Holy crap. September can’t come soon enough for me. If the restored footage in the super-compressed trailer above is any indication of what Ben-Hur is going to look like in the upcoming Ultimate Collector’s Edition Blu-ray set from Warner, I’m going to lose my mind! This is a great looking set, with tons of bonus goodies and the three-and-a-half hour film given plenty of room to breath, spread over a couple of dual-layer discs. I’m less thrilled with having to store the over-sized box and the reproduction books but the discs themselves, the special features and the photo-book will be welcome additions to my collection. I can’t wait!!

Special Features:

DISCS 1 AND 2: MOVIE

• The 1959 Winner of a Record-Setting 11 Academy Awards®* – Including Best Picture, Actor (Charlton Heston) and Director (William Wyler) – Restored Frame by Frame from the Original 65MM Camera Negative and Remastered in Stunning 1080p High Definition for Maximum Picture and Audio Clarity
• Commentary by Film Historian T. Gene Hatcher with Charlton Heston
• Music-Only Track Showcasing Miklos Rozsa’s Award-Winning Score
• Theatrical Trailers

DISC 3: SPECIAL FEATURES

• NEW FEATURE-LENGTH DOCUMENTARY CHARLTON HESTON & BEN-HUR: A PERSONAL JOURNEY- Retrospective on the Ben-Hur Star Written and Directed by His Son Fraser C. Heston,Featuring Never-Before-Available Images and Footage from the Heston Family Archives
• THE 1925 SILENT VERSION – Thames Television – Restoration with Stereophonic Orchestral Score by Carl Davis
• Vintage Documentaries Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema and Ben-Hur: The Making of an Epic
• Ben-Hur: A Journey Through Pictures – Audiovisual Recreation Via Stills, Storyboards, Sketches, Music and Dialogue
• Screen Tests
• Highlights from the 1960 Academy Awards® Telecast
• Newsreels

MONUMENTAL COLLECTIBLES!

• CHARLTON HESTON: THE BEN-HUR DIARIES – Reproduction of Charlton Heston’s Personal and Insightful Diary from January 1958 to April 1960, Chronicling His Time Before Production Started Through the Academy Awards
• EXCLUSIVE BOOK WITH RARE PHOTOS, PRODUCTION ART AND REPRODUCTIONS FROM THE ORIGINAL THEATRICAL PRESSBOOK

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