In The Name Of Ben Hur is directed by Mark Atkins. This straight to video movie is being released around the same time that the big budget remake of Ben Hur is being released in theaters. Thanks Asylum, you've done it again by churning out yet another cheap looking horrible blatant cash grab of a movie.

Most of you know what you're getting into with an Asylum movie, but for the sake of giving me something to do and for those of you who have never heard of Asylum before, then read on, I'll try to explain their latest offering and why you should never ever watch it.

Do not, I repeat do not go into this movie expecting a production value any higher than an episode of a very cheap TV show. The acting is a mixed bag, a couple of the actors are good but most of the younger main actors are simply terrible, and the guy that plays Ben Hur changes his accent a couple of times during the movie, which is quite funny in a distracting way. Anyway, onto the fight scenes, oh yeah I nearly forgot, there's a female Chinese assassin in this movie, gotta love historically accurate movies, anyway the fight scenes all pretty much consist of Romans with swords getting knocked out by either people punching them in the face once or Ben Hur hitting them with his staff once. Don't expect to see any blood in this movie except for the occasional bloody nose, even when someone gets stabbed with a dagger there is no blood, and when Ben Hur picks up an axe he ain't going to be using the sharp end to attack the guys with swords that are trying to kill him, not when he can use the handle to knock them out instead! What a guy! It saves them having to do blood effects! Yaaaay, cost cutting! In one scene our heroes free some slaves from the Romans and the 2 guards see their faces, but instead of killing them so there are no witnesses Ben Hur just one punch knocks them out with his magical fist and leaves them alive so they can identify him and his buddies later, makes absolutely no sense, which brings me on to the plot...

The overall story is adequate I guess, it's generic bland and forgettable but at least it's not overly insulting to the intelligence (not counting the horrible fight scenes), there are quite a few instances though of stupid people doing stupid things that will leave you shouting at your TV while wishing you were were watching the new Ghostbusters or an infomercial instead. Not once while watching this movie did I care about the characters or feel immersed in the world and that is because the writing of these characters was pretty poor, take a minute to imagine every stereotype of character that you'd expect to see in a movie of this time period and they'll be in this movie, just nowhere near as interesting as the ones that you imagined in your head are.

In the end I hated this movie, I hated it because of what it is, a cheap cash grab. Not one person on this movie from the director to the person who made sure that all the clothing looked like it was straight off the rack gave a damn about this movie, seriously, all the clothing from the Roman armor to peasant clothing looked brand new, no stains no tarnish, brand new. There was no passion involved in making this movie, and it shows.

I gave it 3 stars, it's not enjoyable enough to be entertaining or bad enough to be funny, it's just a forgettable souless movie that you should only watch if you want to fall asleep and don't have any Ambien in the medicine cabinet.

We have all learned by now (I hope) that anything touched by Asylum is garbage. So much garbage. I keep trying to give them a chance, but I keep being disappointed in a big way.

As usual, the acting is sub par, but in this case, that is the best part of the movie. Don't actors know by now, that if you let Asylum infect your life, that you will fail, and only ever be able to act in shitty B movies? That was me, being nice, calling it a B movie, by the way.

Bad soundtracks....really bad....coupled with bad choreography, bad wardrobe, bad hair....honestly, do they really think that some pretty white boy with a 90's boy-band haircut is really cutting it as a vigilante from that era, trying to remove the Romans? That's just lazy.

The production, casting, and direction crews are the worst the industry has to offer. Hands down.

Hot chick with a bow....check. Warrior woman.....check. Overacting main characters....check. Precisely nothing authentic.....check. Cringe inducing travesty....check.

Yep, it's Asylum all right.

There I was, expecting a remake of the original,or thereabouts.Okay so I wasn't expecting the huge Cinematic blockbuster that was the original, but come on! Was this meant to be tongue-In-cheek? No,but It certainly seems that way. My first worries began when I discovered that the filming locations were In Wales. Now, parts of Wales are spectacularly beautiful, but Ben-Hur and the Welsh valleys Just don't gel, It certainly wouldn't have been at the top of my list of "suitable locations", but these are only my opinions of course - each to his or her own, as they say. That said, the 19th century dry-stone walls built by Welsh farmers do seem a little out of place. The running time of 1.5 hours, less than half the length of the original, didn't bode well. The costumes. Too clean and bright and suitable only at a fancy dress party. Cleanliness, obvious make up, strategically-placed "dirt" on faces, trimmed facial-hair and perfectly manicured nails add to what comes across more like an episode of a kids tea-time drama than an epic-remake. Where are the advances In Cinematic skills and technology which allow film-makers to create realism like never before? Erm...absent. As for the acting, mediocre across the board Is quiet a generous statement. For those who've never seen the 1959 epic and view this entirely on Its own merit, perhaps who also have little or no Interest In historical accuracy (and there's nothing wrong In that), or who view the whole and have no concern for the parts which make up that whole, then this Movie may Just entertain you a little, or maybe even more so. Despite my negativity, I do however think that the younger element will like It (and no-doubt find the original rather overstretched and boring) as It does have Its share of action and drama. But for those over 21 I'd have to say "Your time could be much better spent"!