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ASIN : B00004CSX8
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Amazon.co.uk Review
In 1962 Lawrence of Arabia scooped another seven Oscars for David Lean and crew after his previous epic, The Bridge on the River Kwai, had performed exactly the same feat a few years earlier. Supported in this Great War desert adventure by a superb cast including Alex Guinness, Jack Hawkins and Omar Sharif, Peter O'Toole gives a complex, star-making performance as the enigmatic TE Lawrence. The magnificent action and vast desert panoramas were captured in luminous 70mm by Cinematographer Freddie Young, here beginning a partnership with Lean that continued through Dr Zhivago (1965) and Ryan's Daughter (1970). Yet what made the film truly outstanding was Robert ( A Man For All Seasons) Bolt's literate screenplay, marking the beginning of yet another ongoing collaboration with Lean. The final partnership established was between director and French composer Maurice Jarre, who won one of the Oscars and scored all Lean's remaining films, up to and including A Passage to India in 1984. Fully restored in 1989, this complete version of Lean's masterpiece remains one of cinema's all-time classic visions. -- Gary S Dalkin
On the DVD: This vast movie is spread leisurely across two discs, with Maurice Jarre's overture standing in as intermission music for the first track of disc two. But the clarity of the anamorphic widescreen picture and Dolby 5.1 soundtrack justify the decision not to cram the whole thing onto one side of a disc. The movie has never looked nor sounded better than here: the desert landscapes are incredibly detailed, with the tiny nomadic figures in the far distance clearly visible on the small screen; the remastered soundtrack, too, is a joy. Thanks are due to Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg who supervised (and financed) the restoration of the picture in 1989; on disc two Spielberg chats about why David Lean is his favourite director, and why Lawrence had such a profound influence on him both as a child and as a filmmaker (he regularly re-watches the movie before starting any new project). Other features include an excellent and exhaustive "making-of" documentary with contributions from surviving cast and crew (an avuncular Omar Sharif is particularly entertaining as he reminisces about meeting the hawk-like Lean for the first time), some contemporary featurettes designed to promote the movie and a DVD-ROM facility. The extra features are good--especially the documentary--but the breathtaking quality of both anamorphic picture and digital sound are what make this DVD package a triumph. --Mark Walker
Customer Reviews
"Miracle of a movie" Steven Spielberg (2008-06-25)  When Omar Shariff enters as a speck on the horizon it takes him five minutes to reach the foreground. Letting a match burn down to his fingers, Peter o'Toole explains, "the secret is not to mind it hurting." Every frame of this movie, the greatest ever, stays in your mind's eye. What can I say about this 7 Oscar winner of 1962 that the other reviewers haven't said already? This is a wonderful film and a great epic that was directed by David Lean (Ryan's Daughter, Brief Encounter), he is probably one of the greatest filmmakers of all time and most of his films have some of the best cinematography you have ever seen taking advantage of the landscape. In Lawrence of Arabia there is a breathtaking shots of the desert; the musical score is also amazing by Maurice Jarre (See The English Patient for Jarre's son OST). The best thing about Lawrence of Arabia is the fact that it is flawless; everything from the performances to the script are excellent and is based on a true story although I'm not sure if it is accurate. The film is about T.E. Lawrence brilliantly played by Peter O'Toole (unknown Irish actor) who is a young lieutenant in the British army in Cairo during World War One, he is assigned to help the Arabs fight the Turks in Arabia and becomes successful at uniting the waring tribes of Sherif Ali played by Omar Sharif in a role that made him a star and Auda Abu Tayi (Anthony Quinn), together they end up capturing the city of Aquaba and destroying the Turk strong hold. Allenby: "What in hell do you want, Lawrence?" Lawrence: "I've told you -- I just want my ration of common humanity." There is no way that enough could be said about this film, in fact Steven Spielberg called it a "miracle of a movie." This is the definitive classic film from a transitional time just before salacious movies became the norm. It is to director David Lean's credit that he chose patently unknown actors (at the time) for his key roles that truly made this film soar. The fact that they performed so exceptionally is a testament to the professionalism and dedication of those actors. The contributions of "Lawrence of Arabia" to future films are seen to this day in the cinematographic techniques and similar shots in recent films. Compared to Lawrence's books, the film, by virtue of its medium can never capture the Shakespearean quality language that T.E. Lawrence possessed. If any book parallels the film it would be Lowell Thomas's 1925 book, "With Lawrence in Arabia," that recounts the journalist's experience as an "imbedded" reporter with Lawrence. Thomas is often credited with spreading the stories of Lawrence's Arabian exploits that made him so popular in the west. Murray: (Lawrence has just given a rather awful salute) "If you're insubordinate of me, Lawrence, I shall put you under arrest!" Lawrence: "It's my manner, sir." Murray: "Your what?" Lawrence: "My manner, sir. It looks insubordinate, but it isn't really." Murray: "I can't make out whether you are bloody bad-mannered or just half-witted!" Lawrence: "I have the same problem, sir." The desert scenes are beautifully shot, the glowing shots almost familiar because we've seen similar movie shots like these, but they were after this film was made--it clearly inspired many imitators. You can almost feel the desert heat and dirt. The film also offers prescient insights into today's sectarian violence where religious and tribal loyalties and feuds are seemngly more important to many Arab leaders than are national agendas or progress for all their people. The history within the film is mostly accurate and there is no neat wrap-up at the end, no ponderous speeches, no stirring conclusion. I waited too long to see this film but now I know why it is a classic. This is the wide-screen edition, which is essential to appreciating the cinematography. Lawrence: "I killed two people. I mean, two Arabs. One was a boy. That was...yesterday. I led him into a quicksand. The other was a man. That was...well...before Aqaba, anyway. I had to execute him with my pistol, and there was something about it that I didn't like." Allenby: "Well, naturally." Lawrence: "No, something else." Allenby: "I see. Well, that's alright, let it be a warning." Lawrence: "No...something else." Allenby: "What then?" Lawrence: "I enjoyed it."
Accurate yet.... (2008-06-10) Truly a magnificent movie! The director is a genius and it is even more evident when you see the documentary in the second disc which explains how the movie was made. The most facinating thing in the movie in my opinion is the immaculate accurancy and authenticity of the waredrobe.. especially the Arabian wardrobe... recreating that wardrobe even back then was no easy feat as most items have almost faded away from existance.However, the historical accuracy and value of the movie could benefit from a considerable amount of work. If you are looking for the historical aspect of the story then reading the "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" would be better for you.Overall, considering when the movie was made and the director's work in that movie it truly is a great moive, one that I have watched over and over and over again and probably will even more.
Good Transfer? (2008-04-08)  Every DVD version of this extraordinary film that I have seen or owned has had a slight 'flicker' problem running through the whole running time. I've seen the Superbit version, the original issue and an another version and all had this flicker. Can anyone enlighten me if they've finally made this go away? And before anyone asks, I have multiple DVD players and TVs and they all did it on each machine.
fantastic timeless entertainment (2008-01-04) Cant think of many (if any) movies that can make the desert a nice place to be, but the sunrise shots really caught my eye and certainly appealed to me. yes its an old film, of which I am actually glad they kept the intermission in the dvd release for the reason of listening to glorious piece of music that identifies the film instantly. This film certainly deserved the praise its received. timeless entertainment for the family.
A LONG EPIC THAT DESERVES TO BE SEEN BY EVERYBODY (2007-12-11) David Lean's "Lawrence of Arabia" is one of the few films that legitimately deserves to be called great... It appears on virtually all "ten best" lists and reveals deeper layers of meaning with repeated viewings...Lean, a man devoted to the art, gives "Lawrence of Arabia" its spectacular values... He unifies the sand and the sun to flame out the silver screen... Maurice Jarre's terrific music escorts the appearance and disappearance of the sun below the horizon in the sleepy desert..."Lawrence of Arabia" is a prodigious labor, a masterful mixture of fact and artistry, a masterpiece of intimate moment and spectacular largesse, a film that literally excites the senses... In a visual sense, Lean combines a sure sense of place with an approach to the action that he borrows from an unlikely source--John Ford... Lean turns his vast desert canvas into another Monument Valley, and when his Bedouins ride across it, they are not far removed from Ford's cavalry... In many of the early scenes, the stately gait of the camel's walk gives the film a slower pace, and this is precisely what Lean is trying to achieve... Lean even manages to surpass Ford with his understanding of the relationship between his characters and the landscape; how the desert changes those who go into it...The film is the story of a solitary adventurer who always knew he was different, but in Arabia he discovers that his proportions are heroic... Perhaps this is the secret of Lawrence of the legends -- that at the bottom of all the violent action is a protagonist about whom one cares... A puzzling personality whom one glimpses but never fully understands... Throuhout the picture one has a sense of a man discovering his own unique dimensions...Lawrence's mission, largely his own creation, is to unite the feuding Bedouin tribes under the leadership of Prince Feisal (Alec Guinness), and to keep the British politicians, as personified by Mr. Dryden (Claude Rains), from putting the Arabs under their colonial thumb after World War I is over... It is accomplished through a semi-episodic series of battles and raids where Lawrence is sometimes accompanied by Ali (Omar Sharif) and Sheik Auda (Anthony Quinn), and equally difficult bureaucratic struggles he faces with Gen. Allenby (Jack Hawkins).All the conventional elements of the genre are at peaks of excellence here: The stretch desert with its white golden sands; peril, anywhere and everywhere; danger-for Lawrence of Arabia is a film about guerrilla warfare; prowess-Lawrence crosses Sinai on foot; physical torture-Lawrence in the hands of the Turkish bey; impossible mission- Lawrence takes the seaport of Jordan from behind; ruthlessness-Lawrence shouting 'take no prisoners' leading his men to put to death a Turkish column...Every component is here, everything one needs for a great adventure film, many spectacular sequences, each of them so perfect: Lean cuts to the sun again and again, turning it into a character; the scene in Feisal's tent when Lawrence first talks with the king; Lawrence striding on top of a captured train, parading before rows of cheering Arabs; the scene between Lawrence and Ferrer illuminating Lawrence's strange perversity, a mixture of masochism and repressed homosexuality; the scene when a Beduin prince appears on his camel, an exceedingly long take in which a strange figure is first resolved out of waves of heat and then, as he approaches, becomes a frightening threat to Lawrence's escort at the desert well...The photography, the script and the acting are so superb that "Lawrence of Arabia" becomes a lavish epic winner of 7 Academy Awards for Best Picture, Directing, Color, Cinematography, Sound, Muscial Score and Film Editing...
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