Synopsis:

Ben-Hur is the greatest of the 'classic' Hollywood epics, and is widely regarded as one of the best of all time. The story is of a Jewish prince (Charlton Heston in an Oscar winning role) who is wrongfully accused of attempting to assassinate the new Roman governor by a Roman provincial who was his one-time trusted friend, causing him to be exiled as a slave and his mother and sister to be locked away, but not before he swears vengeance. The original clocked in at almost 4 hours, as it attempted to tell the tale of the rise of Christianity along with Ben-Hur's struggles. This edit removes almost all instances of the tale of Christianity, to focus on Ben-Hur, his quest for vengeance, redemption and salvation, all in the far more manageable time of 2 hours and 24 minutes.

Intentions:

As great as the original was, I felt that a far more streamlined version of Ben-Hur's story could be told by focusing on his trials and quest for revenge. All the extra plot points are dropped, but every key scene is retained (especially the chariot race) so that any viewer would get the full experience of this classic in less time.

Change List:

1. Cut entire epilogue about history of Jerusalem BC and birth of Christ. Film stil opens with brief epic fanfare over blank screen. 2. Cut out "A Tale of Christ" by Lew Wallace title card 3. Cut Carpenter talking about his son and Jesus travelling in the field 4. Cut Ben Hur saying "We shall never see him again" after rebuking Messala at his home 5. Cut Ben Hur's steward calling him "master". As much as I hated the 'benevolent slaveowner' business, could not cut it without messing up Esther's first scene 6. Cut out some of steward's interfering dialogue during Esther and Ben's first scene 7. Shortened scene of Governor's arrival and Messala inspecting rooftop 8. Cut Ben Hur being taken out of cell and led down hallway. 9. Cut Esther waiting outside prison for Ben Hur and his family 10. Shortened scenes of slaves walking in desert 11. Cut scene of Jesus repelling centurion with his gaze 12. Cut shots of Quintus arriving at the galley by boat. 13. Shortened scenes of Quintus spying on Ben Hur during battle. Shortened Macedonian galley battle. 14. Cut scene of Caesar meeting with Quintus to discuss Ben Hur's fate 15. Cut festivities at Quintus' palace. 16. Cut shots of Judah relaxing in oasis and meeting Balthasar 17. Cut dinner scene with Sheik, shortened horse mingling 18. Cut Balthasar's speech about life being a miracle. Dialogue ends with Ben Hur's "I don't believe in miracles" before he leaves (giving scene a darker tone) 19. Ben Hur meeting Messala brought forward to this point. Cuts after Ben Hur exits room. 20. Scene of Ben Hur arriving at his house rearranged to this point. Cut most of Ben Hur's dialogue with steward. Score added to scene. 21. Cut scene of guards discovering Ben Hurs mother and sister, cut scene of them going to see Esther. Ben Hur's scene earlier followed by scene of Esther telling him they are dead. Edited to look as if she hesitates in telling him the lie (the fact she avoids the question when first meeting him helps this editing choice). Ben Hur's mother and sister's fate remain a mystery in this cut at this point, meaning we believe they are dead along with Ben Hur. Cut Intermission 22. Shortened scene of Ben Hur in stable 23. Moved rooftop scene of Ben Hur and Esther here 24. Shortened shots of chariots arriving. Scene starts with Ben Hur praying. Cut Messala's mocking line "Jupiter give me victory!" 25. SHortened preliminary chariot walk around Colosseum. Famous chariot race left entirely intact. 26. Shortened Messala's and Ben Hur's conversation in the hospital 27. Ended valley of lepers scene after Ben Hur's family leaves. Cut Balthasar's meeting, cut sermon on the mount 28. Cut most of Pontius Pilate's dialogue (a lot of it alludes to the pending judgement of Jesus rather than Ben Hur) 29. Shortened second leper valley scene 30. Cut most of Ben Hur's dialogue with blind man 31. Shortened scenes of Jesus being judged and walking with cross 32. Shortened scene on Golgotha with Balthasar 33. Cut Ben Hur's family talking under cross 34. Shortened storm scenes 35. Cut Ben Hur's last dialogue with Esther. I wanted it to have a dreamlike feel, no words are spoken during final scene. Added two fades in here also to give it a more ambiguous tone (did the miracle happen or was it wishful thinking) 36. Shortened shot of sunset over Golgotha 37. "Raangerkris Edits" titles added at end.

Additional Notes:

Adobe Premiere CC

Other Sources:

Special Thanks:

TM2YC and bionicbob for the title.