Since one's released in 2001 and the other 2002.

There is only one Ben-Hur DVD. The collector's set that was released later just adds a bunch of collectibles to complement the original DVD.

Nice! Thnx!

If you're thinking of buying this, be aware that there is supposedly a 2-disc collector's edition due for release. I know I read it somewhere (almost positive it was in this forum). When? Don't know, either. But I would fathom a guess that it would be not that distant in the future. I would wait. Also, the current version is in a snapper case

But isnt the picture already anamorphicly great?

I have it and I think it looks great already.

The picture quality is very good, but keep in mind that Ben-Hur still needs a full 65mm restoration.

The current DVD has absolutely no digital artifacts, and a very smooth image, but has some color wavering, speckling, and...

The 35mm scope source was incorrectly made from the 65mm elements. Ben-Hur should be 2.55:1 if taken from 35mm... and would feature the full 70mm height. The print was improperly made, resulting in the top and bottom being cropped wrong. Although, the horizontal picture is pretty much correct.

So, the current DVD is great unless Warner Bros. decides to do a full-scale restoration on the film. The negative may not be usable anymore since it's of the doomed 1959/1960 variety... other films made in Eastmancolor at this time like The Alamo and North By Northwest have dead negatives.

A great movie. One of my all time faves. I can't wait, whatever they decide to do.

This is roughly what the DVD should have looked like:



(please excuse the cheesy tinting to get rid of the fading)

Until when do we have to wait.. :'(

Where can I read about all that 35mm 65mm 70mm technical stuffs?

I just watched this yesterday! I think the quality is great, although I would like a new transfer because I did notice the image seemed cropped wrong on the top and bottom (and a tad on the left and right?) as mentioned before.

But, I have not heard of any news of a 2-disc collector's edition either. It would be nice to give the dvd a new transfer and a proper 2-disc treatment (the current one is a flipper in a snapper case), but I'm not about to wait for something without knowing if it will ever come out!

I can't recommend someone not to buy something just because of a rumor spreading around, especially if the current dvd is very nice. I would however recommend holding off on something that sucks, but this current release doesn't suck. Practically everything gets re-released at some point or another, but how long will we have to wait for Ben-Hur? It may never get a re-release, or it could just be years away. It depends on how long you want to wait to have this movie, you just have to ask yourself, what's more important to ya?

I've not heard of any concrete facts that prove Ben-Hur is getting re-released, so I just bought it.

Does anyone have any proof that Ben-hur is getting a re-release? Facts only please, thanks!

www.widescreenmuseum.com

I don't have the DVD, but I have read that there are some missing frames / splices in the current transfer, but I can't find the source right now. The linked site I believe has information about the current DVD, which is framed at 2.76:1 which was never the intended theatrical AR ... as PatrickMcCart indicates, it was intended to be projected closer to the original Cinemascope ratio of approximately 2.5:1.

We have to be careful. Don't want to get burned like we did when everyone thought that "The Ten Commandments" was going to be a new transfer.

All we got was the worst packaging of 2 discs and a loose disc to boot!!!

Yes but the "The Ten Commandments " is a Paramount release while "Ben Hur" is by Warner Bros. Warners's is always excellent with its 2 disc sets