I may be slow on the uptake, but midway through the 2000 Gladiator, the blockbuster charged with reviving the sword-and-sandal spectacular, I finally realized it was basically a reworking of Ben-Hur. More accurately, it was a reworking of only one dimension of a film so epic that it consumes Gladiator whole and still has time enough to catalog a love story, a plague, and the birth of Christianity—all without a CGI crutch. Being projected digitally in its original format, the film’s 2.76 aspect ratio serves a sweeping plot. Ben-Hur‘s tale of the Judean prince whose personal conflicts reflect his tumultuous era simply refuses to be diminished by William Wyler’s massive sets and majestic set pieces: namely, the sinking of the Macedonian fleet and Chuck Heston’s famed chariot race—still one of the most exciting sequences in cinema history. (PG) LARRY TERENZI

Oct. 21-22, 2:30 & 7:30 p.m.; Oct. 24-27, 2:30 & 7:30 p.m., 2011