of pursuing freedom while also falling in love with his master, the famous female philosophy and mathematics professor Hypatia of Alexandria.

Director: Alejandro Amenábar
Stars: Rachel Weisz, Max Minghella, Oscar Isaac
Zulu (1964)
Action | Drama | History
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X  

Outnumbered British soldiers do battle with Zulu warriors at Rorke's Drift.

Director: Cy Endfield
Stars: Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson
Action | Adventure | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

The Four Musketeers defend the queen and her dressmaker from Cardinal Richelieu and Milady de Winter.

Director: Richard Lester
Stars: Oliver Reed, Raquel Welch, Richard Chamberlain
Action | Adventure | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.4/10 X  

A dramatization of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the series of American blunders that allowed it to happen.

Directors: Richard Fleischer, Kinji Fukasaku, and 1 more credit »
Stars: Martin Balsam, Sô Yamamura, Joseph Cotten
Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X  

An affair between the second in line to Britain's throne (Franco) and the princess of the feuding Irish (Myles) spells doom for the young lovers.

Director: Kevin Reynolds
Stars: James Franco, Sophia Myles, Rufus Sewell
Edit

Cast

Complete credited cast:
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Balthasar / Narrator
...
Terence Longdon ...
George Relph ...
...
Edit

Storyline

Judah Ben-Hur lives as a rich Jewish prince and merchant in Jerusalem at the beginning of the 1st century. Together with the new governor his old friend Messala arrives as commanding officer of the Roman legions. At first they are happy to meet after a long time but their different politic views separate them. During the welcome parade a roof tile falls down from Judah's house and injures the governor. Although Messala knows they are not guilty, he sends Judah to the galleys and throws his mother and sister into prison. But Judah swears to come back and take revenge. Written by Matthias Scheler <tron@lyssa.owl.de>

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

friend | roman | galley | revenge | prince | See more »

Taglines:

A Tale of the Christ See more »


Certificate:

G | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Official Sites:

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

30 March 1960 (Japan)  »

Also Known As:

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ  »

Box Office

Budget:

$15,900,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$70,000,000 (USA)
 »

Company Credits

Production Co:

 »
Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

| (1970) | (1962) | (1993 re-release) | (DVD edition) | (2005 DVD)

Sound Mix:

(70 mm prints) (Westrex Recording System)| (1993 re-release)

Color:

(Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.76 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

Charlton Heston was taught to drive a chariot by the stunt crew, who offered to teach the entire cast. Heston was the only one who took them up on the offer. At the beginning of the chariot race, Heston shook the reins and nothing happened; the horses remained motionless. Finally someone way up on top of the set yelled, "Giddy-up!" The horses then roared into action, and Heston was flung backward off of the chariot. See more »

Goofs

Just before the Roman galley is rammed, the condemned men behind Ben-Hur are clearly dummies. See more »

Quotes

Quintus Arrius: In his eagerness to save you, your God has also saved the Roman fleet.
See more »

Crazy Credits

The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer lion is shown in a still-frame to appear looking peaceful at the beginning rather than roaring. See more »

Connections

Referenced in Getaway: Italy 4 Every 1 (2008)
Mentioned during a visit to Circus Maximus in Rome, where chariot races were held in the past. See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
Still good after 40+ years, but made for a different audience.
4 September 2001 | by (Atwater, CA) – See all my reviews

Ben Hur, a Tale of the Christ, was hugely popular as a novel, a play and two movies. It was written in a less vulgar time about a very spiritual event. Seen today by moviegoers addicted to constant action and low frequency effects, it will seem ponderous, slow and pretentious. Well, it is a little. You have to pay attention to the dialogue or you won't get it at all. Some of the intimate scenes aren't all that great. Anyone that really pays attention can tell the sea battle is done with miniatures. It's still worth watching. As everyone ought to know by now, the chariot race is one-of-a-kind; nothing else comes close to that real live race where the main actors actually raced most of the time. I just watched this movie after lapse of about 10 years. I still enjoyed it. The sea battle is still fun even if you know the boats are about as big as a man. The few moments which have Christ on the screen are still moving. Just about all of the acting is good with only a few forgettable moments. Just be ready to spend about 4 hours in front of the screen listening to occasionally flowery dialog.


97 of 143 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
Movie took a massive downturn in the end bizso09
What happened to Esther's marriage? themgt1
On the big screen! The way it should be! karana_geldar
Surprised this only has 8.2 cool316
Jesus' face westsalemcongress
Favorite Nativity depicted on film? angmc43
Discuss Ben-Hur (1959) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?