Ben- Hur' may be about a Jew, but there's not much Jewish about it. The last time I was in Jerusalem I attended a lunch party on a roof in the Old City. I took a moment to myself – as one always should – to gaze out at the epicenter of mankind’s hopes and struggles.

The sounds and smells of this miraculous city were all around me, and just as I was about to turn back to the table (because good luck finding baklava this delicious anywhere in America) I saw something too perfect for any lover of cinema: there was a loose tile. General Lew Wallace’s 1. Ben- Hur: A Tale of the Christ” and every film adaptation since (and there have been more than you think!) requires the Jewish nobleman Judah Ben- Hur to accidentally send damaged shingles crashing onto the heads of Roman bigshots. This gives Judah’s childhood pal Messala the reason he needs to betray him in the name of his career (and also his jealousy, but maybe even homosexual longing) and send Judah off to galley slave ships and Judah’s mother and sister to a leper colony. But you know the story, I’m sure.

Ben-Hur (2016) movie info - movie times, trailers, reviews, tickets, actors and more on Fandango. William Wyler's Ben-Hur is one of the greatest epics in cinematic history. The film changed the medium forever and is a stunning accomplishment in film. Directed by Timur Bekmambetov. With Jack Huston, Toby Kebbell, Rodrigo Santoro, Nazanin Boniadi. Judah Ben-Hur, a prince falsely accused of treason by his adopted. 4:50 AM 6/22/2016. THR presents its first ranking of the industry's most powerful execs, creatives, stars.

And like the New Testament itself, its lead character is a Jew. Judah Ben- Hur’s Judaism is essential to the story — but in name only, really. There isn’t much that Jewish about the character, and maybe that’s not too surprising for the 1. Charlton Heston. But this 2. Jewish signifiers, to the point that the movie practically erases the Jewish faith from the story completely.

The Ghazi Attack Hindi (2017) Watch Online Full Movie Free DVDRip, Watch And Download The Ghazi Attack Hindi Movie Free, Latest HD 720P MP4 Movies The Ghazi Attack. This is a “Ben-Hur” of and for its time, but also a little better than its time, it turns out.

The latest “Ben- Hur,” which isn’t bad as summer blockbusters go, has an interesting mix of creative forces. Its producers include Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, the very square forces behind the television miniseries “The Bible” and its quite poor theatrical repackaging “Son of God.” To that end, one might conclude that “Ben- Hur” 2. Middle American “faith- based” market.

The makers of . If ever someone deserved a crack at a high speed chariot race, it’s him. Rounding out the team are the screenwriters, includeing John Ridley, who recently adapted the Oscar- winner “1. Years A Slave.” So mixed in with Burnett/Downey’s faith- based schmaltz and Bekmambetov’s razzle- dazzle is something unexpected: a little bit of smarts. But also some changes. The roof tiles, to the consternation of cinema historians, are replaced by a Zealot assassin’s arrow.

His hope is that the Zealots pipe down for the good of the greater peace – to accept Roman rule. His sister is more sympathetic to the Zealots’ cause, which makes things more complicated because she is in love with Messala, their adopted Roman brother. Messala thinks he can rely on Judah not only to try and quell the uprising, but name names. Trace elements of this conflict exist in all previous film versions but this new one really turns up the heat. But if it isn’t, we have a different problem on our hands: The movie isn’t really saying anything, and is just cruising on fumes left over from our associations with a classic. What’s striking is just how much potential the movie leaves on the table. In an early scene, when Judah is hurt after falling from a horse, Messala (still a family friend) makes a quiet offering to an idol in prayer.

It’s as if this movie, with a Jewish hero, is terrified of showing anything Jewish on the screen. In the new . The 1. Temple, as well as the Jaffa Gate teeming with travelers. The new one brushes past all this to wow you with the slave ships ramming into one another and the dangerous stunts on the chariot. Not that one should expect too much from a Hollywood blockbuster, but it’s unfortunate that an opportunity to represent some of what this incredible city has to offer has been completely wasted.

How could something go this disastrously wrong? After all, 1. 95. Ben- Hur” was an Oscar- winning smash that remains beloved. Posters for the Charlton Heston epic proclaimed that the film offered “An entertainment experience of a lifetime,” and its chariot races are still considered to be a high- point in action choreography. In contrast, the new “Ben- Hur” wasn’t even the “entertainment experience of the third weekend of August.” After debuting to a paltry $1. When it came to “Ben- Hur,” Paramount and Metro- Goldwyn- Mayer didn’t stint on spectacle.

The partners shelled out $1. Roman Empire was at its zenith. However, the film failed to generate the same kind of excitement as the Heston epic. The filmmakers had some success attracting faith- based consumers, but couldn’t grow the audience beyond the devout.

Kids stayed away, critics lobbed bombs, and secular consumers took a hard pass. As always, there are lessons to be gleaned from the carnage.

Here are five reasons that “Ben- Hur” crashed and burned. Critics Hated It. Reviewers remembered William Wyler’s 1. Timur Bekmambetov’s attempts to “Fast & Furious”- ize the action to be ill- considered and poorly conceived. The Los Angeles Times’ Kenneth Turan dismissed the latest “Ben- Hur” as a “dull and lethargic piece of work” that had little reason to exist.

The Hollywood Reporter’s Todd Mc. Carthy asked simply, “what were they thinking?” And those were some of the nicer ones. It all amounted to a wretched 2.

Rotten Tomatoes and a measly 3. Metacritic. Movies like this need good reviews to convert the curious into consumers — these kind of notices rang alarm bells, instead of serving as invitations. The Kids Didn’t Show Up“Ben- Hur” is your grandparent’s epic.

It’s a throwback to a time when “The Robe,” “The Ten Commandments” and other stories from the Bible were the hottest things on movie screens. A simpler time, before Vietnam and Watergate, i. Phones and e. Readers, Zika and #Lochtegate.

Still, marketing materials for the time scrambled valiantly to find the aspects of the story that wouldn’t just thrill geriatrics. Television spots tried to play up “Ben- Hur’s” chariot races, boat crashes and battling armies.

But warring legions and gladiatorial combat can’t match the comic- book movies and special- effects spectacles that appeal to younger moviegoers. It’s just not a movie that plays in the Instagram age. Indeed, “Ben- Hur” had a negligible presence on social media services such as Facebook and Twitter, evidence that it could not boil down its pitch in a way that translated into likes and retweets. In the end, 9. 4% of the opening weekend audience for the film was over the age of 2. Millennials. In contrast, 5. Suicide Squad” was under 2. Sausage Party’s” debut crowd clocked in under that threshold and even “Jason Bourne,” a film with older appeal, boasted an opening weekend audience that was 4.

Swords and Sandals Epics Are Falling Flat. The toga genre has reached its expiration date. It’s been 1. 6 years since “Gladiator” stormed movie theaters, racking up $4. Oscar. At the time it seemed as though Maximus and company might trigger renewed interest in the costume epic, but attempts to recreate the magic of the Colosseum have failed to connect with audiences.“It’s sort of like the Western,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at com. Score. There have been a few hits, to be sure. Yet the likes of “3. Clash of the Titans” aren’t successful enough to paper over all that red ink. Mp4 Movies For Ipod Jurassic World (2015) there.

Plus, recreating the Ancient World doesn’t come cheap. Missing the mark can result in a big write- down. Muddled Marketing“Ben- Hur” made a concerted effort to attract religious moviegoers, hosting taste- maker screenings for faith- based leaders and crafting commercials that talked up the film’s connection to Biblical teachings. Paramount and Metro- Goldwyn- Mayer also leaned heavily on producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, the team behind “Son of God” and “The Bible,” to make the case to the EWTN set. In some respects, their efforts paid off. It was big miss.”Other analysts believe that “Ben- Hur” relied too heavily on out- dated forms of outreach.

In 2. 00. 4, “The Passion of the Christ” established a template for marketing to values audiences by earning the buy- in of mega- pastors. In the ensuing decade, however, that kind of endorsement may not be enough.“Today’s values customer — one in every three moviegoers in the U.

S. The film also had difficulty appealing to secular audiences. It hoped that the action scenes would be so propulsive that the film could attract the devout, the indifferent and the atheistic. Alas, it was not to be.“Their first campaign was not that Christian- based,” said Jeff Bock, a box office analyst with Exhibitor Relations.

But when you pull that Evangelical card, you turn off a lot of the audience.”5.) Audiences Crave Something Fresh. After a summer where franchises and reboots have suffered diminishing returns, audiences in recent weeks have been embracing anything that seems new and original. Movies On Dvd Dave Made A Maze (2017). To be sure, that doesn’t leave a lot of options. But “Suicide Squad,” based on a lesser- known comic- book; “Sausage Party,” a raunchy parody of children’s movies; and “The Secret Life of Pets,” a warm- hearted salute to furry companions, have all succeeded because they are a breath of fresh air in an atmosphere that is sequelfied to the point of stultification. In contrast, “Independence Day: Resurgence,” “Star Trek Beyond,” “Jason Bourne,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows” and “Ghostbusters” are just a few of the recent follow- ups and re- imaginings that have failed to keep pace with their predecessors or spun out completely.“The bar is just much higher now for consumers in terms of supporting sequels or remakes,” said Rob Moore, Paramount’s vice chairman. Audiences want something that is either “great” or “original,” he added. In the case of “Ben- Hur,” they got neither one of those things.