MovieChat Forums > Ben-Hur (1959) Discussion > How many chariots, the start shows 9 but...

How many chariots, the start shows 9 but 6 wrecked and 4 left means 10


I'm 64 and watch Ben Hur every time its on. The chariot race I always count and come up with the same numbers that don't match up.

At the beginning it shows 9 chariots and they read off only 9 racers name. But if you count there is 6 chariots that wreck and when Juda wins it shows 4 chariots. That means 10 racers which is not correct when 9 show at the start.

reply

I guess no one else has noticed this. I noticed is many years ago and everytime I watch it the count is the same. No mistakes, 9 at the start and 10 at the end.

reply

it seems so

reply

They used Roman numerals....so....you know.

reply

The number of chariots doesn't add up.

Actually it is quite common for the number of people or things in a movie to not add up.

A 20-man military patrol might have 15 men killed in a fight and 7 men left alive at the end.

A cowboy might fire 8 bullets from his 6 shooter pistol without reloading.

Someone might have 10 coins and pay somene 6 and have 8 coins left.

And so on and so on.

The chariot problem is mentioned in the continuity section of the goofs section of the IMDB section on Ben Hur.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052618/goofs?tab=gf&ref_=tt_trv_gf

No doubt many other numerical errors are mentone in the goofs sections of various movies in IMDB.

reply