William Wyler never lets spectacle and size interfere with the elemental passions and conflicts of his human story. The spectacular aspects emerge naturally from the story -- the time and place and the customs of the society in which the characters live.

| Nov 19, 2018

Although it is a spectacle film, the story of how a man takes on the tyranny of the Romans, with all sorts of horrible consequences to himself and his family, is powerful and gripping.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Jan 1, 2015

The biggest and the best of Hollywood's super-spectacles.

| Aug 22, 2008

Entire new frontiers in boredom were opened up by this MGM whopper from 1959.

| Dec 13, 2006

The movie could be trying to say that for some people religion is an escape from their sexuality, but it seems unlikely.

| Jan 26, 2006

The grandest of Hollywood's classic biblical epics… doesn't transcend its genre, with its spectacle and melodrama, but it does these things about as well as possible.

| Original Score: A | Apr 23, 2004

Mr. Wyler and his money-free producers have smartly and effectively laid stress on the powerful and meaningful personal conflicts that are strong in this old heroic tale.

| May 20, 2003

If we later came to realize that movies could be a whole lot better than Ben-Hur, that still doesn't detract from the enjoyment the film still provides.

| Jun 5, 2002

A chariot-race classic.

| Jul 25, 2001

Opening with a full overture played against Michelangelo's ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, you know that you're in for something unembarrassed by its own grandiosity.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 17, 2001

A majestic achievement, representing a superb blending of the motion picture arts by master craftsmen.

| Feb 13, 2001

Still making waves in movies today -- from The Phantom Menace's Podrace to the whole of Gladiator -- little can come close to captivating the grandeur and epic quality of William Wyler's magnificent bum numb-er.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Jan 1, 2000

The MGM production is a lavish, colorful spectacle that will linger long in the eye of the beholder.

| Jan 1, 2000