Ben-Hur: 50th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition Blu-ray Review - Page 3

I bought a 3 disc UK version and watched disc #1 last night and thought the film looked and sounded great. I did notice that there seemed to be a "skip" in the image - as if there was a missing frame or two - in three different scenes. I didn't note the timecodes, so I can't say exactly when they happened. Has anyone else noticed this?

Yes.

I'm glad someone else saw it, too. Do we know if this was a defect in the negative, or a gaffe in the restoration?

I'm pretty sure those are just edits that are more glaring than most. I remember a few of them throughout the film from even back in my VHS watching days.

The scene on the ship between Arrius and Judah has a cut in which some dialogue of Arrius' about the death of his wife and son was cut.

While I have no idea if something was cut as far as dialogue, there is nothing wrong with either the disc or the restorative efforts.

 

The shots in discussion are No. 92 and 93 as conformed and cut to the A roll of reel 6A on 6/24-25/1959.

 

The second part of the shot after the missing footage is actually the ending of the previous take.

 

Checking the original screenplay would give a hint as to potentially cut dialogue.

 

RAH

There isn't a cut in dialogue or sound, just in picture, and it's during a single take, not during a camera angle change. It's as if it skips a frame or two, but the sound is not affected. Perhaps I got a bad disc? This did not occur on disc #2, just on the first one.

There is no cut in picture.

 

The end of the scene is from the previous take, and gives the appearance of missing footage.

In other words - it has always been that way.

Cool. Thanks for the clarification.