Ben-Hur (1959)
Ben Hur. 1959. Eleven Oscars. And yeah — it earned every single one of them.
This week on Movie Wars, Kyle, Seth, and John Datoy sit down to dig into what might be the greatest epic ever put on film. We're talking about a movie so massive, so meticulously crafted, that it basically wrote the rulebook for every sword-and-sandals film that came after it. No Ben Hur? No Gladiator. No Kingdom of Heaven. No Lord of the Rings. Honestly, no pod racing either. This thing casts a shadow over cinema that most films can only dream about.
Seth — who watched the actual movie plus three full-length documentaries about it — breaks down the wild history of this story, from a Civil War general writing biblical fiction in the 1880s to the chaotic 1925 adaptation where they literally set ships on fire in the Mediterranean Sea and realized too late that a bunch of extras had lied about being able to swim. We also get into William Wyler's vision for the film — how he deliberately set out to take the Cecil B. DeMille-style epic and strip away the theatrical cheese to make something that was genuinely character-driven at its core. Spoiler: he pulled it off.
We break down the legendary chariot race, the Heston vs. Boyd dynamic, the custom wide-format lenses that sat in a box untouched until Quentin Tarantino found them for The Hateful Eight, and why Kyle thinks Wyler somehow had more control over this production than Coppola ever had on Apocalypse Now. We also rate the film across our four War Zone categories — and yeah, this one's a clean sweep of yeses.
Plus: the 2016 remake somehow got Morgan Freeman, and somehow was still unwatchable. Three separate sittings. Seth only finished it out of respect.
Takeaways:
- Ben Hur's production scale was genuinely unprecedented — the sets, the budget, the custom lenses built specifically for this film — and it shows in every single frame.
- William Wyler's genius wasn't just spectacle. It was knowing how to wrap intimate, character-driven drama inside the biggest movie ever made at that point.
- The film's influence runs deeper than most people realize — it's essentially the blueprint for every major epic that followed over the next 60 years.
- The cinematography was so ahead of its time that the lenses sat unused in a display case until Quentin Tarantino spotted them and used them for The Hateful Eight.
- Films & Studios Referenced: MGM, Titanic, Return of the King, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, Lord of the Rings, Wicked, Schindler's List, 12 Years a Slave, Apocalypse Now, The Godfather, The Ten Commandments, Jason and the Argonauts, The Hateful Eight
Transcript
Foreign.
Speaker B:Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Movie wars podcast.
Speaker B:I'm Kyle.
Speaker C:I'm Seth.
Speaker B:We got John the Toy back.
Speaker C:He's back, he's back.
Speaker C:Always happy to have you, sir.
Speaker A:Thank you for having me.
Speaker C:Guys, for Scream last week and we decided, you know, instead of a horror movie this time, we would just torture him with sleep.
Speaker C:Seven hours over two movies.
Speaker B:Seven hours.
Speaker B:And that's just kind of the way the schedule shook out and, and Titanic had 14 nominations and 111.
Speaker B:And then her 111.
Speaker B:I don't know how many nominations they got, but 12.
Speaker B:We're doing those both today.
Speaker B:We're doing Ben Hur now, but it's a.
Speaker C:The Oscars are coming up, we've got this episode and then the Oscars will come out after our next episode, which is going to be Titanic.
Speaker C:So I thought why don't we do the two movies that were standalone movies that won the record of 11 Oscars.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker C:Obviously Return of the King is on that list as well, but it's part of its, you know, own franchise.
Speaker C:So we, we said we'll talk about that one some other time and we'll just go with these two standalone movies.
Speaker C: oing to be doing Ben Hur from: Speaker C:One of my absolute favorite movies.
Speaker C:I grew up watching this movie since I was a very, very, very tiny lady.
Speaker C:And yeah, it, I didn't even realize at the time like how genuinely impactful this was.
Speaker C:Like without this movie we wouldn't have pod racing.
Speaker C:Without this movie we wouldn't have Gladiator.
Speaker C:Without this movie we wouldn't have Kingdom of Heaven.
Speaker C:And I mean honestly, without this movie we wouldn't have Lord of the Rings.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:We wouldn't have some of the most epic movies that have come out over the last 20 years.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And it's man and like it instantly in terms of sword and sandals movies.
Speaker B:It like it's the minute I was done that shot in sand.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's the genre.
Speaker B:That's what they call it.
Speaker B:Gladiator.
Speaker B:That's all considered Sword and Sandals.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:But there was, during this time there was a glut of them.
Speaker B:I mean they, this kind of maybe set the trend.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:And then Gladiator kind of reinvigorated.
Speaker B:But this shot, this in terms of that genre, there's not even close.
Speaker B:No, this is the best I've ever seen.
Speaker C:Like I.
Speaker C:So I watched three feature length documentaries on top of watching the movie.
Speaker C:And William Wilder, when he got approached to make the movie, he made the Joke.
Speaker C:I always wondered what it would be like to make a Cecil B. DeMille film.
Speaker C:And three years before Cecil B. DeMille had done the Ten Commandments.
Speaker C:He was known at the time in the 50s as like the epic director.
Speaker C:But they were always kind of very, like, theatrical and a little cartoony in the way that they were made.
Speaker C:And so what William Wilder said he wanted to do was take that idea of an epic and turn it into a very character driven drama surrounded by the epic nature of everything.
Speaker C:Yeah, I think he really delivered on this one.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Well, we're going to go into the Oscar season two.
Speaker B:Anybody want to put some bets down who makes the most pompous speech?
Speaker C:Well, since no one from Wicked was nominated, I think we actually might be a little bit safe this year.
Speaker B:No weird hugs and being afraid of choppers.
Speaker B:Oh, my God, please spare me every day.
Speaker C:I love those memes that are just like what happened on the set of Wicked.
Speaker C:Because the.
Speaker C:The actors from Schindler's List in 12 Years a Slave did not act anywhere near this traumatized after those.
Speaker B:I know, I know.
Speaker B:And my kids love it.
Speaker A:I'm like, that's what musicals do to you.
Speaker C:So apparently, apparently, they make you just look like you're on a cocktail of heroin and Ozempic.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Is that what it's like?
Speaker C:Yeah, apparently.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Give me that Ozempic, baby.
Speaker C:Well, shall we go into the format?
Speaker B:Yeah, before we.
Speaker B:Yeah, before Seth's gonna kick us off because he's a historian on this film.
Speaker B:But we got the history where we go through the details of how the film was made.
Speaker B:We do randos, which are the most interesting factoids and trivia that we find in our research.
Speaker B:We do the questions, which are just meant to generate fun banter and comedic things back and forth because we're comedians.
Speaker B:And then lastly, we do the War Zone, which is our four categories.
Speaker B:How we score and say yes or no to these movies.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Why don't you kick us off here?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C: So the movie came out in: Speaker C: The late: Speaker C:General Lew Wallace decided he wanted to become a writer and he wrote some things, but then came up with this idea for this, like, biblical fiction, if you will, wrote this very, you know, well respected book.
Speaker C: And in the early: Speaker C:And it's weird because, like, I didn't realize until I did this research, like, how influential that play was actually on the rest of the adaptations that have come after it.
Speaker C:Because Lew Wallace refused to sign the contract until the playwrights agreed that they would only portray Jesus with a spotlight of white light.
Speaker C:They.
Speaker C:They didn't want.
Speaker C:And he didn't want the idea or character of Jesus to overpower the rest of the story, and he didn't want to risk portraying him in a way that people wouldn't agree with.
Speaker C:So that's where they were like, okay, we'll just show this beam of light and.
Speaker C:And that's Jesus.
Speaker C:It will just show everyone's reactions to him.
Speaker C: So that happened, I think, in: Speaker C:I know you've got a little bit of history on that, but did you look into the sea battle in that one at all?
Speaker B:No.
Speaker C:So they actually went and.
Speaker C:And tried to shoot this on the Mediterranean Sea.
Speaker C:They went out to sea, lit a ship on fire, had hundreds of extras on both of the ships, and the wind shifted and actually completely burned down both of the ships that they were trying to shoot.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker C:And they had hundreds of extras jumping into the Mediterranean Sea trying to get away from this, all while realizing that a bunch of people lied on their resume and couldn't swim.
Speaker B:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Wow.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Actually die.
Speaker C:Not officially.
Speaker C:There's rumors.
Speaker C:There's.
Speaker C:There's the folklore that, you know, some people got severely burned, some people drowned.
Speaker C:Like, some people got stuck in the ship, but nothing was ever proven.
Speaker B:That Ben hurts.
Speaker C:Ah, there we go.
Speaker C:That's what I love about this.
Speaker B:Number one.
Speaker B:It's been good on the Titanic.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker C:Yeah, that was.
Speaker C:That was like the big part of the.
Speaker C:The silent film was, you know, the big controversy there.
Speaker B:Oh, and it was silent.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:That makes it even worse, by the way.
Speaker C:They included the actual shots of people fleeing for their lives in the actual mov.
Speaker B:Horrible.
Speaker B:And you get mad about the Revenant.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C: fair, I have not watched the: Speaker B:There you go.
Speaker B:At least you're consistent.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:But the fun little connection between.
Speaker C: d what eventually was made in: Speaker C:William Wilder was a very young assistant director on the set, mostly during the chariot race sequence of.
Speaker C: Of the: Speaker C:That kind of went full circle when he directed this masterpiece.
Speaker A:He earned it.
Speaker C:He really did.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:That's crazy.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:I'll hand it back over to you now.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Thank you for that.
Speaker B:I actually Didn't.
Speaker B:That didn't come up my stuff, because I did.
Speaker B:I only did it on this film.
Speaker B:But, you know, and this kind of is interesting because this is a similar setup for the Godfather because MGM was dying.
Speaker B:In fact, it was the first year that they'd ever posted a negative profit.
Speaker B:They had basically.
Speaker B:I didn't get all the details, but there was a deal that they struck that was stripping theaters of profits of.
Speaker B:Theaters were starting to fail, and so
Speaker C:he was getting really big.
Speaker B:TV was getting huge at the time.
Speaker B:So this project stalled for years.
Speaker B:And originally, Marlon Brando was attached.
Speaker B:Sidney Franklin had fallen ill, and so they had put Marlon Brando in place.
Speaker B:That fell through.
Speaker B:How many movies is Marlon Brando that we talked about he didn't do?
Speaker B:It's like, he just, like, wakes up one day, he's like, no, it's okay.
Speaker C:Yeah, I'm gonna go get fat.
Speaker B:I'm gonna go get fat and then
Speaker C:film Apocalypse now and cry.
Speaker A:Red light.
Speaker B:I'm Marlon.
Speaker B:I don't even.
Speaker B:Not even an impression to say.
Speaker B:I just.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:That's kind of how I.
Speaker B:We've covered him so much, and at this point, I'm just, like, so sick of Marlon Brando.
Speaker B:He's not even alive anymore, but every time I talk to him, I'm so sick of you.
Speaker B:You're such a diva.
Speaker B:You're the worst.
Speaker B:You're worse than.
Speaker B:What was that?
Speaker B:The Lilith Fair?
Speaker B:You're worse than the Lilith Fair.
Speaker B:Geez.
Speaker B:So many divas.
Speaker B:This budget's crazy.
Speaker B:And I always love how you do the inflation math.
Speaker C:Have the numbers.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:The budget started at 7 million, climbed to 15, which made it the most expensive film ever made at the time.
Speaker B:Which.
Speaker C:Which is bonkers.
Speaker C:That.
Speaker C:That was the expensive movie.
Speaker B:I've got about 165 million in inflation.
Speaker B:That for today's numbers.
Speaker C:Yeah, the number.
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker C:167 million.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Which.
Speaker B:That would be a skid mark of a Marvel movie.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C: plus million in: Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Which I. I remember correctly, is well over a billion dollars today.
Speaker B:Now, when I say this, think about this in your mind, about what this budget would look like today.
Speaker B: a hundred thousand costumes,: Speaker C:Actually, I read it's actually closer to 15,000.
Speaker B:You're kidding me.
Speaker C:It was fucking insane.
Speaker B:365 speaking parts.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker B:So that would all be CGI today.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:That would be one camel replicated.
Speaker C:You might be lucky to get someone's real head CGI'd on a body.
Speaker B:Which is why this movie is amazing.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's what, that's what pulled me in instantly.
Speaker B:This is my first, I'll admit this first time I ever watched it.
Speaker B:And just the scale of.
Speaker B:Just like of.
Speaker B:Of the land and the sets.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Ever how everything looks in frame.
Speaker B:It just pulled me in instantly in a way that I don't think CGI would.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker C:Well, on top of that, MGM literally invented a new camera format that.
Speaker C:That pioneered the large format film of like VistaVision and a bunch of those others that came out in the 60s.
Speaker C:And they used that big format camera along with anamorphic lenses so that they almost got like a 3 to 1 aspect ratio.
Speaker C:This is like 2.75 to 1 aspect ratio.
Speaker C:So as you, as you commented, it almost looks cropped on the top and bottom because it is so wide.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker C:But like that aspect ratio was such a big deal.
Speaker C:For years I'd only seen this on vhs.
Speaker C:Kind of like Titanic.
Speaker C:It had a double VHS set up and it was all.
Speaker C:It was cropped down to like the full 4 by 3 square TV frame.
Speaker C:But for the chariot race.
Speaker C:And it had a message at the beginning of the movie so people didn't freak out over this happening.
Speaker C:They were like, we're still going to show the chariot race and its original aspect ratio.
Speaker C:So it would zoom out.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:For the chariot race sequence.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Which was a $1 million sequence.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And took a quarter of the film that was shot.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Which was 190 miles.
Speaker B:I can't remember.
Speaker B:I saw some crazy.
Speaker C:No, I think it was closer to like a thousand.
Speaker C:A thousand miles or like a million feet.
Speaker C:Like something absurd.
Speaker B:Crazy numbers.
Speaker C:How do you keep track of all that?
Speaker A:I mean, like, logistically, this movie is a nightmare in its essence.
Speaker B:They got a guy.
Speaker C:They got a lot of guys.
Speaker B:They just got a guy and he's just like counting.
Speaker A:He's just super autistic.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:He would be a stand up comedian today.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:But, yeah, as you mentioned, William Wyler had a personal connection because he was an assistant on the silent film.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Which is amazing.
Speaker B:It came back, considering he saw the ship thing happen.
Speaker B:He's like, let's do it again.
Speaker C:Well, that influenced their decision to go with miniatures.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Because that whole.
Speaker C:All the wide shots where people aren't moving, those are all miniatures.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:But it still looks so good.
Speaker C:It looks.
Speaker C:Well, because they're like eight feet long.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:His nickname was 40 Take Willie.
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker B:Because he.
Speaker B:He loved doing a lot of takes.
Speaker B:And he very.
Speaker B:But he also gave apparently very simple notes.
Speaker B:He would say, either it stinks or be better.
Speaker B:Yeah, he wasn't really detailed.
Speaker B:He's like, it stinks.
Speaker C:There's one.
Speaker C:One scene, actually, when.
Speaker C:When Judah comes back to his palace and it's desolate and no one's there, and he walks across and there's no dialogue.
Speaker C:He just walks across.
Speaker C:And they did that eight times before he finally looked at Willie.
Speaker C:It was like, bro, what is going on?
Speaker C:You've got to tell me what you want different.
Speaker C:And he's like, well, the first time you did it, you kicked that piece of pot.
Speaker C:And I was just hoping that you would do that again naturally.
Speaker C:And he goes, willy, I did that on purpose.
Speaker B:Oh, my God.
Speaker C:That was a choice I made.
Speaker C:If you want me to do that again, just tell me, and I will do it every single time.
Speaker B:He's either the best or the worst director ever.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's hilarious.
Speaker A:Still up in the air.
Speaker B:Just secretly harboring anger that he didn't kick the pot.
Speaker B:Just say something, dude.
Speaker B:You stink.
Speaker C:What's funny?
Speaker C:So in.
Speaker C:This is actually a copy of Charlton Heston's journal that he kept really, from the beginning of filming all the way through winning the Oscar.
Speaker A:It's like a captain's log.
Speaker C:Yeah, basically.
Speaker C:And he talks about that for the first quarter of the shoot, about how frustrating it was working with Willie.
Speaker C:And Willie even told him.
Speaker C:He's like, you got to do better.
Speaker C:He's like, how can I do better?
Speaker C:He's like, I don't know.
Speaker C:You just have to do better.
Speaker A:He just writes down, I'm pretty sure this movie's going to be four hours.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:Well, he made him do the I'm a juicy in 16 times.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Oh, really?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I. Heston.
Speaker B:I haven't read the journal, but I know he did not.
Speaker B:He did not talk positively about the experience in post.
Speaker B:He said it was very difficult, like, the whole thing.
Speaker C:He definitely said it was the hardest movie he ever made.
Speaker B:What's crazy is that Willie.
Speaker B:40 Take Willie.
Speaker B:He rejected it initially because he said the first script was primitive and elementary and it needed work.
Speaker B:Or he called it hack work.
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker A:Really?
Speaker B:Oh, that Ben.
Speaker B:Hurts.
Speaker B:Sorry.
Speaker B:I'm gonna keep going back to that.
Speaker B:Well, been good.
Speaker B:See you too.
Speaker B:Come see, John.
Speaker B:The toy's opening.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Kyle.
Speaker C:Ben Hurting.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's just word play.
Speaker B:That's all it is.
Speaker B:But Burt.
Speaker B:Lanka Burn Lank.
Speaker B:Burt Lancaster turned it down because they called it boring.
Speaker B:Boring and belittling to Christianity.
Speaker B:Paul Newman declined it because he said, I don't have the legs to wear a tunic.
Speaker B:Kirk Douglas desperately wanted it, but he was passed over for Heston.
Speaker B:And so that's why he made Spartacus, actually, because it was a jab.
Speaker B:Back at the fact that.
Speaker B:And I mean, Kirk Douglas was the biggest deal at the time.
Speaker C:Oh, yeah.
Speaker C:So, I mean, he and Charlton Heston were pretty much like neck and neck as far as, like, world popularity was going because Charlton Heston had starred in the Ten Commandments a few years before that.
Speaker C:And that, like, sent him off.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And then Kirk is just shaking his fist.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker C:He's like, I'm going to make 20,000 leagues under the Sea.
Speaker C:I'm going to fight a rubber octopus.
Speaker B:My son's going to be in Wall Street.
Speaker C:He's gonna freak out and falling down.
Speaker B:Yes, he's gonna freak out, man.
Speaker B:12 to 14 hours, six days a week.
Speaker B:Shooting schedule for nine months.
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker B:They had a doctor by then.
Speaker B:This is one of the funniest things.
Speaker B:And this, this didn't.
Speaker B:I should have made this a random.
Speaker B:But a doctor was.
Speaker B:Eventually came on set.
Speaker B:They.
Speaker B:After these long days started to kick in and they said he was giving vitamin B injections.
Speaker B:But Wyler's family later suspected that they may have contained amphetamines.
Speaker C:Nice.
Speaker B:I love that.
Speaker B:I love.
Speaker C:Incredible.
Speaker C:You got to do whatever you do to make the damn movie.
Speaker B:We're here to do a job.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:We're going to get it done.
Speaker B:Truckers do it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:If truckers do it, why can't you do it on a massive 168 million Hollywood film in the middle of Italy.
Speaker B:In the middle of Italy, yeah.
Speaker B:Amphetamines for everybody.
Speaker B:That's what I always say.
Speaker B:They.
Speaker B:So this is crazy.
Speaker B:3000 people showed up to be extras.
Speaker B: They only needed: Speaker B: And when they selected the: Speaker B:So.
Speaker A:Which is also a scene in the movie.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:Which is also.
Speaker B:And then they threw burning ships.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's rough.
Speaker A:Yeah, that is rough.
Speaker B:That's rough.
Speaker B:I mean, that kind of feels like that would happen today, though.
Speaker C:Oh, absolutely.
Speaker B:It totally feels like people are bored.
Speaker B:It's like, let's.
Speaker B:Let's storm the gates.
Speaker B:And you said four hour movie.
Speaker B:The first cut did run four and a half hours.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Which is not surprising.
Speaker C:Like.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker C:Usually your.
Speaker C:Your first cut's going to be the absolute Longest.
Speaker C:So I would.
Speaker C:I am interested to see, like, if they just cut scenes out or if they whittled it down.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Over here it says if I hear the numbers, actually over 1 million feet of 65 millimeter film was shot.
Speaker B:That's about 190 million.
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker B:Or 190 miles.
Speaker C:Sorry.
Speaker C:Okay, okay.
Speaker B:190 miles.
Speaker C:So we were both.
Speaker B:It premiered on November 18th in New York.
Speaker B:It was number one of the box office for consecutive months.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:That's insane.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:147 million worldwide box office with two showings a day.
Speaker B:Two showings a day.
Speaker C:Domestically, I'm pretty sure it was 80 million, which I just looked up is over 800 million just in the US today, adjusted for inflation.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:It was the highest grossing film in Japan's history.
Speaker C:Oh, wow.
Speaker B:It's crazy.
Speaker C:It's.
Speaker B:You know.
Speaker A:Must be those swords.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:They got swords.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Did you read about the.
Speaker C:The writing controversy?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:There's.
Speaker B:So there's five credits split, right?
Speaker C:Well, there's only one person credited for
Speaker B:the writing, but there's five people that were involved.
Speaker C:Three, three, three.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker C:And the thing was, the guy who ended up getting credited did not do any work on the script of the version that was done.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:Like, so.
Speaker C:Remember, make sure I get the names right.
Speaker C:So Carl Tunberg is the one who's credited for writing it.
Speaker C:He did zero writing on that version of the script.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker C:Instead, it was Christopher Fry and Gore Vidal who ended up writing the script.
Speaker C:Gore Vidal really developed the relationships, which.
Speaker C:There was a little controversy.
Speaker C:William Wilder does not agree or did not agree with this.
Speaker C:This statement.
Speaker C:But Gore Vidal said that he suggested that he.
Speaker C:He insert some very homoerotic sentiments between Judah and Masala and told Messala's actor about it, but didn't tell Charlton Heston and William Wilder says that's absurd.
Speaker C:He never said that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And Heston, when he found that out, was pissed.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:He went on, like, a media tour.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Oh, really?
Speaker B:I can't Found the end.
Speaker B:I can't head the NRA if I don't solve this.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Issue is like, this is never gonna.
Speaker B:This is not gonna look good on my National Rifle association resume.
Speaker A:But also, look at my Oscar.
Speaker C:Yeah, but Gore Vidal wrote everything up to the Chariot Race, and then Christopher Fry was brought in because he was a better action writer.
Speaker B:And he.
Speaker C:He wrote the Chariot Race and kind of closed everything out.
Speaker B:Well, when I moved to Nashville and I was pretending like I wrote songs, we had a little saying called write a word, get a third Yep.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker C:Oh, and apparently write none of this version.
Speaker C:Get the whole thing.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:You show up, you drink.
Speaker C:Thanks.
Speaker C:Writers Guild of America.
Speaker A:Take some amphetamines.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:Tweak.
Speaker B:Take three shots of whiskey.
Speaker B:Write one word, and you get a third.
Speaker B:But most songs don't ever go anywhere because no one's actually doing anything in the city.
Speaker B:They just post about it.
Speaker B:So going to another writer's g. Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Get.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:11 wins on 12.
Speaker B:I am not bitter.
Speaker C:I was about to say bitter much?
Speaker B:I'm not bitter.
Speaker B:I've only failed at every, Literally every endeavor in my life.
Speaker B:But I. I'm fine.
Speaker B:I feel as good as Charlton Heston did.
Speaker A:I have a captain's log.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:You will find my journal.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's under the garbage can.
Speaker B:This film was nominated for 12 at 111.
Speaker B:And that record stood for 38 years until it tied Titanic or was tied by Titanic and Return of the King.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So makes sense.
Speaker C:Nothing's Beat it, though.
Speaker C:Sinners has a chance.
Speaker C:It's been nominated for 16, but history usually says that when you're nominated for more than 12, you tend to win almost none.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And there's also a bunch like this.
Speaker B:Is this happened to Fury Road?
Speaker B:You know, Fear Road got nominations, but
Speaker C:they Wolf of Wall Street.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And they basically just tossed it.
Speaker B:The Technical Sound Award.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:It's like, listen, listen, you're.
Speaker B:You're not going to win.
Speaker B:You didn't talk about climate change.
Speaker B:You know, you didn't have a diverse cast.
Speaker C:The whole movie was technically about climate change.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Your cast was just a bunch of white Australians that were mutated.
Speaker B:But here, here's Technical Sound Award.
Speaker B:Thank you for coming.
Speaker B:And thank you for not having Mel Gibson in the movie.
Speaker B:That was great.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker B:We really appreciate that.
Speaker B:Signed Hollywood.
Speaker C:The Jews.
Speaker C:Appreciate it.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:But anyway, I mean, there is so much more history.
Speaker B:But I, I, we would run out of time.
Speaker B:I mean, you know, Fantastic.
Speaker C:It's a wild movie.
Speaker C:Y' all should definitely check it out.
Speaker C:If you haven't.
Speaker C:I mean, like I said, so much of modern Seminar.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Seminar cinema has been completely affected by this movie.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Like when one of the documentaries I watched literally had everyone from George Lucas to Ridley Scott to the.
Speaker C:The woman who actually shot Sinners was talking about it as well.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:To this day is still one of the most influential movies that's ever been made.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:It's insanely ambitious.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:I think it's my number seven movie ever made.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Wow.
Speaker A:Made top ten.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:I'M not gonna lie.
Speaker B:I was looking at my top 50, and I was like, who could I take out?
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:I thought Naked Gun, but no, Leslie Nielsen stays.
Speaker C:Screw you, Charlton Heston.
Speaker C:Leslie Nielsen stays.
Speaker B:More fart jokes.
Speaker B:But yeah.
Speaker B:And maybe your best friend from childhood came back as a Roman emperor, you know, or whatever he was a governor.
Speaker B:What was it called?
Speaker A:He wants you to be an ark.
Speaker C:A tribune.
Speaker B:And maybe he's trying to make you feel like he's still your buddy, you know, let's throw the javelin at the door frame.
Speaker A:I'll kidnap your mom and your sister, but don't worry about it.
Speaker B:Yeah, I'm still your friend.
Speaker B:I mean, what a horrible thing.
Speaker B:Can you imagine your kids just running around just throwing javelins at the door and just be like, ah, horrible.
Speaker B:But maybe your friend's duping you.
Speaker B:Maybe.
Speaker B:Actually, they're gonna put you in the bottom of a ship and you're gonna just.
Speaker B:For seven years, you're gonna.
Speaker B:Yeah, Row, row, row your boat, and
Speaker A:then you're gonna get adopted.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:And what would save that is Movie Wars.
Speaker C:Yeah, listen, at least pass the time.
Speaker B:It would pass the time, you know, and you're not gonna get promoted to whatever.
Speaker B:Aquarius.
Speaker B:What was that?
Speaker B:What was his name?
Speaker B:I like Aquarius better name.
Speaker C:That wasn't his designation.
Speaker B:I like his.
Speaker B:I like Aquarius better.
Speaker B:Going off the rail.
Speaker B:Share Movie Wars.
Speaker B:Don't get stuck in the bottom of a boat.
Speaker C:Follow us on YouTube and be nice
Speaker B:to people and stay away from the lepers.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Don't get lepers unless they're your mom.
Speaker A:Unless you're your mom.
Speaker B:Unless your mom still use a broomstick.
Speaker B:Just be like, mom, I love you, but just kind of stay over there.
Speaker A:Just put a glove on the end of it.
Speaker B:Just.
Speaker B:Yeah, just a glove.
Speaker B:Just a clean.
Speaker B:A blue cleaning glove.
Speaker B:Just like, go away.
Speaker B:Go away.
Speaker B:Get back in your colony.
Speaker C:Dip it in Lysol and stick it back out.
Speaker B:Randos.
Speaker C:Randos.
Speaker B:Although it feels like it's.
Speaker B:It's like this.
Speaker B:These randos, more though, more so than ever on this show, are competing with the history.
Speaker C:Literally, though.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:All right, let me give the first rating.
Speaker B:Okay, Please do.
Speaker C:So if.
Speaker C:If you noticed when you were watching the movie, there was a lot of blue eyes.
Speaker C:Blue, very blue eyes, except one main character had brown eyes, and that was Basala, and he wore colored contacts because William Wilder realized he cast like 10 people with Stark blue eyes and was like, well, one of them's got to be brown.
Speaker C:So Masala got the short straw.
Speaker A:They had those back in the 50s.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:Oh, crazy.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And it's.
Speaker C:You couldn't tell.
Speaker C:There's no way you could tell.
Speaker C:It looks perfect.
Speaker A:Look natural.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:A lot of weird racial dynamics on this thing.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:A little bit like.
Speaker B:Is that called Iism?
Speaker B:Iris.
Speaker B:Ism.
Speaker B:I guess on I. Oh, for eye discrimination.
Speaker A:I'm like the Google dolls.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:These are my worst jokes.
Speaker B:These are.
Speaker B:These are the.
Speaker B:These are the worst jokes that I have.
Speaker B:I'm trying to look them up because he was my.
Speaker B:I was.
Speaker B:I confused.
Speaker B:I thought it was Hawkins, but no Masala was Stephen Boyd.
Speaker B:He was my favorite.
Speaker B:He was my favorite actor.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:He's incredible.
Speaker B:He was Irish.
Speaker B:Really?
Speaker C:Yeah, really.
Speaker B:Man, it's amazing what you can do when accomplished when you're Irish.
Speaker B:It's great.
Speaker B:The chariot race script was three words long.
Speaker B:Yep, that was it.
Speaker B:And then whenever.
Speaker B:So whenever the.
Speaker B:The choreographers came in, though, they expanded it to 38 pages.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:To instruct the choreography, which it seems like it would be more said.
Speaker A:Three words of 38 pages?
Speaker B:Well, originally it was just the three word script.
Speaker B:It just said the chariot race.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Is all it says in the script.
Speaker B:That's all it said.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:And they were like, anything else?
Speaker B:And the guy's like, no, we're going to choreograph this thing.
Speaker B:And then they blew it up to 38.
Speaker B:That's where, like, the choreography of the instructions, which is crazy.
Speaker B:No one died.
Speaker C:No one died.
Speaker B:No horses died.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:It's.
Speaker C:And even so, there was one injury, only one injury on the whole thing, and that was the.
Speaker C:The.
Speaker C:The son of the coordinator was Charlton Essen, stunt double.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker C:And when they.
Speaker C:And they planned that moment where.
Speaker C:Where his chariot jumps the other chariot.
Speaker C:What they didn't plan was the father told the son, hey, make sure you chain yourself into the chariot so you don't go flying out of it when it jumps.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker C:And he was like, sure, dad.
Speaker C:And then immediately unhooked himself.
Speaker C:So when he went over, he flipped over the chariot and pushed himself away so that he didn't get, like run over by a 700 pound chariot.
Speaker C:And William Wyler loved it so much that he was like, can we shoot Charlton climbing back into the chariot and just keep it.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Total accident.
Speaker B:When they thought he died.
Speaker B:Yeah, originally they thought he died, but he only got a cut on his chin.
Speaker B:But then they set him on fire.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:Because that's what they do.
Speaker B:But no, they thought he died.
Speaker B:And his dad was on set and they said that he turned pale.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And, yeah.
Speaker B:He Thought he literally died.
Speaker C:Also, Charlton Aston only trained for five weeks for that sequence.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And literally he told his trainer the, the guy who choreographed it, and he's like, so look, I feel good, you know, when it's just us here on the track, but there's going to be seven teams, like, what are we gonna do?
Speaker C:And he's like, well, if it makes you feel any better, I'm pretty sure you're gonna win.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:He's like, I think you're gonna win.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:No, that script's only three words.
Speaker B:Yeah, I couldn't tell.
Speaker B:The script doesn't say anything.
Speaker B:I think it's funny too that they got.
Speaker B:They got 80 horses from Yugoslavia for that scene.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And they didn't kill any of them.
Speaker B:But you know, Francis Ford Coppola sees one tribe with a.
Speaker C:With a cow.
Speaker B:With a cow.
Speaker B:He's like, hack that thing up, baby.
Speaker B:Back it up.
Speaker B:And that's how he sounds.
Speaker B:He's.
Speaker B:He's New York Italian, but hack it up.
Speaker B:Hack up that cow, man.
Speaker B:Which, speaking of horses, they were consistently faster than the cars that had the camera.
Speaker B:So they had Italian cars that could not keep up with the horses.
Speaker B:So they had, they had all these little Italian cars.
Speaker B:So they actually had to get American cars.
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker B:So they end up having to go buy a bunch of cars to actually keep up with the horses.
Speaker B:Ford F150, a Dodge Ram.
Speaker A:A Dodge Charger.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:All of a sudden there's a voice.
Speaker B:Can you not keep up with the horses?
Speaker B:Dodge Ram.
Speaker C:What's crazy is how little of that scene is.
Speaker C:Is back projector.
Speaker C:It's all real.
Speaker C:Like they're all.
Speaker C:Even the close ups.
Speaker C:They're all right there.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:The MGM lion was silenced.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker B:This is really interesting.
Speaker B:I didn't even notice it.
Speaker B:That.
Speaker B:But he wanted to set the scene for the Nativity scene.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:They gave him permission to have the lion be silent.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Just a picture.
Speaker C:No movement, no roaring.
Speaker C:And I'm pretty sure it's the only time that's been done.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Jesus is the real lion.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:The lion.
Speaker B:The lion of Judah.
Speaker C:The lion of the Lamb.
Speaker C:The lion of Judah.
Speaker C:Ben Hur.
Speaker B:We did that song in church.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I actually like that song.
Speaker B:I don't like worship music that much, but I like that song.
Speaker B:And then, let's see.
Speaker B:And then there was a choice to have no music during the chariot race,
Speaker C:which I think is the greatest choice they made in that entire movie.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:They said that the, the crowd and the crashes in the hooves Would be sound music enough is what the composer
Speaker C:said, which makes it so stark at the end of the race when the horns come in, it's just.
Speaker C:Oh, it's so good.
Speaker A:Yeah, it was.
Speaker A:It was.
Speaker A:Honestly, with all the real people there, too.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah, why not?
Speaker C:1500 people on set every day.
Speaker B:Wow, man.
Speaker B:Centurion.
Speaker B:Romans love their horns.
Speaker B:Yeah, they were like normal.
Speaker B:Blow the horn again.
Speaker A:Very horny people.
Speaker B:Yeah, very horny.
Speaker B:And I got a couple of Hitler hales in here, too.
Speaker B:This is pretty Hitler, but you can see they were doing that.
Speaker A:That's the first thing I said to him when we watched the movie.
Speaker A:He's like, oh, there's Elon.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:They're just throwing their hearts out to you.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:It's crazy.
Speaker B:I mean, I was like, man, this has been a thing for a while.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Hitler stole it from Caesar.
Speaker B:People just hail anybody.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:You know, they'll hail Hitler, Hail cabs.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So you better get in line.
Speaker B:I'm gonna blow that horn.
Speaker B:The question.
Speaker B:And the dumbest little horns, too.
Speaker B:Just no, no.
Speaker B:No keys, no buttons.
Speaker C:I love the ones, though, that were like, super long, that go all the way around them.
Speaker C:Like.
Speaker C:Like the Whoville horns.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker C:Very Dr. Seuss.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:It's just plungers, you know, that they chrome.
Speaker C:It is crazy to me.
Speaker C:Like, that set for the chariot race is pretty sure still holds the record for the largest set in film history because it was 2,000ft across, and I think it was four or five stories tall.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And it.
Speaker C:And obviously, like fake back and everything, but for all the stone was just like plaster that they sat there and carved into stones.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker C:Like, just the workmanship.
Speaker C:Those statues on either end of the.
Speaker C:The centerpiece.
Speaker C:Like, who comes up with that?
Speaker C:That looked so freaking cool.
Speaker B:Well, this is back when they cared about that stuff.
Speaker B:I mean, they didn't need cgi, so they had artists and they.
Speaker B:I mean, they had.
Speaker B:They had people that were.
Speaker B:That were.
Speaker B:They cared about it.
Speaker C:Can you believe send help cost more than this movie?
Speaker B:No way.
Speaker B:The question.
Speaker B:The questions would been her have been better with Marlon Brando as the lead?
Speaker B:God, no, I don't think so.
Speaker C:No.
Speaker C:Oh, my God.
Speaker C:That would have been a nightmare.
Speaker C:It would have.
Speaker C:It would have turned into Streetcar Named Desire.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Masada.
Speaker C:Yeah, Masada.
Speaker B:What do you think?
Speaker A:I think with the eyes, it's Charleston.
Speaker A:Hessen's eyes just would have been different.
Speaker A:There's a lot of close ups because they're experimenting with the shadowing.
Speaker A:You know them like.
Speaker A:Yeah, can't see Marlon Brando and his dead eyes.
Speaker A:It would be less enlightening.
Speaker B:I would have loved to see it because Copa kind of, like, allowed him to act like a child and kind of enabled him.
Speaker B:But Wyler doesn't sound like.
Speaker B:He's like, you stink, Brando.
Speaker C:You stink.
Speaker B:I wanted you to kick the pot.
Speaker C:Go lose the weight.
Speaker B:And Brando's just like, I'm Marlon Brando.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:Sorry to disrespect you, man.
Speaker B:I know you're dead, but, man, you were dramatic.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:But I don't think so either.
Speaker B:I like testing here, and I'm not.
Speaker B:I'm not like a Heston guy, but he definitely had an era, you know, like this and Ten Commandments, like, he had a thing.
Speaker C:Well, then after this, he did Planet of the Apes.
Speaker C:He did Soylent Green, he did the Omega man, which was the.
Speaker C:The second iteration of what became Iron I am Legend.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker C:Like, dude had a crazy career, really.
Speaker C:The funny thing is the reason he ended up getting this role was because he purposefully, right after Ten Commandments, purposefully took a.
Speaker C:A supporting role in the big country, acting below Gregory Peck just so he could work with William Wyler.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker C:Like, William Wyler was kind of the Christopher Nolan of the day, where everyone's like, I will take whatever pay cut I need to take just to work with you.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And that's why he ended up getting this, was because he was like, I have to make moves with this guy because I need to be in everything he does.
Speaker A:And then he told him, I also race horses.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Is Ben Hur the greatest epic ever made or.
Speaker B:And what I found in my research is it typically goes neck and neck with Lawrence of Lawrence of Arabia, which
Speaker C:I still haven't seen, and I need to.
Speaker A:Yeah, same here.
Speaker C:In a lot of ways.
Speaker C:And this is in no way dissing Ben Hur, because I think Ben Hur is a genuinely flawless film.
Speaker C:Ben Hur crawled so movies like Lawrence of Arabia could run.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:I don't think anyone would have accepted a movie like Lawrence of Arabia without the precedent set by Ben Hur.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker C:And I can't say it's the best because I.
Speaker C:And it.
Speaker C: s that you can think of since: Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Honestly, the shadow work was just brilliant on this Too.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:And no one was experimenting with shadows at the time outside of noir.
Speaker C:Like, it was a very black and white concept to experiment with shadows the way that they did in a color film.
Speaker B:I didn't.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I didn't think about that.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I. I don't know, man.
Speaker B:I, I, Maybe it's just recency bias, but I kind of walked away thinking, this is probably the best epic I've ever seen.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Like, it just.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:It just was.
Speaker B:Maybe because I'm a nerd for what happened, how they made it and their commitment to sets and their commitment to realism and the fact they didn't have any effects or computer effects available.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I just.
Speaker B:What they accomplished was so stunning.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And so I. I was just like, well, given the tool set they had, I mean, this kind of has to be.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:It feels.
Speaker B:Again, it's recency bias, but I'm like, that was one of the best things I ever saw.
Speaker B:Like, you didn't think I was gonna like it.
Speaker C:I was worried.
Speaker B:And then I text you.
Speaker B:I was like, I'm kind of obsessed with this, actually.
Speaker B:Like, I literally, I'm dreaming about this.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I had to watch it in chunks because, you know, I just.
Speaker B:Because of my schedule.
Speaker B:But, like, I couldn't wait to get back to it.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:How about this one?
Speaker B:Ben Hur versus Gladiator.
Speaker B:In terms of sword and sandals, I
Speaker C:think Ben Hur has to take it.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker C:Just because.
Speaker C:And the guy who shot Gladiator was in one of the documentaries talking about, like, how Ben Hur influenced it.
Speaker C:And the weird thing is, Gladiator had the chance to cheat and they took it.
Speaker C:They did a lot more CG than you would think was in that movie.
Speaker C: tations of it literally being: Speaker C:I.
Speaker C:And I would even say that with Lord of the Rings.
Speaker C:Like, I think Lord of the Rings is.
Speaker C:Is incredible in its own right because it takes every element of everything and puts it together.
Speaker C:But it didn't really have the same limitations that you had with this movie.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:What do you think?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Honestly, I just.
Speaker A:I like that it was, like, less gory.
Speaker A:I didn't know what to expect from, like, a 50s movie.
Speaker A:I didn't expect it to be as, like, grotesque as, like, Gladiator can be.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:So, like.
Speaker A:But, like, you know, when Masala gets ran over by The.
Speaker A:By the chariot.
Speaker A:I was like, even that was like, that was bearable.
Speaker A:Like.
Speaker A:And I think that would paid homage to the fact that there's a Christian undertone to it too.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:But like, yeah, I think it is the best.
Speaker A:And that might be recent bias as well.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker A:Yeah, but yeah, when we watched it, I was like, this is incredible.
Speaker A:Like, this is.
Speaker B:Well, it's mesmerizing.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Is what it is.
Speaker B:That's what it was for me.
Speaker B:I was just so like, I was engrossed.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:I mean the colors are vivid, but at the same time, none of the costumes look cartoony.
Speaker C:None of them look like costumes.
Speaker C:They look like clothes.
Speaker C:And that was something the costume designers paid very close attention to because like I said, Cecil B. DeMille was very known for these kind of over the top grandeur, you know, with, with his costumes.
Speaker C:And they wanted to achieve that.
Speaker C:That sheen without it just looking like fresh out the bag from, from you know, Party City.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:They wanted it to everything feel like actual lived in clothing.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Honestly, I was just like, I'm trying to think of like anything that maybe didn't look like realistically.
Speaker A:I think Masala sword was like the only one.
Speaker A:Like I can tell that's like in the 50s.
Speaker A:But everything else was really great.
Speaker A:Even like the way they set up the armory with all the spears.
Speaker A:I'm like, you can tell that's like real.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And you're like, oh crap, dude.
Speaker A:Like.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah, I think.
Speaker B:And also Ben, hers arena was six time.
Speaker B:Six times larger than the Gladiator one.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:That's crazy.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Absolutely insane.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, it's, it's tough.
Speaker B:Like I, I do go Ben, her.
Speaker B:And I'm not going to say by a lot because I do actually have a lot of respect for, For Gladiator.
Speaker C:Oh, absolutely.
Speaker B:But just this pure scale and the, the, the.
Speaker B:The width of the story they're telling.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And the phases of the story and the fact that we got like a 10 minute intro with just the most beautiful score.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I was kind of Overture.
Speaker B:It took me back at first.
Speaker B:I was like, oh, we're in it.
Speaker B:I thought my screen had froze.
Speaker C:Oh, really?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Because I was, I was on the treadmill.
Speaker C:Oh.
Speaker C:With the overture.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I was like, oh yeah.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:I was like, oh yeah.
Speaker C:We.
Speaker C:We skipped the overture and the intermission.
Speaker B:Oh.
Speaker B:And I.
Speaker B:But it was so, but I listened.
Speaker B:It was so beautiful.
Speaker B:But when I realized it was an overture, I was.
Speaker B:Is great.
Speaker B:The music is.
Speaker C:Oh yeah.
Speaker C:That is.
Speaker C:I will Say, the only thing to me that truly dates this movie is the music.
Speaker C:But it's the most tolerable version of 50s music I've ever heard.
Speaker B:Yeah, I think it's stunning.
Speaker B:Yeah, I think it's stunning.
Speaker C:So good.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I still give Gladiator credit, but just again, recency bias again.
Speaker B:But I just was.
Speaker B:I was nearly as me mesmerized watching Gladiators.
Speaker B:I was this.
Speaker B:And part of it too.
Speaker B:One thing I noticed and.
Speaker B:And this is.
Speaker B:Is more of a sign of the times, but acting was so interesting then when you watch these older actors because they let lines breathe.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Do you notice this?
Speaker C:Oh, yes.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:They're like, they're so like almost strong jawed and like they'll like deliver a line and then they just let it kind of breathe for a minute and then the other one will respond and there's another like five second pause.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Like the dialogue is written in a way where you kind of have to like live with it.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I loved it.
Speaker C:Oh, yeah.
Speaker C:There's so much facial acting going on in this movie.
Speaker C:It's.
Speaker C:It's insane because there's literally like we.
Speaker C:We were watching it and there was.
Speaker C:I forget exactly where in the movie it is.
Speaker C:Huh?
Speaker A:Was it the bride line where he.
Speaker A:Where that was like incredible.
Speaker C:That was a perfect line, by the way, when he's talking to Esther at the beginning and he's just like, if you weren't a bride, I would kiss you right now.
Speaker C:And if she said, if I wasn't a bride, there'd be no need to say goodbye.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:Oh my God.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:It was really good.
Speaker C:So well done.
Speaker C:But there's another moment where, where I. I think it's right after Esther has told him that his mom and sister are dead.
Speaker C:And he goes outside.
Speaker C:There's like a minute long scene where he says nothing but all of the acting and entire story is told.
Speaker C:And how his face changes over the period of that scene because he literally goes through three of the five stages of grief in his face right there.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:Like it's insane psychology.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:101.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:You just don't get that from most modern actors now.
Speaker C:You don't get that.
Speaker C:Live in the silence.
Speaker C:Act in the silence.
Speaker C:Show me what you're feeling.
Speaker C:Don't say what you're feeling.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:The modem now is like conversational.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:Over index on.
Speaker B:And they're doing this on Netflix now.
Speaker B:It's like you got to say what you're doing.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:They're probably doing laundry or checking Facebook.
Speaker C:Like I think, I think that's why people resonate so much with the, the, the video diary scene from interstellar, because Matthew McConaughey doesn't say a word for that three minute sequence.
Speaker C:He just sits there and, and it's all in his face.
Speaker C:He's watching 27 years go by in three minutes and it's all in his face.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Crazy.
Speaker B:Last question before the closer.
Speaker B:Could they.
Speaker B: t's assume I haven't seen the: Speaker B: Let's say it didn't happen in: Speaker B:Could they film the chariot race the same way?
Speaker B:Or would it be modern safety regulations cgi?
Speaker B:Would they even allow it?
Speaker C:I have a plan.
Speaker C:I know how to do it.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker C:And I can't tell anyone because I want to make it happen.
Speaker C:No, I'm kidding.
Speaker C:What I would do, honestly, we're at a point with technology where actually I think it would be very feasible to make robotic horses.
Speaker B:Oh really?
Speaker C:And make them actual.
Speaker C:Look like actual horses, but make it so that you set all seven laps and every horse will do exactly what they need to, including like when a chariot crashes or whatever.
Speaker C:You can plan all that out.
Speaker C:And I think it would actually be very possible.
Speaker C:It wouldn't be cheap, it'd be very expensive.
Speaker C:But I, Yeah, I think it could very artistically be shot today if someone actually would put the time and the money and the thought into it.
Speaker B:Are you advocating for robot horses to steal real hard working horses.
Speaker A:This is America 100.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker C:Wow.
Speaker B:Good luck with the horse union.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Jockeys, they call themselves the horse's ass messes.
Speaker B:Yeah, There you go.
Speaker B:What do you think?
Speaker A:Yeah, I mean like I see what he's saying.
Speaker A:I, I think that would just be hard to time too.
Speaker A:You're basically like relying on one guy.
Speaker A:Like when everything crashes, be like, you have four seconds.
Speaker A:Don't mess this up.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Or else you are dead.
Speaker C:But see that's the thing is the horses would be pre programmed that for
Speaker A:like the scenario where it like doesn't go well in case it like.
Speaker C:No, like, like all of the horses would be pre programmed.
Speaker C:So when something is supposed to break down, like when a chariot's supposed to fall apart, everyone would automatically just go out of, of the way.
Speaker A:Oh, that's true.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I do think it's possible.
Speaker A:Like I, I'm, I'm surprised they got that many horses just in one location.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So like, and I know there's more horses because there's more people that's how that works.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:So, yeah, I think it would be possible.
Speaker A:I think it would be super dangerous.
Speaker A:And honestly, like, fun to watch.
Speaker A:I'd be like, what are you doing?
Speaker A:I'm like, I'm go watch a race.
Speaker A:I'm like, oh, cool.
Speaker A:Is it the Kentucky Derby?
Speaker A:No, they're filming a movie.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:We know the winner in advance.
Speaker B:So, though, get some, like, really not dedicated actor actress out there, too.
Speaker B:Like someone that doesn't like.
Speaker B:Like, Stallone does all of his own stunts, but get someone that would never even do their own stunt.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Or be seen near a stunt.
Speaker B:Like Miley Cyrus or something.
Speaker C:You know, she sat on that wrecking ball.
Speaker B:It's true.
Speaker C:It's true.
Speaker C:She exposed her lady bits to head of hepatitis.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:There would be a lot more actors that would be willing to do it too.
Speaker A:Like, Tom Cruise would be like, could I joke?
Speaker A:Jump from one chariot.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:So I think there's.
Speaker B:I think there's, like, maybe two or three directors today that there's.
Speaker B:Because there had to be two parts of it.
Speaker B:Like, there would have to be directors that are willing, but also directors that are willing to fight for the idea.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And Nolan.
Speaker C:Yeah, Nolan and me.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And you.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And you would be the only ones to fight.
Speaker A:That's a hard decision, honestly.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's true.
Speaker B:It's true.
Speaker C:Chris, if you hear this, produce it for me.
Speaker C:I want to make it.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:After I'm.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:This Odyssey movie, I have no idea what to expect.
Speaker C:I've purposely avoided every single trailer.
Speaker B:I've only seen one.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:What did you think?
Speaker B:It does not look grand.
Speaker B:You know, it doesn't look grand in the trailer.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker B:It will be.
Speaker C:I think he's holding back.
Speaker C:Yeah, he does that.
Speaker C:He tries to, like, not really show you what's going to happen.
Speaker B:Yeah, I think so, too.
Speaker C:The craziest shit never shows up in the trailer.
Speaker B:I still had zero idea what Inception was about when I saw it, when I went.
Speaker B:When I got.
Speaker B:When I got you finished it, you
Speaker C:were like, I still don't know.
Speaker B:I got to the theater and I'd watched trailers.
Speaker B:I'm like, I have no idea what this movie is.
Speaker A:Also, I'm bad at puzzles.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:And tops.
Speaker B:This will be hard for Seth, but what won the movie for you and what lost it for you?
Speaker C:I mean, it's not that hard.
Speaker C:What won it for me is just the absolute scale of when it happened and how it happened.
Speaker C:And, like, the fact that they went To Rome.
Speaker C:Shot the whole thing in Rome.
Speaker C:Rented out an entire studio, not just like a couple sound stages, the entire studio.
Speaker C:Chinichita, I believe is what it was called Italian for cinema city.
Speaker C:And yeah, rented the whole thing out, spent 10 months there.
Speaker C:They shot this whole thing in 10 months, by the way.
Speaker B:Wowzers.
Speaker C:Just, it's, it's insane what they were able to achieve for, for having every limitation of just the time being thrown at them.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:The only thing that loses this movie for me and it, it is, it's sad.
Speaker C:And I understand the times and I understand that they weren't trying to be offensive with this, but the one instance of brown face was just a little disappointing.
Speaker B:Which one was it again?
Speaker C:Sheik Ilderim.
Speaker B:The guy.
Speaker B:That's right, yeah.
Speaker C:The horses is played by a Welsh man who did, you know, a bang up job for what he was asked to do.
Speaker C:And it definitely was nowhere near as offensive as Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's.
Speaker C: minder of, oh right, this was: Speaker B:Not to mention all the white Israelites and the.
Speaker C:I mean again, you're talking about an American adaptation, right?
Speaker C:That doesn't quite bother me as much.
Speaker C:Especially since Charlton Heston is actually like.
Speaker C:He was actually Jewish.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker C:Yeah, it's just, it's just a product of the times.
Speaker C:I mean it's nowhere near as egregious as Yule Brenner as an Egyptian.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:That's crazy.
Speaker C:So yeah, to me that is the only flaw in an otherwise flawless movie which.
Speaker C:And again, I don't think it was malicious, I don't think it was an attempt to be offensive.
Speaker C: what the industry did in the: Speaker C:And it's a sad idea that it happened, but otherwise the movie is perfect.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:What do you think first thing is?
Speaker C:Logistics.
Speaker A:I mean like they didn't have printers, so there was probably like you relied on word of mouth to be like, you just gotta show up here.
Speaker C:Typewriters.
Speaker C:That was it.
Speaker A:There's gonna be 2,000 people.
Speaker A:Just find me in the crowd.
Speaker A:So that's the first thing.
Speaker A:Well, one also for me is like, yeah, Heston just did an amazing job and he, he so clearly understood what they were trying to do with like the shadow work too.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:That like they might have done 40 takes to get there, but he got it.
Speaker A:But what lost it is, I don't know, as a brown person, the brown face was a little distracting, but he was so Goofy that I'm like, if it's comedy, it's okay.
Speaker C:I'll let it pass.
Speaker A:Also, if you're wondering, my name is not John De Toy, it's Bobby Lee.
Speaker B:So there you go.
Speaker A:So go ruin his career.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:But I don't know.
Speaker A:I don't think in much else, like, there's nothing wrong with the film.
Speaker A:Even like the, the sea.
Speaker C:Like what.
Speaker A:The sea battle.
Speaker A:Some of it's like a little cheesy, but it's well done.
Speaker A:Like.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I don't know.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Well, one of.
Speaker B:For me, I mean, I don't know what else.
Speaker B:I'll go back to the acting, just the style of dialog.
Speaker B:I think it was refreshing there.
Speaker B:There was so much like, there wasn't music like the dialog.
Speaker B:Like, let the statements breathe, let the words breathe.
Speaker B:And that's just not something that's done a lot.
Speaker B:We have very busy dialogue and we have more busy dialogue now because people are more distracted.
Speaker B:So they have actors saying more and doing more to try to keep people informed of what they're doing while they're looking at Instagram.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, and so much about how movies are made today are catered to our low attention spans and our low IQs.
Speaker B:But this movie is.
Speaker B:You have to really take it in.
Speaker B:It's like a cigar.
Speaker B:It's like a fine cigar.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I love that about it.
Speaker B:So that's my favorite thing, probably.
Speaker B:And one more thing I love about it is even though it's.
Speaker B:It's three and what, three hours, 42 minutes.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:It.
Speaker B:To me, it never lost momentum.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, but I was bought in.
Speaker B:I was like, bought in.
Speaker B:I can see how some people might think this is kind of like my wife is kind of like, this is a long movie.
Speaker B:I'm like, I love it.
Speaker C:But even in the slower character driven moments, you're just drawn in by the people talking.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:And what they're saying and, and the passion at which they're trying to, to make their plea with the audience.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Like, it's, it's so good.
Speaker B:The only thing that lost it for me, and this is just a small thing.
Speaker B:And it's more like, I just want to know more about their friendship when they were younger.
Speaker B:Masala.
Speaker C:So actually I can, I can answer that real quick.
Speaker C:In, in the book, what happened was.
Speaker C:And, and this is where I, I do understand the subtext of.
Speaker C:Because what, what.
Speaker C:I forget which of the two writers said this, but.
Speaker C:But what he was saying was what he meant by.
Speaker C:There should be some sort of lover type relationship with them.
Speaker C:He literally said, there's some emotional relationship between these two characters that's almost like two lovers.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker C:And so I don't think even at the time, he was trying to suggest that they should be gay.
Speaker C:What?
Speaker C:Because in the book, what happens is they're on a hunting trip and Judah almost dies and Masala saves his life and brings him back to get help.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker C:So that is where they became basically brothers.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:Bonded in that moment of Masala saved his life and they.
Speaker C:They allude to that one time very quickly when they first meet in the movie.
Speaker C:But, yeah, that's.
Speaker C:That's the context of the book of, like, why they're so close.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I had a hard time a little bit early on when they first started interacting as friends again.
Speaker B:I was kind of like, this is kind of weird.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:No, it just was kind of a.
Speaker A:There is tension there.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:But that's the point is he's been gone for, like, 12 years.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Like, it's.
Speaker C:It's.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker C:And in.
Speaker C:In a very similar way, it is like someone that you are that closely bonded to, you haven't seen them in 12 years, you're hoping things are the same, but also, you know, you're different.
Speaker C:So they're probably different.
Speaker C:Like, the tension made sense.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker C:And from what they were saying about the original version of the script, none of that was there.
Speaker C:There was no character depth whatsoever.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And it wasn't enough to, like, like, make me not like the film.
Speaker B:It was just a weird thing, kind of like getting it, like, used to this, like, also a lot of implications.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I was like, whoa.
Speaker B:Like, how close were they?
Speaker C:Like, I mean, that's the thing.
Speaker C:And it's such a long movie.
Speaker C:You would think they could spend an extra minute explaining that.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:All of a sudden they're throwing javelins at the wall.
Speaker C:Doing the.
Speaker C:Doing the cheers.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:All right, let's do our war zone.
Speaker B:Let's do the scorecards.
Speaker B:I already.
Speaker B:I don't even feel like I need to ask you, but, I mean, we
Speaker C:all know it's going to be all yeses across the board for me.
Speaker C:But start with acting, because we do acting, writing, directing, and what?
Speaker C:Film.
Speaker C:Film composition.
Speaker B:He didn't remember his own thing.
Speaker C:It's true.
Speaker C:It is true.
Speaker C:Acting, obviously flawless.
Speaker C:Everyone, Every.
Speaker C:Even.
Speaker C:Even the unfortunate brown face incident, everyone did an insanely good job at.
Speaker C:At playing their character, bringing you in, drawing, like, making you want to hear every line that had been written.
Speaker C:So obviously acting is a yes from me writing.
Speaker C:I can't.
Speaker C:I can't think of any other movie in that decade that would stand up to the test of time.
Speaker C:The way that this movie has, like, it truly ended up defining the end of the 50s as far as filmmaking is concerned.
Speaker C:And I think a lot of it comes out in the script.
Speaker C:A lot of it comes out in how simple some of the statements are, but also at the same time, like how poignant they are.
Speaker C:So writing's an obvious yes for me.
Speaker C:William Wilder seems to be kind of a little bit of a predecessor to Stanley Kubrick and his just grandiose ideas of.
Speaker C:Of how to make a very epic story.
Speaker C:A grounded person, driven story, insane job.
Speaker C:I don't care if it takes you a ton of takes.
Speaker C:Get what you're trying to get.
Speaker C:If it takes that long, it takes that long.
Speaker C:David Fincher is famous for talking about.
Speaker C:He's like, if I've spent quarter million dollars on a set, $2 million for everyone else to be on, on, on stage.
Speaker C:I'm renting this, this sound stage out.
Speaker C:Like, yeah, I'm going to make sure everyone's extremely happy with the shot that we get.
Speaker C:So I'm going to get 22 takes.
Speaker C:Takes.
Speaker C:If it takes that.
Speaker C:So wonderful.
Speaker C:As far as the film composition, unmatched.
Speaker C:You watch other movies from even the 60s anywhere around that time period and, and Jason and the Argonauts is a very other, like, great idea of an epic that came out a little bit after that and used a lot of clay animation, which unfortunately dates it still.
Speaker C:It's very ambitious, but the clay animation really dates it to that time.
Speaker C:And you look back at, at the Ten Commandments, and it was still.
Speaker C:It was insane, but also just still a little cartoony.
Speaker C:Like, it didn't feel grounded like this.
Speaker C:Every ounce of thought that went into every prop, every costume, every set that was built, 300 sets just completely made.
Speaker C:Everything that happens that makes up the rest of this film, the sound design, like, it's all perfect.
Speaker C:Yeah, Four yeses for me.
Speaker B:Bam.
Speaker A:Four yeses for me, too.
Speaker A:Acting is phenomenal.
Speaker A:They're.
Speaker A:They're using their surroundings well.
Speaker A:There's a lot of great interaction writing.
Speaker A:You would think with a three and a three quarters hour movie, there's no holes.
Speaker A:So, yeah, it's a flawless script.
Speaker A:It really, really is.
Speaker A:And then what's the third one?
Speaker C:Directing.
Speaker A:Directing, Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean, just to have that initial interaction with the original from the Asylum film, it just, it came together even more, I think, because of that.
Speaker A:And then Composition is pretty.
Speaker C:I just.
Speaker A:It's just pretty.
Speaker A:Everything's pretty about this movie.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:I've never looked even.
Speaker A:Like, the lepers were pretty.
Speaker B:Yeah, they were.
Speaker B:Those were some good looking lepers.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I was like, oh, if that's what leprosy was, that doesn't look that bad.
Speaker B:Not so bad.
Speaker A:I should go to Judas Judez.
Speaker B:It's worse than having asthma.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:This is no kidding.
Speaker C:Fun fact about the visuals, before you jump into it, those lenses, that's the only time they were used until Quentin Tarantino came in to their offices to look at what lenses he wanted to use for the Hateful Eight.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker C:Saw those in a display box and was like, what are those?
Speaker C:And they're like, oh, those are the Ben Hur lenses.
Speaker C:And he's like, oh, can.
Speaker C:Can I use them?
Speaker C:So hateful8 was shot with the same lenses that they shot Ben Hur, and
Speaker B:they destroyed two of those.
Speaker B:Two on set.
Speaker C:Cameras.
Speaker C:Not the lens.
Speaker B:Oh, cameras.
Speaker C:The cameras alone cost $100,000 a piece of.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:It's crazy.
Speaker A:That's nothing, though.
Speaker C:But, yeah.
Speaker C:That's another reason why it just looks as good as it does.
Speaker C:Is like they made these lenses just for those.
Speaker C:That movie.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Did you.
Speaker B:You did all your categories?
Speaker B:I did the four yeses.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I think cast, fantastic.
Speaker B:My favorite actor was Stephen Boyd.
Speaker B:Stephen Boyd.
Speaker B:Loved how he played Masala.
Speaker B:I loved how they let the dialogue breathe.
Speaker B:And I just think this is just a great, epic film.
Speaker B:And I love everything everybody did.
Speaker B:I literally.
Speaker B:I mean, Esther was a little sometimes.
Speaker B:But what's funny is she's the only real Israeli in the film.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Godot kind of makes sense.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker B:But, you know, but for the most part, I liked Esther, but there was a couple of scenes like, okay, but, like, 99% of the acting is fantastic.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And then in terms of writing, again, I can't talk about the dialogue anymore.
Speaker B:I love how it's written, I love how it's delivered.
Speaker B:Directing, I mean, this is just the scale.
Speaker B:And I keep going back because Apocalypse now is a top 10 film for me.
Speaker B:And again, I love it, but sometimes I just wonder, like, I'm watching what Wyler dealt with here.
Speaker B:And again, I know he didn't have monsoons and his lead actor didn't have a heart attack and all the things, but I'm just like Coppola.
Speaker B:Like, he extended that shooting schedule to 100 or 238 days.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And same thing with the budget.
Speaker B:Like, he just had lost complete control of that.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And somehow this was much less dramatic and it's much more grandiose.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And so in terms of answering this differently than you guys did, like, I'm just like.
Speaker B:And Copal was one of my favorite directors.
Speaker B:I'm like, why?
Speaker B:How could Wyler do this with less tools.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, and.
Speaker B:And just like.
Speaker B:And he didn't make the Godfather.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I'm like, but he just this.
Speaker B:I mean, there was a lot of stuff that happened.
Speaker B:Don't get me wrong.
Speaker B:It was.
Speaker B:But it.
Speaker B:Not nearly as much stuff as Apocalypse Now.
Speaker B:I'm just like, can Coppola make a film?
Speaker B:Can he make a complete film without losing his mind and trying to kill himself?
Speaker B:So anyway, that's what I thought of.
Speaker B:But yeah, it's a straight up.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:And then film composition editing was.
Speaker B:Was so spot on.
Speaker B:And it's funny because we did Titanic at the same time and on the Titanic episode I'll have some weird comments about editing.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:But this way, I mean, it's just straight up.
Speaker B:I mean, the scenes are long.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:It's funny.
Speaker B:For as long as it is.
Speaker B:You could argue that.
Speaker B:There's like 15 scenes.
Speaker B:It feels like.
Speaker B:Yeah, it feels like it's 15 long scenes.
Speaker B:But again, they never lost momentum to me.
Speaker B:Like, it just felt like it was carrying me through and there was no waste.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:There's not a single unnecessary moment in it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:This might be in the top 10 score for me.
Speaker B:Yeah, this.
Speaker B:This might be.
Speaker B:I was that from the get go.
Speaker B:From the overture on.
Speaker B:I was like, oh yeah, this is legit.
Speaker B:Like I was all in on the score and it's just.
Speaker B:It's just stunning.
Speaker B:The choreography.
Speaker B:Sorry.
Speaker B:The cinematography is just.
Speaker B:The wide lenses, the.
Speaker B:The gigantic sets, the way they use real land, like, it's just gorgeous.
Speaker B:So I mean, straight up for.
Speaker B:For.
Speaker B:Hell yeses.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:The board.
Speaker C:Good job.
Speaker C:Ben Hur.
Speaker B:Yeah, good job.
Speaker B: Good thing they made it in: Speaker C:As Sheik Ilam.
Speaker B:Who was it?
Speaker C:Morgan Freeman as the she.
Speaker B:Oh, really?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Who played Judah?
Speaker C:Some unknown dude.
Speaker C:That was.
Speaker A:It was.
Speaker A:It was a mini, mainly unknown cast.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was.
Speaker C:It was bad.
Speaker C:It was promoted mostly as a faith based film, but weirdly, faith based audiences are actually pretty, pretty like picky with their.
Speaker C:Their action movies.
Speaker C:And it just, it was not good.
Speaker B:Yeah, I.
Speaker C:It took me three sit downs to finish it.
Speaker C:It was only out of respect for the source material that I finished it.
Speaker C:It's so bad.
Speaker B:More like Blair.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Made you stay till the end for that.
Speaker B:One more in.
Speaker B:Anyway.
Speaker B:This was a blast.
Speaker B:I'm so glad you brought this up.
Speaker B:Yeah, I was ashamed I hadn't seen it, but I'm obsessed with it.
Speaker B:It's fantastic.
Speaker B:Thanks for hanging out with us.
Speaker B:I'm Kyle.
Speaker C:I'm Seth.
Speaker A:And I'm John.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Boom.
