Judah Ben-Hur rides again on spectacular 50th Anniversary Blu-ray
27.09.11
Best extra: A new 80-minute high-def documentary on the life and career of Charlton “Chuck” Heston
THE MATH DOESN’T add up – calling this awe-inspiring box set the 50th anniversary – when the film was actually released in 1959. But who’s counting if it’s a year or so late, especially since this $1 million high-def restoration is Warner Bros. finest to date, surpassing the restored “Gone With the Wind” and “The Wizard of Oz”?
Using the original 65mm camera negative (275-percent larger than normal 35mm film stock) and scanning each frame four-times the quality of Blu-ray, detail leaps off the screen. Warner Bros. admits the process took longer than expected. “Our primary goal was to deliver the finest presentation possible and we have succeeded,” says studio executive Jeff Baker, vice president and general manager of catalog films.
Charlton Heston stars as Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish prince who is sentenced to slavery by his childhood friend Messala played by Irish actor Stephen Boyd, a Roman commander. Years later, he seeks vengeance until a fateful encounter with Jesus of Nazareth.
Source: The Virginian-Pilot