Ben-Hur (1959 film) scope and grand spectacle, "Ben-Hur" still ranks among Hollywood's finest examples of pure entertainment." "Ben-Hur" was nominated for 12 Academy Awards and won an unprecedented 11. , only "Titanic" in 1998 and "" in 2004 have matched the film's wins. The lone category where "Ben-Hur" did not win was for Best Adapted Screenplay (losing to "Room at the Top"), and most observers attributed this to the controversy over the writing credit. MGM and Panavision shared a special technical Oscar in March 1960 for developing the Camera 65 photographic process. "Ben-Hur" also won three Golden Globe Awards – Best Motion Picture
Ben-Hur (2016 film) the movie was about revenge and miracles. Hence, he wanted to stress the themes of forgiveness and love rather than mere vengeance. He found "the most important values of pride, rivalry, power, strength, the dictatorship of power and self-love" that were prominent in the Roman Empire to be the primary subjects in this version. He said that the film is not just the story of Ben-Hur, but rather the shared story of him and his brother, Messala. Bekmambetov was aware of the comparisons being made with the earlier classical adapted films, and hence felt the need to make the film