Rating: 
Summary: An Old Favorite, and Still So
Review: I was not a normal little kid. I used to ask my mom, as she went to the video rental, to pick up "Dr. Zhivago." This was when I was ten years old. Later on, I would switch over from my fascination with "Dr. Zhivago" to "Lawrence of Arabia."What drew me to this film? Perhaps it was the cinematography, perhaps it was the historical storyline that took place in a time I was interested in at my age, or perhaps it was simply the acting. Maybe it was all these reasons. "Lawrence of Arabia" was simply an outstanding film to watch. As a young man I was intrigued by it, and even to this day I find myself awe inspired by this epic. It is sad that Peter O'Toole could not go on to get better roles, but this is a helluva role to be remembered by.
Rating:
Summary: Those were the days when they made films that were...
Review: It's like that quote from "Sunset Boulvard". It's the screen that got smaller. Really, there is no point in buying this DVD. You must watch this film in cinema. So I should perhaps rate the film five-star, but the product no-star. The story, unavoidably, takes some license with the historical facts, but that is not really the point. You can see from the film that Lean, O'Tool and all others in the production fell in love with the desert. As Lawrence fought his way in the story, the production was fighting its way through the desert. When both reached its final destination, Damascus for Lawrence and post-production for the cast and crew, it was hollow homecoming for both. Watch this in cinema and know that when people say "They don't make films like they used to." they have this one in mind.
Rating: 
Summary: 5 Star film, 3 Star treatment on the Superbit edition
Review: One of David Lean's finest films, Lawrence of Arabia finally looks pretty good on DVD. You'll notice I said pretty good not exceptional or excellent or even outstanding. Why is that? Edge enhancement has become an issue with many DVDs. With this transfer it's no exception. There is an excessive amount of halos and a shimmering like effect that you see with edge enhancement. This is distracting for many folks. Sometimes Columbia gets it right and sometimes they get it wrong. There have been a couple of Superbit DVDs that are outstanding and have minimal or no edge enhancement visible. While restoration expert Robert Harris is to be applauded for his efforts in improving this transfer, it appears that a number of short cuts were taken (probably not by Harris although if it was one has to question why). To give this edition of Lawrence its due, this is probably the sharpest, most vivid transfer I've seen of Lawrence and it bests the Laserdisc edition as well. Considering the magic that Robert Harris worked (a decade plus after he helped restore it)with the original material and the nice job of color balancing, adjustments, etc. that was done, it's a pity this isn't closer to perfection. If none of this is valuable to you and you aren't looking to purchase a Superbit Edition but a regular single disc edition, by all means read the review for that item. It's a solid transfer and looks good if you don't notice edge enchancements or issues with how sharp the resolution or how accurate the color might be. No need to recap the plot but I'd like to point out that Peter O'Toole is still stunning in the title role. With a supporting cast consisting of Claude Rains, Jack Hawkins, Omar Shariff, Alec Guiness and others, that's no small feat. Like the role Michael Rennie played in The Day The Earth Stood Still, O'Toole came to be defined to some extent by this role. It didn't limit his abilities as an actor, however, because the studio system didn't exist to exert its constraints on him as an actor. A couple of other minor complaints; 1) Why didn't Columbia do away with the Intermission. Yes, the music is glorius but why not include the music as the only supplement at the end of the disc? This wouldn't have taken any more disc space than the Intermission does now. Since this is broken up over two discs, the intermission is unnecessary. It's much like the roadshow overture; it's not something that most fans of the film are going to sit through every single time. Again, I would have put the three minute overture as an option vs. having it pasted at the front where you have to fast forward through it every single time. With all the extra money spent on this disc would it have hurt Columbia to include a third disc with special features? A documentary on the original restoration would have been nice as would a documentary on T. E. Lawrence (I'm sure I remember that Biography ran one so it would be available to license). If these Superbit editions are going to be treated as the deluxe edition, why not include some deluxe extras? These are minor points to be sure, but if you're going to pony up for another edition of a film you've already purchased, why not get some extra value beyond the enhanced film? For those that are interested there are two other versions of Lawrence avaiable on DVD. The single disc has the entire film with no extras (that I recall), while the double disc edition does feature many extras that are worthwhile and it has a collectable case, booklet, etc. The former runs about $10.00 less than this edition, while the latter is comparable in cost.
Rating: 
Summary: STEREO USERS STAY AWAY
Review: WARNING this disc is only good for people with DTS or AC3 amplifiers. If your are a two channel STEREO sound system person like me you will discover that the AC3 track is out of phase. They spent NO time to ensure proper stereo channel balance for two channel users. They should have done a DTS for multi-channel people and then either a PCM or 2:0 AC3 for Stereo playback. I am sick and tired of the fact that proper stereo is being compromised for shallow 5:1 marketing gimmicks. In 20 years of the superior sounding 12inch Laserdisc format we never had to put up with compromised stereo. Providing the film to tape master was good the LD disc was good. In DVD a superb film to tape master can be ruined by the middle man Digital Authoring. Howard S Marks
Manchester UK
Rating: 
Summary: DISMAL, DISMAL, DISMAL - TRANSFER QUALITY CONTINUES TO LACK
Review: "Lawrence of Arabia" is the sweeping, grand and brilliantly conceived fictional account of the life of T.E. Lawrence. The plot follows Lawrence from his modest beginnings as a somewhat backward British officer, to his rise as a cult figure and finally, his downward spiral and death. In his debut film, Peter O'Toole delivers a tour de force performance. Omar Shariff is ideally cast as Ali. The evergreen chameleon, Alec Guinness is marvelous. Claude Raines and Jack Hawkins are their usual stellar best. THE TRANSFER: Film restorer, Robert A. Harris was called back in to color correct the original restoration negative he had previously worked on. The result is a much smoother, more vibrant print of this immortal classic that truly exhibits the film's rich texture. Unfortunately, Columbia (after promising that they would remove it) has left in all of the previous edge enhancement that was contained on the orginal DVD transfer. Fine details shimmer excessively. Much of the latter half of the film is plagued by an incredibly large amount of edge enhancement that creates harsh halo effects around much of the background information. These effects are terribly distracting. Despite Superbit's claim to offer the best picture quality available to the home consumer - this disc simply does not hold up! Also, the break in the film DOES NOT come at the intermission, where one might expect it. While the Superbit doctrine claims this is in order to preserve the integrity of the image quality, it's really hard to take them serious when DVD transfers like "Hello Dolly!" have their full 144 min. running time crammed onto one side of a disc with no discernable traces of edge enhancement or shimmering included! The audio has been corrected and, for the most part, sounds wonderful - but, on occasion - particularly during the duped segments - where before the over all characteristic was strident, it is now muffled instead (improvement? - you decide). Extras: Nothing of course - this is Superbit, what did you expect? BOTTOM LINE: Mr. Harris has my deepest admiration for his restorative efforts on this disc. However, the edge enhancement on "Lawrence" is a visual blemish I am not willing to overlook, precisely because it is NOT limited to a few scenes but plagues the transfer throughout and distracts from all the hard efforts Mr. Harris has put forth on this disc. Columbia has my greatest disdain!
Rating:
Summary: Finally! A Superbit "Lawrence" with color corrected video
Review: I won't review the movie. That's all been said before. And reading the other reviews will make you aware of the extraordinary restoration effort that was put into this masterpiece for its re-release in 70 mm 15 years ago. But no matter how good that release was, it didn't translate well to home video. I've had a VHS version and also own the DVD release from two years ago. That deluxe disc set had the entire three-hour plus film on one disc and was not properly color corrected. (The second disc IS chock full of newsreel footage and other extras if you enjoy that sort of thing) Now comes the Superbit release, which spreads the movie across two discs, dramatically increasing the bit rate. For once, Superbit really comes through and great improves the DVD experience. There are no extras. But the quality of the video is amazing. Key to this was the involvement in this edition of Robert Harris, who worked with David Lean and the film's cinematographer on the 1988 restoration. Mr. Harris details on thedigitalbits.com the time spent on this new DVD release to get everything right. The results are excellent. It's like a veil was lifted from the film to fully reveal the magnificent details of the desert landscapes. The 5.1 and DTS mixes are also top notch. Whatever you have heard about Superbit, this is the version of the title to own and one of the major DVD releases of this or any other year. If you enjoy this film, you owe it to yourself to rent or buy this version.
Rating:
Summary: A Majestic Sweeping & Grand Epic
Review: For me to say that "Lawrence of Arabia" is a masterpiece is like saying water is good. It should be common knowledge. In fact there's no need at all to make that statement. I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. Actually there's nothing I could say about this movie that hasn't been said 100 times before. I can't offer anything new or insightful. I can merely join the hopefully (?) hundreds and upon hundreds of people who love this movie. Released in 1962 and directed by David Lean, the man many people think of as the master of the epic through such films as "Doctor Zhivago" and "Bridge on the River Kwai" (Which also won "Best Picture") "Lawrence of Arabia" is perhaps Lean's most popular and influential film. It is a piece of great story telling. And to think this was one of Peter O' Toole's first roles (In the credits it states "introducing" which usualy means an actor\actress first film. But if you go on IMDB.com it states it was his third movie.). It is a tour-de-force performance. Truly amazing and it honestly should have gotten him the Oscar. It's a shame he's never won, except for the special Oscar that he was awarded. "Lawrence of Arabia" is based on actually writings of T.E. Lawrence. The screenplay by Robert Bolt abd Michael Wilson does in fact remain truthful too many moments. Which is unusualy for a Hollywood movie. Also part of this all-star cast is Alec Guinnes, Anthony Quinn, Omar Sharif, Jose Ferrer, & Claude Rains. Like I said before I really can't offer anything new to say but, just please make an attempt too see this film if you haven't. It will turn out to be a worthwhile experience. This is one of the greatest films of all-time. Nominated for 10 Academy Awards the movie won 7. Bottom-line: One of the greatest films of all-time. And one of many masterpieces to come from director David Lean.
Rating:
Summary: This great film retains its visual and dramatic power
Review: This is a great film and one of my very favorite movies. I love everything about it. The exquisite length and pacing of this film can only work when the dialogue, acting, and pictures support it. Here the movie is packed with everything wonderful from the first sound of the tympani to the credits. My father always felt that Peter O'Toole was cheated when the best actor Oscar went to Gregory Peck for "To Kill a Mocking Bird" and I have always agreed with that view. Nothing against Mr. Peck, but O'Toole gave a spectacular performance that has not lost its power over time. While I am not a film scholar, I have always found David Lean a compelling story teller with his images as well as the dialogue. Here, the images are so beautiful, powerful, and vast that they never leave the memory. They become part of our visual language. Who doesn't get thirsty when the Nefud is being crossed? Whose heart is touched when Lawrence comes out of the Sinai into the officers club with the boy? Who doesn't feel a mix of blood lust and revulsion in the battle scenes - especially at the train and the slaughter of the Turks on the way to Damascus? The extras on the making of the movie and the reprint of the original theatrical program (though in a much smaller size) are quite good and valuable. It is hard for me to get my kids to understand that we used to get dressed up to go to movies and they did sell program which people bought, read, and KEPT. Different times ... Yes, the events in which Lawrence played a part were a sideshow of a sideshow of the Great War, but they certainly get their monument in this great film.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Greats
Review: I hadn't seen this film in 20 years, but this version on DVD brings one of the greatest films of all time to my home theater. The film is visually magnificient: a big screen is almost essential, and if you have one, you will want a bigger one. Its not hard to understand why Peter O'Toole became an instand International star. Truly one of the most electric performances ever captured on film. Get bridge Over the River Kwai and have your own David Lean festival.
Rating:
Summary: Majesty in the Desert
Review: The moment David Lean makes you aware you are in the hands of a master comes early on in "Lawrence of Arabia." Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) holds a lit match close to his lips and with one quick puff of air blows it out. Before the action is even completed, however, Lean has cut to a shot of a desert vista, with the sun slowly rising over the lip of the horizon. It's one of the most famous elliptical edits in cinema history, second maybe only to the bone/spaceship cut in "2001: A Space Odyssey." And it's only the first of countless memorable moments in "Lawrence of Arabia." The appeal of David Lean epics has always been his ability as a director to maintain an equilibrium between the scope of his films and the characters in them. Character development is never sacrificed to massive set pieces or knock-your-socks-off action sequences. "Lawrence of Arabia" has these elements too, but at heart it's a character study of one remarkable man. Lean seemed to understand that impressive landscapes alone are not inherently interesting; but if you place a fascinating character among those impressive landscapes, you can have movie magic. "Lawrence" feels unlike other historical epics of its time. In most "big" films--I'm thinking of movies like "Ben-Hur," "Spartacus," "Cleopatra," all movies that premiered roughly around the same time as "Lawrence"--one gets the sense that directors framed compositions based on how much they were able to fit into their widescreen lenses. One rarely sees characters filmed from anything closer than a medium shot, and usually the background is stuffed to overflowing with garish art direction. Everything feels static and wooden. But in "Lawrence," Lean keeps his frames constantly alive by juxtaposing huge landscape shots with extreme close-ups of actor faces. In one especially brutal scene, after a battle that results in the slaughter of many people, the action cuts to a close-up of O'Toole, looking panicked and crazed, gripping a bloody knife in his hand as if he's reluctant to drop it, obviously both disturbed and titillated by the carnage he just witnessed. It's moments like that---not just an impressive battle scene but a character's reactions to the results of that scene---that set "Lawrence" apart from other standard epics. And of course, I have to reserve space in my review for the performance of Mr. O'Toole. He is perhaps my favorite actor, not one of the most prolific, but certainly one of the most unpredictable. He has a flair for choosing eccentric characters that give him almost unlimited room in which to perform. He carries "Lawrence of Arabia" almost singlehandedly on his slim shoulders. That's not to say the supporting cast isn't great, but O'Toole towers above them all. O'Toole understands that the most influential figures in history could also be the most difficult and ruthless when they needed to be, and he gives Lawrence an incredibly complex characterization, leaving his audience in doubt as to whether he should be worshipped or feared, or perhaps both. Lean would never direct an equal to "Lawrence of Arabia" again. His later films are certainly more than watchable, and "A Passage to India" is even quite remarkable in its own way, but we would never get another "Lawrence." Even more reason to appreciate it now. My Grade: A+
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