The original Ben Hur is terrible; one of (if not -) the worst classic. The remake being bad is expected but lets not pretend that the original has any merit in any way. Charlton Heston is just the worst, he'd be the well known guy that shouldn't be well known at all something like - Brandon Fraser if he was about nowadays. The film is just really bad overall, enjoy it if you want but it isn't a well made movie in any way.

RIP a few animals as well. Screw them though the world needed this mediocrity.