It’s about much more than simple entertainment, they said. — -- “Ben-Hur,” the epic 1959 tale, is coming back to the big screen today, this time re-imagined for a new generation of moviegoers.

1959’s Ben-Hur — which airs today on TCM at 6 a.m. EST — isn’t just one of the most popular religious films of all time. The three-plus hour epic starring Charlton Heston as the titular ...

Of all the film genres, the epic is one of the hardest to define. Must it be a period piece? Must the plot center on a hero? Why is “East of Eden” (1955), with its relatively meager runtime of 117 ...