Before Street Racing, ‘Ben-Hur’ Defined Cinematic Speed

The danger and scale may be the scene’s identity, but what made this nine-minute sequence legendary were the daring choices behind it. However, there were no animal deaths on the set—in contrast to the infamous horse deaths on the set of Ben-Hur (1925). Ben-Hur was filmed at Cinecittà Studios outside Rome, and for the chariot-race scene, they built a replica of the Circus Maximus on the studio’s backlot.

Author: Vishal Wagh

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