My wife and I are tackling the AFI 100 list starting with Ben-Hur (1959). Here are our thoughts as history nerds and film lovers! [SPOILERS]

Hey everyone,
My wife and I are huge movie fans, avid AMC A-List members, and big history nerds. We love the idea of movies being living time capsules of the exact era they were made in. We decided to take on the AFI 100 list (10th Anniversary Edition) from the bottom up, working our way from #100 all the way to #1.

We just finished movie #100: Ben-Hur (1959). 

Admittedly, it was our first time seeing this from start to finish, the only thing we knew about it going in was that the Chariot sequence was legendary. It is a massive 3.5 hour spectacle from the end of the Golden Age of Hollywood. You simply could not make a movie like this today without heavy CGI. Seeing thousands of real extras, built sets, and four-horse chariots running at high speeds is staggering. The galley slave sequence and the 9-minute chariot race with no musical score, just raw audio, are incredible achievements in practical action.

However, watching it through a modern lens does bring some wild moments:

Hugh Griffith as Sheik Ilderim in heavy, dark brown makeup is jarring. The close-up shots make it painfully obvious it is a white actor under foundation, and those scenes age like milk.

The initial reveal of the lepers in the valley feels less like a biblical epic and more like a Universal Monster movie. Though Esther's decision to let Judah remember his family as they were makes sense given how leprosy was understood then.

The faith arc gets heavy handed at the end. The constant peripheral presence of Jesus gets distracting, and the miracle storm where Jesus's blood runoff instantly cures the lepers actually made us laugh at how literal it was edited.

Still, it earns its spot for historical significance and sheer physical scale.
You can read my full Letterboxd review and breakdown here: https://boxd.it/gbD9R9

I would love to connect with other film lovers on Letterboxd as we go through this, so drop your profile links below or add me @WinstonMcFly

We would also love to hear from the community:

1. How does Ben-Hur hold up for you today?
2. If you have done the AFI 100 challenge, what was your approach?
3. What are some fun ways to enhance the experience as we go? We are open to themed dinner ideas, specific snack pairings, companion podcasts, books, or fun watch-along traditions for these movies!

Next up on our list is #99: Toy Story (1995)!