It should come as no surprise to anyone to learn that the chariot race from the original Ben Hur movie inspired the pod race scene in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. IO9 shared this video that intersperses the two for comparison:
Is it just the chariot race, or is there more connection between these two tales of messiahs? And have any of you managed to see the new Ben Hur movie yet, and if so, what do you make of it?