Bad Remake Idea of the Day
Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2014 10:34 am
Ben Hur, to be directed by Timur Bekmambetov, whose work includes Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter and the Angelina Jolie action film Wanted. At least, they will be working off a screenplay from John Ridley, who won this year's Oscar for 12 Years a Slave.
The Heston version is a classic, featuring one of the greatest action scenes of all time, which actually featured real drivers and chariots, not a bunch of hyper-edited CGI effects which will undoubtedly have hapless drivers thrown hundreds of feet in the air in slow motion and other physically impossible bits of "excitement." I also don't see Bekmambetov remaining emotionally and dramatically faithful to the original's sincerity. Instead, we're likely to get Ben Hur and Massala engaging in dueling biceps contests for half the movie. Needless to say, the overtly Christian aspects of the original will get ditched in favor of some vague nonsense about honor and duty. Gerard Butler has to be peeing in his pants with excitement at the prospect of landing this role.
http://variety.com/2014/film/news/param ... 201162065/
The Heston version is a classic, featuring one of the greatest action scenes of all time, which actually featured real drivers and chariots, not a bunch of hyper-edited CGI effects which will undoubtedly have hapless drivers thrown hundreds of feet in the air in slow motion and other physically impossible bits of "excitement." I also don't see Bekmambetov remaining emotionally and dramatically faithful to the original's sincerity. Instead, we're likely to get Ben Hur and Massala engaging in dueling biceps contests for half the movie. Needless to say, the overtly Christian aspects of the original will get ditched in favor of some vague nonsense about honor and duty. Gerard Butler has to be peeing in his pants with excitement at the prospect of landing this role.
http://variety.com/2014/film/news/param ... 201162065/