DVD Beaver’s Gary Tooze is calling the Ben-Hur Bluray “VERY impressive…I was blown away. Obviously from a 65mm film source [and] reportedly restored frame-by-frame…a 1080p in all its glory and around a 2.75:1 aspect ratio. Even things like the ‘Overture’ title are visually inspiring. Many scenes…appear truly overwhelming. The Blu-ray transfer brings Ben-Hur to another level of home theater appreciation…WOW!”

8K scan of 65mm elements, 2.76 to 1 aspect ratio, etc.

Concern: With the much higher resolution I would imagine that the shots of the miniaturized ships and little-doll-solders on board during the sea-battle sequence will be more evident (i.e., more embarassing) than ever Nitpick: Everyone knows that the perfect-world aspect ratio of this Camera 65 presentation is 2.76 to 1, so why does Tooze call it 2.75?

Here’s an early August piece I ran about the Ben-Hur aspect ratio issue.

“We keep you alive to row this ship….row well and live.”

I’ll finally be seeing this film on a big screen in the full 2.76 to 1 aspect ratio (projected at 4K) via
the New York Film Festival screening on Saturday, 10.1.