Ben-Hur (3/10) Movie CLIP - The Chariot Race (1959) HD
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CLIP DESCRIPTION:
Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) wins the race while Messala (Stephen Boyd) is left bleeding in the dust.
FILM DESCRIPTION:
This 1959 version of Lew Wallace's best-selling novel, which had already seen screen versions in 1907 and 1926, went on to win 11 Academy Awards. Adapted by Karl Tunberg and a raft of uncredited writers including Gore Vidal and Maxwell Anderson, the film once more recounts the tale of Jewish prince Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston), who lives in Judea with his family during the time that Jesus Christ was becoming known for his "radical" teachings. Ben-Hur's childhood friend Messala (Stephen Boyd) is now an ambitious Roman tribune; when Ben-Hur refuses to help Messala round up local dissidents on behalf of the emperor, Messala pounces on the first opportunity to exact revenge on his onetime friend. Tried on a trumped-up charge of attempting to kill the provincial governor (whose head was accidentally hit by a falling tile), Ben-Hur is condemned to the Roman galleys, while his mother (Martha Scott) and sister (Cathy O'Donnell) are imprisoned. But during a sea battle, Ben-Hur saves the life of commander Quintus Arrius (Jack Hawkins), who, in gratitude, adopts Ben-Hur as his son and gives him full control over his stable of racing horses. Ben-Hur never gives up trying to find his family or exact revenge on Messala. At crucial junctures in his life, he also crosses the path of Jesus, and each time he benefits from it. The highlight of the film's 212 minutes is its now-legendary chariot race, staged largely by stunt expert Yakima Canutt. Ben-Hur's Oscar haul included Best Picture, Best Director for the legendary William Wyler, Best Actor for Heston, and Best Supporting Actor for Welsh actor Hugh Griffith as an Arab sheik.
CREDITS:
TM & © Warner Bros. (1959)
Cast: Charlton Heston, Stephen Boyd, Hugh Griffith, Frank Thring
Director: William Wyler
Producers: Sam Zimbalist, Sol C. Siegel, Joseph Vogel, William Wyler
Screenwriters: Lew Wallace, Karl Tunberg, Gore Vidal, Maxwell Anderson, Christopher Fry, S.N. Behrman
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No CGI. No music. Very little to no special effects. This is raw cinema right here
No music. 😂 Well, yes, during the actual race.
@@yvonneplant9434they’re clearly referring to this clip
最真實的👍
不會比現代的電腦特效差
And 150 dead horses
@@ilikedinosaurs392No horses died during filming
The Chariot race is one of the most iconic sequences in cinema history.
True
@Robo Redneck really???
@@MarcosVinicius-xb7pw Charlton Heston once said that it took six months to plan it and a month to film it.
Absolutely.
Of the $12 million budget for this film, this scene cost a million dollars all by itself.
No background music. The excellence of the stunt work, the cinematography, and the drama of the moment and the frantic sound of the horses and chariot wheels is all that is needed for one of the greatest action sequences in history.
“The frantic sound of the horses”. So many were injured, suffered and were killed to make this scene.
@@lilybond6485 You are mistaking the movie version of 1925 in which over hundred of horses died.. In 1959 version, NO horses were killed.
Yakima Canute directed the stunt work. His sons were the stuntmen. One got hurt doing that scene.
@@sprsmoke In an interview with Yakima about the chariot race some years later, he said he had discussed to his son how he needed to approach the broken down chariot before having the horses jump it for the scene. Well, that stunt didn't go as planned and Yakima's son nearly got completely thrown out of the chariot, but it was so good that they kept it in and his son had to get several stitches from a deep gash on one of his thighs he received from it.
🎉benhur the great ❤
Can we take a minute to appreciate how beautiful those horses are?
I feel sorry for the black horses the bad guy keeps whipping.
The white horses are Lipizzan which are best known for dressage.
Yes and thank you for pointing it out.
*were
they are very beautiful
This is only the second half of the race..... The full race goes for nearly 10 mins!!!
Best action scene ever!
Cost 1 million dollars to make, that is a complete movie today.
Yes I remember from before, when the charioteers are being read out to the crowd, small cheers for the teams from Cyprus, Alexandria, etc and another small cheer for the Roman team, and then for the Judean team - wow what a roar, sends chills down the back, Ben Hur is at home, no doubt about that!
The scene is spectacular on so many levels making it the masterpiece that it is. The movie won 11 Oscars enough said.
А зачем ему 11 оскаров?
Если этих античных героев больше там нет ....
Что с осьКАРА....МИ делать будете?
Хоть и БУДЕ...т....Е.
Будда спрашивает?
11 Oscar's is nothing compared to the 100 horses that died....to this date it's the worst film for animal abuse
Stephen Boyd was discriminated against!!!hevdeservedvthec12th oscar!!!Hollywood bigotry
@@AmyRoseMusicUKfool!!!!
@@dvdortiz9031 not sure how I'm a fool 🤨
The chariot race from BEN-HUR (1959) never gets old. No CGI, folks. No CGI when this was filmed! There were other special effects that show their age, but not here! No matter how many times you watch this, you're IN that race!
I’m with you 110%.
Absolutely.
An extraordinary movie. We don’t see it’s like today.
they don't make 'em like in the old days anymore
There is nothing wrong with CGI and it is a pretty hard form of art to accomplish the right way, someone who can master it can make you believe you are in that place too, there is no reason to diminish it.
probably the greatest action scene in cinematic history
Mickey Taylor agreed!
Scene entirely shot by Andrew Marton, SERGIO LEONE and Mario Soldati , as Second Unit Directors in that Wyler's film.
Avengers endgame is better
@@marianbroyles6395 shut up kid
J&L Supreme Pizza your a funny guy
This movie seriously contends as the greatest achievement in art in the history of mankind. The eternal truths embodied and explicated with divine backdrops powered by writing, acting, direction and music of such exemplary quality. I give you 1959's Ben Hur, the greatest film ever made.
Yeah and the careless treatment of animals. It’s disgraceful how many horses were killed to make this movie “epic”.
@@lilybond6485 I personally think the death of Children in the womb is more horrendous.
Thank the Lord for digital effects for today's films.
@@lilybond6485 Do a little research before making this accusation. " Legendary second unit director B. Reeves Eason's nickname "Breezy" was certainly not earned by his work on the BEN-HUR set, for his merciless pace cost the lives of over a hundred horses. As Bushman said sadly, "If it limped, they shot it." A stunt man was killed in a chariot crash, and Navarro himself only narrowly escaped death. The madness ended for a while. " That was the 1925 silent version of Ben Hur. Not the Wyler version
@@lilybond6485that was the 1925 version of this film you dunce
Amen 🙏 🙏 🙏
This never gets old. “The chariot race is done, especially if you see it on a big screen, or at least on a wide screen, with the right aspect-ratio, it’s one of the most thrilling, and one of the most beautifully crafted and artfully made sequences in movie history.” - Martin Scorsese
I would pay $100 to see this in a theater on wide screen with good sound
@@jamesbrown5262 same. I love most of these so called “cult” movies, made by “cult” directors, but Ben-Hur is the greatest movie ever made. Period.
@@heitord5539 Ben Hur called a "disaster" movies before Irwin Allen become the Masters of Disaster in the 70s suchs like The Poseidon Adventures & The Towering Inferno
Could,nt have said it better myself, Sheer utterly brilliance they just don't make em like this any more 🙏🙏🙏
I remember watching this as a kid I finally found out the name of this masterpiece 20 years later
63 year old film yet this is beyond a masterpiece !!
It will be 65 years old next year.
Para hacer esta película murieron más de 100 caballos 😢
@@lizrojas7038……no they did NOT! That possibly happened in the 1925 film version………
Celebrate the great late Charlton Heston in 100th birthday
@@azimisyauqieabdulwahab9401 ……yes, I thought of him on 04-10-2023, that’s for sure, always do………
I understand that while filming Charlton Heston expressed some nervousness about the chariot race. William Wyler told him, "Chuck, I'm pretty sure you're going to win."
I cannot believe this was made in 1959, it's crazy how epic this action sequence is
This was a time when Holliwood was facing a crisis. Theaters were bringing less and less revenue; and thus only epic high budget movies were expected to bring profit. But if they failed, they failed hard.
I can believe the movie was released in 1959 because I first saw the movie at a palace of a theater in Washington, DC, in 1960. The theater had a HUGE screen and a multi-channel sound system. I saw several pictures that were given grand presentations like that--among them WEST SIDE STORY and LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, both early 1960s pictures.
I went to see this at the Empire, Leicester Square as a 14 year old schoolboy. Unforgettable.
I am now 77 years old. I saw this film during year 1959 in India during my college days and thrilled for days recollecting this scene.
I was made in 1959 and I can be epic at times.
The contrast between white horses and black horses, Judah whipping Messala once he has ahold of the whip, and Judah throwing the whip after seeing what happened as a result of him whipping Messala, the little things make this movie GLORIOUS.
Yeah. Too bad so many horses were killed. The well being of the movie took precedence over the the lives of the horses.
2:55 Famous death scene when Messala killed crash during the last chariot race
It also an allegory. The roman thoroughness is the whip. Powerful black horses indeed, but by the whip. While Ben Hur and the Sheik used something else to empower the white horses; training, determination, love and care. Perhaps if the Roman Empire could have dropped the whip they would have lasted for longer.
@@cybergothika6906 There would have been no Empire had the Romans not used force. You don't create an Empire by being nice to the enemy.
@@rogeredwarrddeshon5000 My teacher used to say that the world is dumber for a reason. The empire felt because it tried too hard to conquer. Enemy? Yep, enemy within. Corruption was also a major problem. You keep with that cooper age mentality, next thing you know you're invading the capitol hill.
No matter how many times I watch this movie, and this scene, I always get this shiver of delight and relief at 2:50 watching Judah finally getting control of the whip and beating Messala… and then again at 2:54 when it’s game over for Messala! Cheaters never prosper… or backstabbing friends for that matter!
unfortunately, those are exactly the guys who prosper
@@iceswallow7717 , maybe in this life… but not in the next one, the eternal one. Trust me.
Only in movies. In real life, these guys almost always win. Sadly but true.
@@JWBabaYaga I'm sorry but this is not the mind of Jesus. Jesus would feel neither satisfaction nor relief for Messala's downfall (supposing Messala were a real person). He would grieve for him as a father grieves for his son.
Judah took no pleasure in Messala’s death either.
HOLY SHIT!! I mean... it's from 1959!! And look at it! Jaw dropping how timeless this scene is.
No movie effects were here tho, some horses died
Why did some horses die?
Matthew Goodman cuz they used real horses in the movie, chariot races were dangerous and have killed many players because of the lack of rules and the fact that you can't always stop horses quickly. Plus, they aren't wearing much protection either.
Izzy's Got the Frizzies I read it’s the 1926 movie that didn’t care much about the horses?
Ben i don't think that they didn't care for the horses, they just didn't have cji back then so they just had to use real horses
At 0:47 when the stuntman almost flies over the front of the chariot, that actually wasn't supposed to happen. He almost got killed for real there.
***** Not in that part.
***** Well they may all be dead now, but they didn't all die during the filming of the movie.
***** Even most were not killed during the filming. I don't think any were killed in fact, but if so, it was only one. They would have stopped filming if stuntmen constantly were getting killed and never completed filming.
That stuntman was Joe Canutt, son of famed stuntman/director Yakima Canutt (who directed the stunts in the race). It's true that his flying out of the chariot wasn't planed, but Joe only got a bad cut on his chin from it. As of this writing (2016) Joe is still alive and kicking. Also, according to Wikipedia no horses were harmed nor were any stuntmen seriously injured during filming.
John Combs Braveheart got investigated over the cavalry charge scene because it was so well done, some thought they had actually charged horses into stakes.
What an incredible scene. Remember watching this as a kid, absolutely glued to the action. Still breathtaking to watch in my old age.
Fast and Furious: Jerusalem Drift.
LOL!!!
Amazing.
+Alonzo Branson Lol i died xD
hahahahaha
yes it is lol
Those closeup shots of the teams of horses racing side by side were fabulous. You really get a FEEL for the race you’re watching.
One of the legendary scenes in film history
I Have the video, and the CD
Yup
Hard to believe this was made in 1959.
The '50s were a time of cinema where film studios made massive, epic movies set in ancient times. With widescreen being introduced at the beginning of the decade, the size and scope of a film doubled and scenes didn't have to be just in a studio set anymore. With full size sets built on location, authentic ancient costumes, and bright colors thanks to Technicolor cameras, movies like "The Robe, "The Ten Commandments" and "Ben-Hur" became some of the most successful films of that decade.
+darthstarkiller1912 They made awesome movies in that decade....maybe because the counterculture hadn't yet hit and there was still an innocent belief in our country and American culture. Not saying the counter culture was bad, it was what it was....
sexyloser I know what you mean
Woah!!!!!!!!! I thought this was the remake.....
The remake doesn't touch this. This was a very expensive production filmed far, far from Hollywood--I think it was Rome--with the lead actors actually driving chariots (although some stunt men helped with the most dangerous shots). It's just silly to remake this movie, because it still works NOW. This ain't CGI, folks. This is an action sequence for all time.
Could watch this scene over again. No CGI here all 100% pure old school film-making. How I miss it.
Yeah man but sometimes you have to take risks
Yeah. -- and so many horses were killed making this scene. Great isn’t it.
It is a pity that now films are shot only with computer graphics.☹☹😢😢😢☹
@@lilybond6485 not even 1 horse was killed brother.
@@lilybond6485 NO horses’ were killed in the 1959 film.
This is one of the best movie scenes of all time. Never gets old…
This is how action should be filmed none of that shaky cam crap
Hayden Hemstreet its still shaky but subtly, more immersive i feel
It's all practical that's the big thing that I forgot to touch on in my comment A guy DIED making this scene
Hayden Hemstreet Really makes me wonder if old huge camera's from the 50's can capture a scene this well, then how come our new model camera's have to be so shaky?
FaceUnreality It's merely stylistic. There are steady cams out there but those require better acting and more dangerous stunts.
artsylovelylady I still don't like it.
The word "epic" was invented just for this film.
ebun :^)
+Grace Skerp sure thing.
Exactly
rightly said
Is that what your dictionary says?
When Ben-Hur catches Messala's whip, that must be one of the most satisfying moments in history of cinema. If you ask me.
These classics are ageless..Rest in Heaven Mr Heston.
Soylent Green is People!
...and Mr Boyd..
Holy shit! This was filmed half a century ago?! This looks better than the remake!!! There's just no comparison. This looks so good and amazing. Speechless, there's just no comparison, this scene alone is a masterpiece, this just can't be beat.
You, like me, know what it takes to make a great movie, and the remake is nothing more than an insult to this classic!
+darthstarkiller1912 lol I feel shamed watching the remake. Hollywood should of left, well enough alone xD
70mm film, huge screen theatres. Digital has not quite caught up to these large-format films yet. It will though.
flipingboredcritic it really does look better than the remake
true in a way....at least in this classic no animals/horses really got killed or tortured in the race scene...the CGI in the remake SUCKED plus scared the heck out of some...at least check out 2:51-3:01....Boyd had a tunnel off screen and that was a dummy that got trampled....though he acted like an idiotic monster thru out the film,gotta feel sorry for him then.....
This scene is the cinematic equivalent of the moon landing. It's absolutely mind-shattering that something this complex was made in 1959, at a quality that would impress filmgoers over half a century later.
Came from the remake trailer and this looks ten times better.
+Micah Johansson They did a Ben Hur remake?
+Kyle Blank Okay, went and watched it. Seems like it primarily is going to be a film about revenge and the chariot race as the centerpiece, as opposed to the original, in which the chariot race was not the centerpiece but a tremendous piece of filmmaking nonetheless. Also I believe a revenge story butchers the original story of the book.
+Gabriel Torres
HA!! Same here dude! Exactly the same!
The new one looks terrible!!! All of this is REAL! No CG, truly epic!
+Gabriel Torres -- Sure, but apparently at least one person and a number of horses died in making this little scene of a few minutes.
+Julian Warmington - Actually the new movie does look pretty damn good too...
- but wait: Where's Tom Hardy?!
They're not allowed to make a movie without Tom Hardy in it these days are they....?!
Almost 4 hours of film, but every second has you hooked to the screen.
It doesn't feel that long. There's no stalling, no filler. Every scene, every frame, every line of dialogue moves the story forwards.
I watched it in college.From 8Pm to midnight straight thru
Very long like Cleopatra in 4 hours
There will never be another Charlton Heston, he was one of a kind...they broke his mold when he was born Oct . 2023.
I hope the remake does not have music during this scene! This is so perfect without music! This scene speaks for itself with the thunder of the horses, the crack of the whips and the roar of the crowd! Who agrees?
nope! it's just exactly the same :)
"it's just exactly the same :)" what are you simple? It isn't exactly the same the remake is worth less than a pile of dog shit in comparison to the original.
James Wolfe I guess none of the great movies are sacred anymore...The goal of a remake should be to make an improved, better version. In this case that is impossible. One does not remake a masterpiece, w/out failing miserably. Why even attempt??? 11 Oscars...Only a fool would even think of wasting a budget on such an asinine idea.
Of course, there's music just before the race (Parade of the Charioteers) and just after the race, but not DURING the race. Moviemakers were pretty savvy about movie music back then. Another 1959 movie, Alfred Hitchcock's NORTH BY NORTHWEST, has music at the train station immediately preceding the prairie scene, which plays without music UNTIL the aerial crash into the oil tanker, when the tension explodes in a variation of Bernard Herrmann's fandango. NO music during action sequences like the chariot race and the cropduster attack, but great music on the borders of these action sequences.
modernwarfare agree!
To this day... still one of the best filmed action sequence of all times!
Of course it is. When you care more about a scene than you do the horses that were killed making it.
@@lilybond6485 🤷🏽♂️
Ben Hur not just epic movie, but it's a disaster epic biopic movie including Jesus Christ, The Pirates vs Roman Army & Chariot Race
@@lilybond6485 thats the 1920s version
The greatest action scene ever, of which is also probably the best movie ever. The deafening noise made by these high galloping horses is astonishing
Yeah -- I’m wondering what sound the horses made that were killed making this scene ?
Still, in 2020, one of the greatest movies ever made. As for the chariot race, one of the greatest action scenes ever.
Still, in 2022 Ben Hur one of the most epic "disaster" movies ever made
2023 and the chariot race is still one of Hollywood's best action sequences.
And still in 2023 !!!!❤️❤️
Not disaster, it's a Bible epic
I never seen Ben Hur before, but after seeing this scene I want to watch it, I never expected effects this good from a late 50's-60's movie. This scene was really intense and I was kind of at the edge of my seat in suspense wonder what was going to happen. It's extremely rare I see a movie that actually does that to me, regardless of the decade whether its the 50's or 2009 or what ever. Even the most exciting movies don't get me as much as this did, I really need to find the whole movie.
It is absolutely a great and exciting chariot racing scene which we have ever enjoyed in movie history.
Sorry, but nothing they make these days can touch this masterpiece.
There's another chariot pursuit scene in Quo Vadis that's almost as thrilling as this. MGM sure knew how to make big action scenes!
Never a truer word spoken, this is real movie making, never get tired of looking at the Chariot Race, absolutely superb, they can't make movies like this today!!
@@thunderbird1921 Well, I check that, but it was filmed in the front of a greenscreen, so aged horribly. :S
@@LannisterFromDaRock YUP SO TRUE!.people sure dont know what filmed backgrounds are.they blame all the effe ts on cggi and greenscreen when greenscreen has better effects than the aged filmed backgrounds.the only film that looks good with that effect is the wizard of oz
@@LannisterFromDaRock what are you talking about this scene looks amazing
Hands down one of the best action sequences in cinema history! Intensely amazing
Der beste Film aller Zeiten, die Geschichte Jesus wunderbar erzählt, mit phantastischen Schauspielern, ein super Meisterwerk mit 16 Oscars!!!
This is the greatest scene from the film and one of the greatest in all cinema history. Ben Hur is just awesome!!!!👏👏
02:58 The best death scene ever? Absolutely.
This movie is a MASTERPIECE.
R.I.P. that chariot
Messala death by a horse
Brutal death, but at the same time, it's the most satisfying death scene.
Sign of excellence, masterpiece. This chariot-race was made in real life, no special effects or computerized.
Proves you don't need bombastic Hans Zimmer music to make a scene exciting
theycallmejudo And Murray Walker commentary
theycallmejudo And CGI horses
Paola González Orozco Considering many horses were harmed and some died because of this scene, I see no problem with some CGI horses.
theycallmejudo Don't need ? not sure, arguable
But it's a plus, and nothing's wrong with good music and cgi
+theycallmejudo Great comment.
Mad Max: Fury Rome
Manuel Vieira sempre gostei do filme 🎥 de Celia Sánchez González 💝 HUAAU??!!!
Manuel Vieira sempre gostei do filme 🎥 de Celia Sánchez González 💝 HUAAU??!!!
Manuel Vieira sempre gostei do filme 🎥 de Celia Sánchez González 💝 HUAAU??!!!
Manuel Vieira sempre gostei do filme 🎥 de Celia Sánchez González 💝 HUAAU??!!!
You're a freaking genius!
Questa scena è la più straordinaria che si sia mai realizzata nella storia della cinematografia, con l'apporto magistrale del regista, e l'interpretazione inimitabile di Charlton Heston e del suo antagonista!!! Spettacolare 👏👏👏
Nobody's ever going to shoot as brilliant films as Beh-Hur.
not even with th=e remake there doing
Eu nu sunt român, doar iubesc România. :-)
I read that Sergio Leone actually did the camera work for this sequence.
*****
Ceh.
Leone was the senior assistant director in the second unit and responsible for retakes.
One of the all time greatest movies ever... watching the chariot race was intense!
STILL ---------IN 2022 & 0N FOREVER, THE greatest action sequence ever put on film. Heston practiced for 18 months ; Boyd, for 9 months. The sequence took 6 weeks to film. Nothing yet, has even come close to the brilliance of this sequence. -----------------------MJL< 76 y/o
I always love this chariot chase and remember this is 1960s no CGI yet....🖒🖒🖒👏👏👏
I bet the guy who died, didn't.
At the time of its release in 1959, MGMS’s lavish quasi-biblical spectacle *Ben-Hur* was the most expensive film ever made, with a budget of nearly $16 million. The famed chariot race alone required an 18 acre set at Rome’s Cinecitta Studios, a five week shooting schedule & 7,000 extras, won a record 11 Academy Awards. The chariot race in Ben-Hur was directed by Andrew & Yakima.The chariot arena covering 18 acres, was the largest film set ever built at that time. Constructed at a cost of $1 million, it took a thousand workmen more than a year to carve the oval out of a rock quarry. The racetrack featured 1,500-foot long straights & five-story-high grandstands. Over 400 km of metal tubing were used to erect the grandstands.A chariot track identical in size was constructed next to the set & used to train the horses & lay out camera shots. Planning for the chariot race took nearly a year to complete. Seventy-eight horses were bought & imported from Yugoslavia and Sicily in November 1957, exercised into peak physical condition, and trained by Hollywood animal handler Randall to pull the quadriga. The firm of Danesi Brothers built 18 chariots, nine of which were used for practice, each weighing 410 kg. Principal cast members, stand-ins, and stunt people made 100 practice laps of the arena in preparation for shooting.Heston & Boyd both had to learn how to drive a chariot. Heston, an experienced horseman, took daily three-hour lessons in chariot driving after he arrived in Rome. The chariot scene took over three months to film at a total cost of $1 million & required more than 320 km of racing to complete.The cameras used during the chariot race also presented problems. The 70mm lenses had a minimum focusing distance of 50 feet, and the camera was mounted on a small Italian-made car so the camera crew could keep in front of the chariots. The horses, however, accelerated down the 1,500-foot straight much faster than the car could, and the long focal length left cinematographers with too little time to get their shots. The production company purchased a more powerful American car, but the horses were still too fast, and even with a head start, the filmmakers only had a few more seconds of shot time. As filming progressed, vast amounts of footage were shot for this sequence. The ratio of footage shot to footage used was 263:1, one of the highest ratios ever for a film for this 11 minute spectacle & rest is history...
🍁
Dhiraj Sharma could not have said it better. Yakima Canutt is my great uncle..my mom is Marcia Canutt ..the niece of Yakima. I got to see Yakima for the last time in 1979 and got to hold his acadamy award. Joe Canutt was in the chariot when it hit the wood and the chariot flipped him onto the lashes. that was not scripted in the movie. Sadly joe Cannut passed away last year.
And now we know ….the rest of the story (as the late, great Paul Harvey would say) ;-)
@@LK-pc4sq, My Salute to your great uncle ! Nothing like this , ever again ! An absolutely must case material for a movie making course ! Movie making shows its presence & impact with such footage !
Sir where did you get this much information? Thank you. I have read the novel BEN HUR after having watched the movie. It’s an awesome experience by itself.
Just one question. It cost $16 million to make, when adjusted for inflation, how much would it cost today?
It might be the greatest scene ever filmed. I've probably seen it dozens of times I'm getting chills just thinking about hiting the play bottom after I submit this comment. 10/10
An amazing masterpiece. Head-to-head fight of horses,
horsesshoes sounds, death scene. Pure acting. The horses added a special splendor to the scene. It's a movie made in 1959, but 4 hours is worth every frame of this movie, rather than spending 10 minutes on vampire movies with sharks swimming in the sand made today. What a movie you made, Charlton! Even after 50 years it is watched with pleasure.
The purest action scene in movie history, unbelievable!
The only sentence to be said for the movie; OH MY GOD!
I agree! Absolutely marvelous! A trillion and two times better than any CGI - this is the _real_ thing!!!!
I would like to watch a vampire movie with sharks swimming in the sand.
The whole chariot scene was way ahead of its time, still can't believe this was filmed in 1959
The sheer brilliance in this scene, the masterful cinematography, the gianr sets, the action, and wisely without a musical soundtrack, which still easily enthralls me as a viewer should serve as a guideline how action scenes should still be made today. It is also one of the pivotal moments from Ben Hur, a film that truely deserved every award it has been given.
Too bad they didn’t give an award or acknowledgement for the careless treatment of the horses that were killed to make this scene .
I remember seeing this movie with my mother and her excitement to see this scene and now more than 30 years from that time and 60 from when it was released and it has shaken me more than many movies today. It's so simply EPIC
*THIS is how you do an epic chariot race!* Not the crappy overuse of CGI that is the 2016 remake.
it wasn't CGI, it was real
Jazi Gold I'm talking about the overuse of CGI within the film.
darthstarkiller1912 oh
The sad thing is when you can easily tell which bits are CGI cos they just don't look right, and it takes you out of the moment, unlike the realistic epicness the 1959 film had :/
let's pretend that 2016 movie does not exist
I was just a kid when I saw Ben Hur on the huge screen at the old University theatre in Toronto. That was an experience that I'll never forget.
What a magnficent looking scene. To think this was 60 years ago. Wild.
The real stars were the horses. :)
You mean they were paid actors?
2.54the villian almost got killed in doing that stunt ..what a perfection !!!!!!!!! in those days 60 years back !!!?????!?!!!! how much proffessionalism!!???!??!thecameraman also could have made same stunt in catching such breathtaking stunts ,without slightest shaking!!!!!!!!!!!
@@bouxesas2046 do you have to get paid to be a star? Is it only about the money?
"Secretaret, he's moving like a tremendous machine!"
up to 150 horses died in this movie and many others filmed then :( the horses were amazing
Some of the best stunt work ever captured on film. The reason why this scene still resonates is because it absolutely captures the danger of the event like nothing else (and it probably was dangerous).
Saw this incredible movie as a young girl. One of my absolute favourites . This Chariot race left me speechless. One of the best action sequences of all time and still holds up today. IMO
How old are you now? Truly incredible.
This is way better than NASCAR
Maybe they should bring back Chariot races too, but the Humane Society and Horse welfare crowd might not like it.
@@Wolfen443 chariot racing was the most dangerous. People back then were bloodthirsty. Their only entertainment was not only rooting for their favorite driver but seeing many chariots and drivers get trampled or destroyed. They came here for the thrillment.
@Pooh Xi I partially agree. Look at the boxing crowd!
Yeah
This is the OG NASCAR. :)
The chariot race is one of my favorite action scenes. It's truly legendary!
Apparently this took 9 weeks to film for 20 mins of Screen time. Without doubt the most exciting 20 mins of Film excellence ever produced, from arguably the greatest film ever made.
The one and only, the greatest of them all!
Nothing will EVER be bigger than Ben Hur.
Disaster epic movie
2:20 I love the subtlety of him changing tactics...from trying to ram him to openly to whipping him. The acting is brilliant!
One of the best movies of all time..,.and one of the most fantastic sequences
Hugh Griffith played the Sheik and won an Oscar. He's fine. But Stephen Boyd should have been nominated. Just for his death scene following this epic race alone. He made you feel the pain he was enduring. Anyway without a doubt one of the greatest movies ever.
Probably this biggest robbery in oscar history.
I totally agree, Boyd was magnificent in the role. He won a Golden Globe but nit the Oscar.
In the book, he survives but his legs are paralyzed and he is in constant pain. Not to mention the 1000 Talents he lost, which I understood was more than his total worth.
@@mjw1955 He bet 1,000 talents at 4 to 1 so he lost 4,000 talents.
@@silverblack5475 Like Roy Scheider in All That Jazz
One of the best scenes in movie history. Truly breathtaking.
Scena będąca prawdziwym majstersztykiem, która na trwałe zapisała się nie tylko w historii kina, ale także w pamięci widzów.
Still one of the greatest action sequences ever filmed.
Thank god.
I watched this movie.
One of the best movie.
3 hours 42 minutes but still enjoyed.
Story,production was enormous and sets and acting.
Hats off to people worked on this film.
I watched more than 500 movies but this is one of the best action scene i ever watched.
i was amazed by this action scene.
👏👏👏
This scene is simply Extraordinary
This scene should be recorded in movie history with its amazing, unprecedented filmmaking technologies.
0:32...ever since childhood, I've always wondered how they managed to get a perfect sync between black and white hoofs.
This movie is a class apart.
+iSabier
The chariots probably were hooked together.
He means the galop of the horses
The gallop is a four-beat gait. There are four "sequences" of foot placements that occur in very quick secession. Its not unusual that all four horses could hit the same 4/4 timing, just statistical odds. Watching horses at liberty they often match up while moving. This scene was just lucky to have had both sets of four horses hit the same 4/4 beat. Also many experienced driving horses learn to try and stay on the same beat as it's tandem partner, as it's easier, like if two people were to walk tied together they'd figure out a mutual way of going.
I read somewhere that it took them 5 months to shoot this chariot race sequence.
Yes, the horses are hooked together. This kind of things made that 3 monthes were necessary to film the race.
Ben Hur una película inigualable,ni que decir que Charlton es un actorazo de todos los tiempos
Imagine being any one of the many extras and stunt people in the crowd for this scene. What an experience!
oh hell yeah! I would have loved to have been an extra there. such is the will of the senate, and the people of Rome.
Yeah. You could have had an up close look at the beautiful horses that were injured, suffered, and killed during this scene.
It took them a month to create this three minute scene that became a hallmark of American cinema.
Estos sí que eran tremendos actores ,hacían sus escenas peligrosas ellos mismos. Esta es una de mis favoritas de esta película.
This is my MOST FAVORITE scene ever! I saw this for the first time about 50 years ago and it is still he BEST!! LOVE IT THANKS!
A scene that is so much better than the vfx scene of today's movie. A classic epic movie.
This movie was way ahead of its time. To say this scene is impressive would be a massive understatement.
damn. the production value in here is too damn high. i dont think the remake is going to do justice.
I've seen the remake, it does not.
For its time, it's ridiculously insane!
Yusuf Omar still is!
If made today the budget would be around $350-400 million. Fantastic film. They never should have done a remake - just re-release this one (it would have made more money).
@@Zopdozfor its time? This is timeless! They really shot a race for all intents and purposes. They built the entiree track, had real everything. It was nuts! Could never be done today.
This is absolutely incredible, and contrary to popular story, nobody died filming it.
They did from filming the original (1929)
Oh this is grand. All the action is real :)
No CGI
Incredible that a scene like this was shot in 1959. Even with the CGI available today, they cannot make such a realistic race scene.
I watched this on a huge screen in a theater a year after it was released. The theater had 2 levels and had at least 6 mezzanines, and every seat was occupied. It was glorious. It was due to this childhood experience that I took a minor in classics in college where I learned that this scene was correct in every respect except one: they were using war chariots which are very different from racing chariots which were extremely lightweight such that one of the common dangers in the race was the chariot catching fire due to friction in the wheel axel joints.
Yes, I saw it also on the big screen but not until 1968, I was only 8 and I loved the movie1
This scene was filmed with 40 cameras at different angles!!! See the facial expressions of Heston and Boyd as if they are real enemies’$Amazing
How did they manage to film such a complex chariot race scene in 1959 still baffles me..!! No CGI...!! No VFX...!! Just real men riding real horses putting their lives on the line...!!
Bloody brilliant...!!! 🙌
They did it by killing dozens of horses. around 150 horses died filming the movie most during the chariot race
Yeah. So many horses were killed making this scene.
1 year of practice, dont forget a man died also
@@Bokuzen035 You’re thinking of the 1925 Ben-Hur, not this one.
@@lilybond6485 are you gonna cry?
One of the most spectacularly staged scenes in Hollywood history and not an ounce of that CGI cartoon crap. I wish movies would do this again.
And cut their cast in half
this was in the studios of Rome
Those horses @ 0:33 and 1:54! Power and beauty in motion!
Agreed. Those horses probably died at the time though. 150 horses gone for this movie.
@@scrlttgrnwd In 1959 version, NO horses were killed.
For 1959, this was cutting edge. Dude ended up JACKED!!!
Notice there's no musical soundtrack, just the sounds of hooves, chariots, whipping of horses, wheels falling off, crowd cheering. Makes it all the more impactful and adds to the intensity. Excellent decision by the director(?), an Oscar well deserved. As for the set design of the Arena - just awesome.
The director is William Wyler
Stephen Boyd (Messala) said making this film was the most exciting period in his life. He was about 27 when shooting began. He dropped dead of a heart attack aged 45 on a California golf course in 1977.
+medford briggs wow, I did not know that... thanks.
+medford briggs good for him.
Didn't know that. So sad : (
Christian Mcallister Wow, I can't even imagine how much it must had hurt =(
His performance of Messala earned him a Golden Globe award for best supporting actor while Heston won the Oscar for best actor and Hugh Griffith (the sheik) won the Oscar for best supporting actor.
That was in 1959....what a great movie.. and great director and action
3:02 HOLY HANNAH!!!! I've just discovered this movie and when I saw this I audibly gasped, how could they make such masterpiece in 1959??
cant believe how clear it looks from 1959..
Was shot in 65mm cameras instead of the normal 35mm cameras which is a standard in cinema. Basically the film that was shot in was larger and could carry more details. One of the reasons why it's amazing to watch.
Even 35 mm film has an insane amount of detail and quality to it. Not to mention, this clip has been compressed multiple times and is only being viewed on small monitors. This film looks so much better than this and yet it still looks good here.
Also, Technicolor was an amazing technology. Stands up to time extremely well.
Shot on the highest quality film stock in history. That's why.
4 of the most thrilling moments in cinema history. Makes it an art form with the symphony and novel.