Live stream preview

Watch this video and more on The Criterion Channel

Watch this video and more on The Criterion Channel

Start your free trial

Already subscribed? Sign in

Ben-Hur

Leaving March 31 • 3h 42m

Directed by William Wyler • 1959 • United States
Starring Charlton Heston, Stephen Boyd, Hugh Griffith

Winner of a record eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor, this gargantuan sword-and-sandals spectacle stands as one of the greatest Hollywood epics ever filmed. A member of the Jewish nobility in Jerusalem, Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) lives a religious life in peaceful opposition to the tyrannical occupation of Judea by Rome. When Messala (Stephen Boyd), a boyhood friend, betrays him to the Romans and condemns him to a life of slavery, Ben-Hur resolves to regain his freedom and exact his revenge—a quest that culminates at the chariot races in one of the most exciting action sequences ever captured on film.

Up Next in Leaving March 31

  • The Ice Storm
    1:53:28
    The Ice Storm

    The Ice Storm

    Directed by Ang Lee • 1997 • United States
    Starring Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Sigourney Weaver

    Suburban Connecticut, 1973. While Richard Nixon’s “I am not a crook” speech drones from the TV, the Hood and Carver families try to navigate a Thanksgiving break simmering with unspoken resentment, sexu...

  • Boogie Nights
    2:35:35
    Boogie Nights

    Boogie Nights

    Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson • 1997 • United States
    Starring Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Burt Reynolds

    It’s 1977—back when sex was safe, pleasure was a business, and business was booming—and idealistic porn producer Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds) aspires to elevate his craft to an art form. ...

  • Heat Lightning
    1:03:27
    Heat Lightning

    Heat Lightning

    Directed by Mervyn LeRoy • 1934 • United States
    Starring Aline MacMahon, Ann Dvorak, Preston Foster

    Veteran supporting player Aline MacMahon gets a chance to shine in an all-too-rare starring role in this hard-edged tale of simmering lust and violence in the remote California desert. At her road...

×