Best of the Best: Ben-Hur vs. Lawrence of Arabia

Balrog · Post by **Balrog** » 2008-04-17 07:12pm

Right, before the final vote there are a few polls to clear up first, because the results were close and it'd be for the best to have clear winners. So, pretty simple here, between Ben-Hur and Lawrence of Arabia which do you feel was the best Oscar winner of '58-'67?

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2008-04-17 08:06pm

Ok... this one's the hard one....

Feil · Post by **Feil** » 2008-04-17 09:25pm

Ben Hur. Lawrence of Arabia was very good, but it didn't have chariot races. If I remember correctly, it was also slightly more ungodly long.

Post by **K. A. Pital** » 2008-04-17 09:39pm

Lawrence. Excellent actor's work and directors work, and 3 hours being smooth and not boring, as if it were 2 hours or less.

EDIT: This is biased, Lawrence is about WWI and Lawrence... I like both themes. Ben-Hur, now, I don't care for.

NomAnor15 · Post by **NomAnor15** » 2008-04-17 11:56pm

Lawrence Of Arabia was good, but I really liked Ben-Hur, so that's my vote.

Patrick Degan · Post by **Patrick Degan** » 2008-04-18 12:38am

Both excellent films but as in the last poll, my nod goes to Lawrence Of Arabia.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2008-04-18 02:29am

I could sit-down and watch Lawrence of Arabia end to end and enjoy it; I’ve seen Ben-Hur end to end more then once but at this point I would really would only ever want to see the galley battle and the chariot race again. So Lawrence of Arabia for the win, even if it is more then slightly absurdly inaccurate.

Thanas · Post by **Thanas** » 2008-04-19 04:59am

^Those were my reasons as well.

Oh, and also the fact that I do not like the cheesy "Roman" look of Ben Hur, especially with the troops.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2008-04-19 05:57am

Lawrence of Arabia is one of the best epics ever made, if not the best. Ben-Hur isn't a bad film by any means, but it just can't compare.

Darth Servo · Post by **Darth Servo** » 2008-04-24 03:21pm

Lawrence.

Norseman · Post by **Norseman** » 2008-04-25 04:36am

Sea Skimmer wrote:I could sit-down and watch Lawrence of Arabia end to end and enjoy it; I’ve seen Ben-Hur end to end more then once but at this point I would really would only ever want to see the galley battle and the chariot race again. So Lawrence of Arabia for the win, even if it is more then slightly absurdly inaccurate.

I would say that Lawrence if Arabia is far, far better than most Hollywood offerings in the accuracy department, and I've read Six Pillars of Wisdom. Given that Ben Hur (including the novel) is ludicrously unhistorical even for Hollywood it's odd to complain about historicity in the comparison.