Having not seen the 1959 version of this movie, I can objectively tell you- this film was bad regardless of any comparison you would make.
The story focuses on Judah Ben-Hur and his raised-in-the-same-house friend/brother/nemesis Messala.
As the movie progresses, it becomes more and more lackluster with horrible lines, and the acting and shooting to go with them. But the real nail in the coffin (or cross) is the Character of Jesus, who hijacks this film and takes it even farther away from the realms of passion and emotion, and into the realms of cheesiness and bad moments.
Jesus' character does not exude any grandeur or divinity, and instead of making this film a complex study of human emotion and maybe even of the nature of godliness, makes it a study in the lack of subtleness and any depth.
The film does contain a couple of good action scenes, in particular the chariot race- but the last 30 minutes or so of the movie that follow are some of the worst I have ever seen- so it just isn't worth it.
The story focuses on Judah Ben-Hur and his raised-in-the-same-house friend/brother/nemesis Messala.
As the movie progresses, it becomes more and more lackluster with horrible lines, and the acting and shooting to go with them. But the real nail in the coffin (or cross) is the Character of Jesus, who hijacks this film and takes it even farther away from the realms of passion and emotion, and into the realms of cheesiness and bad moments.
Jesus' character does not exude any grandeur or divinity, and instead of making this film a complex study of human emotion and maybe even of the nature of godliness, makes it a study in the lack of subtleness and any depth.
The film does contain a couple of good action scenes, in particular the chariot race- but the last 30 minutes or so of the movie that follow are some of the worst I have ever seen- so it just isn't worth it.