| WHAT: WHEN: STUDIO: PRICE: | Ben-Hur (50th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition) September 27th Warner Retail $49.92, Our: $39.99 |   |
| WHAT: WHEN: STUDIO: PRICE: | Ben-Hur (Blu-Ray) 50th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition September 27th Warner Retail $64.99, Our: $54.99 | |
| WHAT: WHEN: STUDIO: PRICE: | Ben-Hur (2-Disc 50th Anniversary Edition) September 27th Warner Retail $20.97, Our: $15.99 | |
Years in the making, with a $1 million restoration, Warner has announced a September 27th street date for three different releases of Ben-Hur - 50th Anniversary Edition.
Both the standard and Blu Ultimate Collector's Editions will be available for rent and purchase, while the 2-disc Edition, which has the same content as discs 1 and 2 in the U.C.E., will only be available to buy.
All the bonus features from the previous collector's edition will carry over. Additionally, two new features (Charlton Heston: A Personal Journey, Charlton Heston: The Ben-Hur Diaries) and a hardbound collector's book are included in both U.C.E.'s.
As far as bonus features that will be in HD for the Blu edition, it appears that only Charlton Heston: A Personal Journey will be in Hi-Def. Also note that both U.C.E.'s are limited to 100,000 in production.
And in case you're wondering as to why this is the "50th" in 2011, Warner noted in their press release that they had hoped to have the release ready in 2009, but the meticulous restoration process took longer than expected.
CONTENTS:
Ben-Hur (50th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition)
DISCS 1 & 2 (1959 Version)
The numbers speak volumes: 100,000 costumes, 8,000 extras, 300 sets and a staggering budget in its day the largest in movie history. Ben-Hur's creators made it the best, the greatest Biblical-era epic ever.
Charlton Heston brings a muscular physical and moral presence to the role of Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish nobleman in Palestine whose heroic odyssey includes enslavement by the Romans, a bold escape from an embattled slave galley, vengeance against his tormentors during a furious arena chariot race and fateful encounters with Jesus Christ. Heston's charismatic performance brought him the Best Actor Oscar; the winner as 1959's Best Picture with the legendary William Wyler earning his third Best Director trophy, the film won a total 11 Academy Awards - a tally unequaled until 1997's Titanic set sail.
BONUS FEATURES:
- Audio Commentary by Film Historian T. Gene Hatcher with Charlton Heston
- Music Only Track Showcasing Miklos Rozsa's Score
DISC 3 (Charlton Heston: A Personal Journey) **NEW TO DVD
An all-new feature-length documentary chronicling Charlton Heston’s life while filming Ben-Hur. Includes behind-the-scenes details and home movie footage shot by his wife Lydia while in Rome. The film shows a rarely seen, different side of Heston – as a warm, loving father and husband balancing his home and work life, and as an artist devoted to his craft.
DISC 4 (1925 Version)
Known as Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, this 1925 version is the Thames Television Restoration with a Stereophonic Orchestral Score by Carl Davis.
B/W with Color Sequences.
DISC 5 (BONUS DISC)
- Charlton Heston: The Ben-Hur Diaries -- First-time exclusive look into an Oscar-winning actor’s experience while making an award-winning film. A reproduction of Charlton Heston’s private and insightful diary from January 1958 through April 1960, documents his time before production of the film all the way through his Oscar win. Includes personal photos from the Heston family and Charlton Heston’s own sketches. **NEW TO DVD
- 2005 Documentary Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema
- 1994 Documentary Ben-Hur: The Making Of An Epic
- Ben-Hur: A Journey Through Pictures: Audiovisual Recreation Via Stills, Storyboards, Sketches, Music and Dialogue
- Screen Tests
- Leslie Nielsen and Cesare Danova
- Leslie Nielsen and Yale Wexler
- George Baker and William Russell
- Hay Haraveet Hair and Makeup Tests
- Vintage Newsreels Gallery
- Highlights from the 4/4/60 Academy Awards Ceremony
- Theatrical Trailer Gallery
Ben-Hur (Blu-Ray) 50th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition
DISCS 1 & 2 (1959 Version)
The numbers speak volumes: 100,000 costumes, 8,000 extras, 300 sets and a staggering budget in its day the largest in movie history. Ben-Hur's creators made it the best, the greatest Biblical-era epic ever.
Charlton Heston brings a muscular physical and moral presence to the role of Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish nobleman in Palestine whose heroic odyssey includes enslavement by the Romans, a bold escape from an embattled slave galley, vengeance against his tormentors during a furious arena chariot race and fateful encounters with Jesus Christ. Heston's charismatic performance brought him the Best Actor Oscar; the winner as 1959's Best Picture with the legendary William Wyler earning his third Best Director trophy, the film won a total 11 Academy Awards - a tally unequaled until 1997's Titanic set sail.
BONUS FEATURES:
- Audio Commentary by Film Historian T. Gene Hatcher with Charlton Heston
- Music Only Track Showcasing Miklos Rozsa's Score
DISC 3 (BONUS DISC)
- Charlton Heston: A Personal Journey (HD)- An all-new high-definition feature-length documentary chronicling Charlton Heston’s life while filming Ben-Hur. Includes behind-the-scenes details and home movie footage shot by his wife Lydia while in Rome. The film shows a rarely seen, different side of Heston – as a warm, loving father and husband balancing his home and work life, and as an artist devoted to his craft.
- Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, this 1925 version is the Thames Television Restoration with a Stereophonic Orchestral Score by Carl Davis.
- Charlton Heston: The Ben-Hur Diaries -- First-time exclusive look into an Oscar-winning actor’s experience while making an award-winning film. A reproduction of Charlton Heston’s private and insightful diary from January 1958 through April 1960, documents his time before production of the film all the way through his Oscar win. Includes personal photos from the Heston family and Charlton Heston’s own sketches.
- 2005 Documentary Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema
- 1994 Documentary Ben-Hur: The Making Of An Epic
- Ben-Hur: A Journey Through Pictures: Audiovisual Recreation Via Stills, Storyboards, Sketches, Music and Dialogue
- Screen Tests
- Leslie Nielsen and Cesare Danova
- Leslie Nielsen and Yale Wexler
- George Baker and William Russell
- Hay Haraveet Hair and Makeup Tests
- Vintage Newsreels Gallery
- Highlights from the 4/4/60 Academy Awards Ceremony
- Theatrical Trailer Gallery
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