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'Chariot of mire!' Ben-Hur bombs with disappointed critics who claim remake pales when compared to Charlton Heston's 1959 original

Published: 19:57 EST, 18 August 2016 | Updated: 19:57 EST, 18 August 2016

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Ben-Hur had the wheels fall off its chariot as critics widely panned the latest incarnation of the Christian tale starring Jack Huston in the title role.

Critics blasted the remake on Friday, as it failed to live up to the critically acclaimed 1959 version starring Charlton Heston as Judah Ben-Hur.

'The 1959 Ben-Hur was directed, by William Wyler, with a kind of fake classicism, and that was part of its cardboard studio-system majesty. It didn’t need to be subtle; it worked as mythological machismo,' Variety wrote in its review.

Biblical tale: Jack Huston is shown as Judah Ben-Hur in a still from Ben-Hur opening on Friday

'But the new Ben-Hur tries to ‘humanize’ everything, starting with Huston’s overly moist Judah, and the result is that this story seems a lot less human than it did 57 years ago. It’s become a chariot of mire,' the review concluded.

Huston, 33, took over a role made famous by Heston in the 1959 film version that won a record 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director for William Wyler and Best Actor in a Leading Role for Heston.

The new Ben Hur film by director Timur Bekmambetov, 55, is the latest retelling of the 1880 Lew Wallace novel Ben-Hur: A Tale Of The Christ.

The best-selling novel - in addition to the 1959 classic - was adapted into a successful touring play that debuted on Broadway in 1899, a 1907 silent film short, a 1925 silent film, a 2003 animated film and a 2009 stage adaptation that premiered at the O2 Arena in London.

Critically acclaimed: Charlton Heston is shown in a still from the 1959 film that won a record 11 Academy Awards

The story's iconic chariot race left plenty to be desired, according to a review by EW.

'The chariot race is sloppily framed, choppily edited, and droopily choreographed, with special effects that look like they needed another few passes through the CGI machine,' the review stated.

'The 1959 sequence is one of most famous in the history of movies because, for all the chaos and carnage, audiences could easily follow the action, thanks to clean, generous wide shots. Bekmambetov’s insistence on close-ups might have been a budgetary matter, but the result is a muddled, inconsequential mess—and another symbol of the modern conservatism and lack of tentpole imagination,' it added.

Famous race: Huston is shown in a chariot race still from the 2016 version

Classic scene: Heston is shown in the chariot race scene from the 1959 classic

New telling: Morgan Freeman portrays Sheik Ilderim in the new version and is shown with Huston in a still

The Hollywood Reporter also took issue with the chariot racing.

'What’s the point of making a cut-rate version of Ben-Hur? Of creating a chariot race so heavily digitized and over-edited that it’s the worst scene in the picture? Of casting lightweights in the leading roles? Of laying a wailing modern pop song over the end credits?,' the critique read.

The review added: 'Misguided, diminished and dismally done in every way, this late-summer afterthought will richly earn the distinction of becoming the first Ben-Hur in any form to flop.'