Oh man, I still remember the slaves in the bottom of the ship when the ship was sinking..... they're trying to get the chains off of their legs and the skin around the chains is......

Yeah, hardcore.

@CelluloidFan said:

Oh man, I still remember the slaves in the bottom of the ship when the ship was sinking..... they're trying to get the chains off of their legs and the skin around the chains is......

Yeah, hardcore.

Yes! That is actually the scene that really made me go "Ugh!" . Also when they are exiting the below deck of the ship, it looks like one of the slaves is missing a recently severed hand.

@mechajutaro said:

@movie_nazi said:

I recently watched this again and the violence depicted in this film is pretty hard core for 1959. I'm really surprised they let this fly back then.

Ben-Hur (1959) - 8 outta 10 stars

In The US, a filmmaker can get a lot past the MPAA, so long as he connects it to The Bible, and doesn't protect Jesus in anything but an unblemished light. Put out a movie which depicts Abraham as a dope making pedophile, and then claim that this is a deconstruction of the character and The Bible story. You'll be hailed for creative boldness and perhaps even clean up at the increasingly irrelevant Academy Awards. Try taking a cue from Scorcese and The Last Temptation Of Christ, which depicts Jesus as being consumed by doubt and conflicting thoughts; you'll be fortunate to even get a limited release

Yes but times have indeed changed and you are more than likely to see a film condemn the Israelites for practicing slavery than to simply gloss over it like in Ben-Hur when Esther comes to ask permission for marriage since she is technically owned by Judah. Sure, he freed her but if Judah is such a good guy why not free them and hire them as free men in the first place? These were people he claimed to love.

@mechajutaro said:

@movie_nazi said:

@mechajutaro said:

@movie_nazi said:

I recently watched this again and the violence depicted in this film is pretty hard core for 1959. I'm really surprised they let this fly back then.

Ben-Hur (1959) - 8 outta 10 stars

In The US, a filmmaker can get a lot past the MPAA, so long as he connects it to The Bible, and doesn't protect Jesus in anything but an unblemished light. Put out a movie which depicts Abraham as a dope making pedophile, and then claim that this is a deconstruction of the character and The Bible story. You'll be hailed for creative boldness and perhaps even clean up at the increasingly irrelevant Academy Awards. Try taking a cue from Scorcese and The Last Temptation Of Christ, which depicts Jesus as being consumed by doubt and conflicting thoughts; you'll be fortunate to even get a limited release

Yes but times have indeed changed and you are more than likely to see a film condemn the Israelites for practicing slavery than to simply gloss over it like in Ben-Hur when Esther comes to ask permission for marriage since she is technically owned by Judah. Sure, he freed her but if Judah is such a good guy why not free them and hire them as free men in the first place? These were people he claimed to love.

Why Judah didn't free them, and then hire them.... Dude's still Jewish, and hiring them would've=fewer shekels in his pocket. Come on, you knew I was going to go there :)

Oh man, too funny!