8 Recent Movies Most Obviously Ruined By Bad Editing

To be fair to a film that deserves no pulled punches, Ben-Hur had the tricky task of taking a story so epic it barely fit into four hours in the 1959 classic. This was something is did admirably, rejigging the story to be much more focused on the iconic chariot race and dropping much of the slow-burn elements.

However, while the base story is a lean one, it’s still been butchered after the fact. This is the most basic version of Juda Ben-Hur’s story you could tell and, like the wood of a holier-than-though carpenter who won’t stop popping up, all its edges have been sanded off.

Worst Moment: The ending.

Even Timur Bekmambetov seems to be bored with his film by the end. Once the chariot race is over he simply bombs through the final points, spending next to no time on the elements that should be the thematic grounding of this story; Jesus’ crucifixion is treated as an obligation, Juda’s family’s healing is given a convenient shrug and a forced final redemption reeks of test screening meddling.

The big problem is the pacing, with no time to let these fine enough ideas sit. Oh well, at least that meant it was only two hours.