Ben-Hur (2016)

Mr E

This wasn't on my radar, but it looks surprisingly good.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2638144/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLJdzky63BA

NyOmnishambles

I am not normally one to sh!t on remakes but No, just No

The original is awesome and this is just totally unnecessary as it doesn't seem to add a single thing to the original, it looks almost a shot for shot remake just with fancier graphics and the original effects still hold up fairly well
Plus the lead doesn't seem to have an ounce of Heston's presence

McLoughlin

NyOmnishambles wrote: »

I am not normally one to sh!t on remakes but No, just No

The original is awesome and this is just totally unnecessary as it doesn't seem to add a single thing to the original, it looks almost a shot for shot remake just with fancier graphics and the original effects still hold up fairly well
Plus the lead doesn't seem to have an ounce of Heston's presence

You do realize that the 1959 movie with Charlton Heston was a remake ?

titan18

It's just really unnecessary. It might be decent, but they'd probably make a decent bit of money just re-releasing Heston's version in the cinema anyway. The chariot sequence still stands up incredibly well as a setpiece despite advances in technology.

Burgo

For a minute I really thought it was Charlie Day:

NyOmnishambles

McLoughlin wrote: »

You do realize that the 1959 movie with Charlton Heston was a remake ?

Of course

As I said I don't usually give out about remakes just for the sake of it, some great films have been remakes

Some things just don't need a remake

Harry Palmr

Looks like a load of bloated two part TV movie ****e.

jonon9

Another cash train for hollywood.

lertsnim

The Bluray of the Heston verison still blows me away so **** this version.

MRnotlob606

Doesn't look that good to be honest. I don't like how much CGI is in it.

sbs2010

NyOmnishambles wrote: »

Plus the lead doesn't seem to have an ounce of Heston's presence

Charlton Heston was one of the worst actors ever and I say that as a fan of Planet of the Apes and Ben Hur.

He always looked like he was permanently constipated.

NyOmnishambles

sbs2010 wrote: »

Charlton Heston was one of the worst actors ever and I say that as a fan of Planet of the Apes and Ben Hur.

He always looked like he was permanently constipated.

I don't disagree but I said he had presence, which I would argue is a different kettle of fish

And something that seems to be sorely lacking from the people involved in this judging from the trailer, Morgan Freeman excepted

Harry Palmr

In the old days producers understood the word spectacle, now the same work is done often badly in a computer and all the money goes on actors, though in this case I don't see any expensive names. So maybe this is just a fairly cheap retelling.

Wedwood

As mentioned above, it looks like a TV movie with now bog standard CGI 'epicness'. It's hard to justify the value of remaking a movie that won 11 Oscars.

Maybe it'll be a hit with younger viewers who are unfamiliar with Heston's version.

PS: I think Morgan Freeman is great, but I'm getting tired of these dial in 'mentor' roles he seems to have cornered the market in. He now basically plays the same character in every movie he's in.

SouthTippBass

Oh look, its Morgan Freeman playing Morgan Freeman again. How fantastic.

storker

The opening views of the sea battle look like they were lifted straight from gameplay footage from the Total War series. Still, it looks interesting...

Ben Gadot

sbs2010 wrote: »

Charlton Heston was one of the worst actors ever and I say that as a fan of Planet of the Apes and Ben Hur.

He always looked like he was permanently constipated.

Heston is jusy one of those guys that was a true movie star. He wasn't the best actor in the world but he just had a presence that lit up the screen. Eastwood and Schwarzenegger (at his best) were of a similar vain.

Anyway, I saw this trailer the other day and unfortunately it didn't do a lot for me. Kebbel needs to start picking better projects quickly, while Houston could have picked a better vehicle for his bog screen break.

Agricola

It will definitely be a fairly brainless summer blockbuster with a biblical epic coat of paint, but still, from my POV, it's not another superhero film, so I'll give it a chance at least.

Endless remakes are shít but if they must make remakes like this, it would be nice if they veered away from making an ancient version of the Fast and the Furious. This shouty, high octane, "FÚCK YOU MOTHAFÚCKA, IM GONNA RIP OUT YO SPLEEN" bullshít might suit a modern day American based action film, but it's really ridiculous in something like this. A remake closer to the 1959 film, a bit slower paced with some epic setpieces, and no Americans in dreadlocks would be a start.

But of course that's not going to get teenages bums on seats so.................

Mr E

New trailer. So serious! The trailer music was a bad choice too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OE46mqgXqo

Tony EH

That looks fucking awful.

pixelburp

It looks like a flat and mediocre remake, with Freeman obviously showing up for a paycheque and a little holiday in the sun, but that music in the trailer is something to behold. Truly terrible and conspires to make the film feel like a made-for-TV movie on the Hallmark channel or something!

TherapyBoy

I really like Toby Kebbell as an actor but he chooses odd films to work in sometimes. To remake such an epic story as this you need to do something a bit special, I hope they got it right.

JP Liz V1

http://www.thewrap.com/ben-hur-biggest-box-office-bomb-summer-paramount-2016/

Looks set to bomb

pixelburp

Yikes, it cost $100 million?? That feels like crazy money in the absence of any major stars (bar Morgan Freeman looking like he'll take the money and run). I had just presumed this was a midbudget affair, low balling it at the end of summer, to make a tidy profit even if it underperformed.

TerrorFirmer

Who the **** OK-d that music for the trailer? It beggars belief.

Wailin

Jesus Christ that looks woeful.....another bloated hollywood remake with eyepopping cgi and no substance :mad:

IamMetaldave

I can't type no enough times.

It could make a $100m loss, if you include the cost of marketing. The $100m is just the cost of making it.

Ouch.

Tony EH

Hopefully it fails just as hard as 'Ghostbusters' did.

None of these remakes deserve any success.

JohnFalstaff

Charlton Heston's Ben Hur was one of my favourite films growing up and although this looks like it could be a disaster I'm looking forward to seeing it. Toby Kebbell as Messala is a great bit of casting.

From that trailer it looks like they've amped up the Jesus angle of the story in a bid to attract the conservative Christian audience in the US. If that happens the film could confound box-office predictions in the same way as The Passion of the Christ did.

JohnFalstaff

Tony EH wrote: »

Hopefully it fails just as hard as 'Ghostbusters' did.

None of these remakes deserve any success.

The 1959 Ben-Hur was a remake.