franfar Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 Quote Following a $14.7 million marketing effort, Ben-Hur premiered at Loew's State Theatre in New York City on November 18, 1959. It was the fastest-grossing as well as the highest-grossing film of 1959, in the process becoming the second-highest-grossing film in history at the time after Gone with the Wind. It won a record 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (Wyler), Best Actor in a Leading Role (Heston), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Griffith), and Best Cinematography – Color (Surtees), an accomplishment that was not equaled until Titanic in 1997 and then again by The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003. Ben-Hur also won three Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture for Stephen Boyd. Today, Ben-Hur is widely considered to be one of the greatest films ever made, and in 1998 the American Film Institute ranked it the 72nd best American film and the 2nd best American epic film in the AFI's 10 Top 10. In 2004, the National Film Preservation Board selected Ben-Hur for preservation by the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress for being a "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" motion picture. Legendary. Quote During its initial release the film earned $33.6 million in North American theater rentals (the distributor's share of the box office), generating approximately $74.7 million in box office sales. Outside of North America, it earned $32.5 million in rentals (about $72.2 million at the box office) for a worldwide total of $66.1 million in rental earnings, roughly equivalent to $146.9 million in box office receipts.[141] It was the fastest-grossing film[12] as well as the highest-grossing film of 1959,[145] in the process becoming the second-highest-grossing film of all-time (at that time) behind Gone with the Wind.[146][147] Ben-Hur saved MGM from financial disaster,[148] making a profit of $20,409,000 on its initial release,[4] and another $10.1 million in profits when re-released in 1969.[12] By 1989, Ben-Hur had earned $90 million in worldwide theatrical rentals.[149] According to http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/ , MGM's (the distributor) BO share of $33.6m in 1959 dollars would be $277,121,484.54 in 2016 dollars. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franfar Posted February 11, 2017 Author Share Posted February 11, 2017 The most famous scene from the movie... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franfar Posted February 11, 2017 Author Share Posted February 11, 2017 (edited) The movie was the quintessential epic. The posters the film was released with matched the film's epicness... Everything made it seem like a must-see event. It received 11 Oscars, and it took Titanic 38 years to match that record. Edited February 11, 2017 by franfar 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franfar Posted February 12, 2017 Author Share Posted February 12, 2017 Found a video with the original trailers: 0:00 Loew’s Theater Teaser (1959) 0:59 Theatrical Trailer (1959) 3:59 General Release Trailer (1961) 7:05 70mm Reissue Trailer (1969) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franfar Posted February 12, 2017 Author Share Posted February 12, 2017 (edited) Just found this, and it felt like an orgasm for the ears... The music really completes this film. Hearing it live must have been wonderful. And here's the original composer conducting it again. Edited February 12, 2017 by franfar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiffy Posted February 14, 2017 Share Posted February 14, 2017 (edited) This one hasn't aged too well, IMO. Aside from the hilarity of Heston apparently being the only one who was completely oblivious to the homoerotic subtext lol. It may be even hammier, but I prefer the entertainment value of The Ten Commandments to this. Edited February 14, 2017 by Jiffy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lordmandeep Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 I think of all the biblical epics, this one is the most watchable still. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoolioD1 Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 12 hours ago, Lordmandeep said: I think of all the biblical epics, this one is the most watchable still. this is great until the main conflict of the movie ends and there's like 45 minutes of SON OF GOD shit of ben hur whining about his family's gross herpes or some shit that comes after it. definitely a movie to turn off early. personally i prefer the ten commandments. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lordmandeep Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 I agree till the Chariot scene it flows really fast and furious and then rather dies out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franfar Posted March 3, 2017 Author Share Posted March 3, 2017 On 2/25/2017 at 6:16 AM, Lordmandeep said: I agree till the Chariot scene it flows really fast and furious and then rather dies out Like most movies of that era, it was very heavy on dialogue and contrived drama. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grim22 Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 I remember being amazed by the scale of this movie even in the CGI era. Watched it for the first time after Titanic had tied its record for most wins, it held my attention almost throughout 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...