7 of the best Biblical epics

1 QUO VADIS (1951)

THE love of a Roman commander for a Christian hostage also starred Peter Ustinov as Emperor Nero. The film’s box-office success is credited with saving MGM from bankruptcy.

2 THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1956)

CHARLTON Heston as Moses with Yul Brynner as Egyptian Pharaoh Rameses. The parting of the Red Sea is one of the film’s memorable scenes.

3 BEN- HUR (1959)

CHARLTON Heston again, this time as a Jewish prince sold into slavery. The chariot race involved 15,000 extras.

4 THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD (1965)

YET another Biblical outing for Charlton Heston with an all-star cast including Telly Savalas as Pontius Pilate and John Wayne as a centurion at the Crucifixion.

5 THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST (1988)

DIRECTOR Martin Scorsese’s epic about the life of Christ with Willem Dafoe as Jesus and David Bowie as Pontius Pilate. All the Romans in the movie have British accents.

6 NOAH (2014)

RUSSELL Crowe stars as the ordinary man charged by God to build an ark to save the world from an impending flood. No real animals were used in the film directed by Darren Aronofsky.

7 EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS (2014)

THE latest Moses film stars Christian Bale in the title role and was directed by Ridley Scott. The movie was banned in Egypt.