Lawrence of Arabia (1962) UK
Lawrence of Arabia Image Cover
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Director:David Lean
Studio:Sony Pictures
Producer:David Lean, Jim Painten, Robert A. Harris, Sam Spiegel
Writer:T.E. Lawrence, Robert Bolt
Rating:4.5
Rated:PG
Date Added:2006-03-28
ASIN:B00006ADD5
UPC:0043396094314
Price:$14.94
Awards:Won 7 Oscars. Another 18 wins & 12 nominations
Genre:Classics
Release:2002-08-26
IMDb:0056172
Duration:228
Picture Format:Widescreen
Aspect Ratio:2.20 : 1
Sound:Dolby
Languages:English, Dolby Digital 5.1, English, Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Subtitles:English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Georgian, Chinese, Thai
Features:Anamorphic
2.20:1
David Lean  ...  (Director)
T.E. Lawrence, Robert Bolt  ...  (Writer)
 
Peter O'Toole  ...  T.E. Lawrence
Alec Guinness  ...  Prince Feisal
Anthony Quinn  ...  Auda abu Tayi
Jack Hawkins  ...  General Lord Edmund Allenby
Omar Sharif  ...  Sherif Ali
José Ferrer  ...  Turkish Bey
Anthony Quayle  ...  Colonel Brighton
Claude Rains  ...  Mr. Dryden
Arthur Kennedy  ...  Jackson Bentley
Donald Wolfit  ...  General Sir Archibald Murray
I.S. Johar  ...  Gasim
Gamil Ratib  ...  Majid
Michel Ray  ...  Farraj
John Dimech  ...  Daud
Zia Mohyeddin  ...  Tafas
Comments: BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR WINNER OF 7 ACADEMY AWARDS

Summary: There's no getting around a simple, basic truth: watching Lawrence of Arabia in any home-video format represents a compromise. There's no better way to appreciate this epic biographical adventure than to see it projected in 70 millimeter onto a huge theater screen. That caveat aside, David Lean's masterful "desert classic" is still enjoyable on the small screen, especially if viewed in widescreen format. (If your only option is to view a "pan & scan" version, it's best not to bother; this is a film for which the widescreen format is utterly mandatory.) Peter O'Toole gives a star-making performance as T.E. Lawrence, the eccentric British officer who united the desert tribes of Arabia against the Turks during World War I. Lean orchestrates sweeping battle sequences and breathtaking action, but the film is really about the adventures and trials that transform Lawrence into a legendary man of the desert. Lean traces this transformation on a vast canvas of awesome physicality; no other movie has captured the expanse of the desert with such scope and grandeur. Equally important is the psychology of Lawrence, who remains an enigma even as we grasp his identification with the desert. Perhaps the greatest triumph of this landmark film is that Lean has conveyed the romance, danger, and allure of the desert with such physical and emotional power. It's a film about a man who leads one life but is irresistibly drawn to another, where his greatness and mystery are allowed to flourish in equal measure. --Jeff Shannon