You don’t have to have seen the film to beware that Ben-Hur is one of the great classic blockbusters of film history and one scene Chariot race one of the most iconic. How much we may argue the reasons why there is a remake Paramount Pictures have sent us over a new Featurette that reveals the new version of that scene ‘ain’t all CGI’!
In a generation where most blockbuster films heavily reliance on CGI effects to conquer certain moments in a film. Sometimes modern technology has to go out the window for more practical traditional means, like how they did it when William Wyler made the classic 1959 version. In this promo  Jack Huston, Toby Kebbell, and director Timur Bekmambetov discuss how they wanted the iconic chariot race scene of Ben-Hur to be as real as possible.
Ben-Hur is the epic story of Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston), a prince falsely accused of treason by his adopted brother Messala (Toby Kebbell), an officer in the Roman army. Stripped of his title, separated from his family and the woman he loves (Nazanin Boniadi), Judah is forced into slavery. After years at sea, Judah returns to his homeland to seek revenge, but finds redemption. Based on Lew Wallace’s timeless novel, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.
Bekmambetov is one of those film makers due to the genre films he has made CGI is always a big part of his films. His cult Russian films Nightwatch, Daywatch are perfect examples of CGI used in the right and effective way, so it’s a bit of a revealtion to see he uses practical effects too. Kudos to him as the pressure to provide must be extremely high, just a shame not many more film makers would follow suit as too many films just look fake. This one looking better all the time, plus its about 2 hours shorter than the 1959 version too!
Ben-Hur is set for 26th August UK release date. The film also stars Morgan Freeman, Rodrigo Santoro Sofia Black D’Elia, Ayelet Zurer, Moisés Arias, Marwan Kenzari and Pilou Asbæk.
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