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Summary: Doctor Zhivago with Omar Sharif
Review: Doctor Zhivago is David Lean 's measured and beautiful adaptation of Boris Pasternak 1958-acclaimed novel. Made in 1965 and winner of five Academy Awards, starring Omar Sharif and Julie Christie, Doctor Zhivago is a cinematic masterpiece, a visually stunning and expressively powerful love story set in the foreground of life in Russia during the latter days of Czarist Russia and the turmoil of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. The film features gorgeous landscape and romantic scenes set to Maurice Jarre's haunting music. Lean uses Panavision cinematography to boast his landscapes that are often remote and cold is contrasted with the emotional fires burning within Zhivago and Lara -- a romanticized version of an illicit relationship without moral dilemmas or conflicts. The romance is amid the opulence of Russia before the war and the violent social upheaval that followed. Like many Russians, Zhivago's life is swept away with the radical currents of the Revolution.
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Summary: What a Great Gift For a Video Enthusiast's Christmas!
Review: What a wonderful surprise to discover this film as finally been released in the DVD format. Indeed, absolutely no one was a more masterful film maker than David Lean, the British director of such classics as "Lawrence of Arabia", "Bridge Over the River Kwai", "Ryan's Daughter" and, of course, "Doctor Zhivago" (see my reviews of all these films). Lean's cinematography is always spectacular and breathtaking, for he had a special appreciation for how the nature of one's natural surroundings set the stage and influenced the dramatic proceedings. Thus, Lean characteristically focused his films on the ways in which individuals and their personal characteristics clash and meld with the larger social, cultural, and historical surround in which they are located, and so each film is a uniquely captivating study of the specific dynamics of each particular individual situation. Each of these films is also a well-choreographed and photographed excursion into the topography, climate, and landscape of the geographic location in which the drama unfolds. The eyes and ears are always delighted by what Lean displays. Here the beauty and innocence of nature is constantly contrasted with the ugliness, artificiality, and depravity of man's environs both under the Czar as well as under the brutally repressive communist regime. Omar Sharif turns on a wonderful performance as young Yuri Zhivago, by turns an orphan, poet, and medical doctor sponsored by the family he will soon marry into. The character of Zhivago is that of an unrepentant innocent, a true Russian peasant transported by situation and circumstance away from his rural origins into the bustling aristocracy of Moscow before the October revolution. All Zhivago wants is to immerse himself wholehearted in the life he has made for himself and his family, yet again and again he is forced by circumstance to serve for forces beyond his doorstep. Unfortunately for Yuri, he is caught in a time and place in which such personal extravagance and private self-absorption is no longer tolerated. Indeed, in the violent and tumultuous Russia of the first half of the 20th century, such a private life was impossible. When war comes, he is pressed into service as a field doctor. Later, after returning to the streets of Moscow, which is in turmoil and difficulty associated with the social changes forced by the Bolsheviks, he decides to escape the political madness by fleeing with the family to the country estate in the Urals. Once there, however, Yuri is forced once more into medical service by the Reds in their running civil ware against the Whites raging throughout Russia. In all this, he collides fatefully with the beautiful Lara, who is played by the very young and beautiful Julie Christie. In their love affair Zhivago finds the emotional inspiration and solace he has sought through all this but has denied himself for the sake of his wife and family. Against this backdrop of the personal odyssey of Zhivago, the events of the Russian revolution and its aftermath are brilliantly depicted. As in all of the Lean movies, the ways in which each character's nature, individual characteristics, and personal foibles project themselves into the larger social circumstances provides the focus of the unfolding story. The cinematography here is absolutely breath-taking, and the many spectacular action sequences and memorable musical score by Maurice Jarre (for which he received an Oscar) all contribute to make this one of the most popular and memorable films of all time. The cast is wonderful, with terrific performances by Sharif, Christie, Geraldine Chaplin, Rod Steiger, Tom Courteney, Rita Tushingham (as Zhivago's bastard daughter with Lara), and a number of notable others, including a small part by Sir Alec Guinness as Zhivago's half-brother Yevgrav, who acts as the narrator of the film. By the way, the film has aged very well, and as a piece of history and as a piece of popular entertainment it is easily one of the top ten of all time. Enjoy!
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Summary: A Book For The Eyes!
Review: Doctor Zhivago has to be one of the most visually stunning and daunting films to watch ever placed on screen and for all it grandoise and passion the viewer comes off as the ultimate winner. The story of two soul mourning lovers that spans from the revoultion up-rising in Russia to the most haughtingly beautiful dacha ride to an crystal frozen house that time has weathered as a symbol of Omar Sharif's, Zhivago and Julie Christie's, Lara ever enduring love are just heart stopping! The direction of Lean is another reason why films of this stature are not made with few exception over the years films have been watered down by Hollywood who think that the viewer has the same attention span as a bucket of popcorn! Lean gives the viwer snow capped mountains, close ups of lover's passing glances and Omar Shariff and Julie Christie in one of the most sensual field scenes ever committed to film! Doctor Zhivago offers the viewer a chance to display their emtional intelligence in the same veign as films as "On The Waterfront" and "Suddenly Last Summer" forced us too. But the main selling point is the path Lean took with the book, Lean recreates all the majestic steps and tones properly and not only makes the hours fly by but the pain and beauty of one of the last great romantic and intelligent films to last for decades to come. Never again will we encounter a film that opens with a stunner and ends with such an unnerving sigh of fulfillment.
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Summary: At last: all the frills without the expensive packaging!
Review: (...) Simple - buy it. I've seen other "special editions", "limited editions", "special limited editions", "special director's cut limited editions", and they usually seem to cost twice the price of standard DVDs because they come in a box that looks like a license plate, or branded wood, or linen, or have a framed film image, or a comic book, or some other gimmick. This 2-DVD set gives you everything you could possibly want in an unassuming package at about the price of ONE DVD of a lesser film. The film NEVER looked or SOUNDED better (although I suspect some digital tom-foolery with the sound, since some previously innocuous noises are now somewhat more "forward"). Plus all the extras that you could ask for: feature-length commentary by Shariff, Steiger, and Lean's daughter, separate soundtrack, "making of" documentaries, the works. So, all you Romantics out there - this is it! The last of the Great Epics, definitely a product of it's times but essentially faithful to it's source and the likes of which we'll probably never see again. One last thing: *my* favorite line from the movie has nothing to do with Zhivago and Lara. It's a pip-squeak commissar telling Zhivago: "Your attitude's been noticed! Oh, yes, it's been noticed!" A motto for THESE times.
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Summary: Amazing in its Images
Review: I can't say that "Dr. Zhivago" is David Lean's best film ("Lawrence of Arabia" would hold that title), but it's still a luscious, well-produced epic that concerns a love story during the Russian Revolution. This film doesn't win points for depth, but it does serve as an influence for later movies like "Titanic," another three hour movie about a romance during a historical event. And, like "Titanic," "Dr. Zhivago" is visually stunning, even more so on this 2-disc DVD edition. The picture is crisp and vibrant, and the sound (5.1 surround) holds up so well for a 36 year old picture. And the features contain both original featurettes as well as a retrospective documentary on the motion picture. Although I admire "Dr. Zhivago" more for its style than its substance, movie buffs--young and old--should grab this one.
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Summary: A BEAUTIFUL BUT MEANINGLESS MELODRAMA
Review: New on DVD is "DOCTOR ZHIVAGO," David Lean's take on Boris Pasternak's epic love story set against the Russian Revolution. This new digital transfer from restored elements looks and sounds great. Omar Sharif gives an on screen introduction and is featured on the anecdote filled commentary track along with Rod Steiger and Sandra Lean, the director's widow. Ample bonus material fills the two discs that include the new 30th anniversary "Doctor Zhivago: The Making of a Russian Epic," 10 additional vintage documentaries, a music only audio track of Maurice Jarre's haunting score and more. There's not a lot of meaning in this melodrama, but the marriage of dazzling images and bittersweet emotions are about as good as film can deliver.
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Summary: Revolution on a grand scale
Review: I first saw this film in the late 60s while still in high school and found it a stunning epic without equal. The soundtrack was so impressive I even went out and bought the 4-track cartridge version (anyone remember those?) as soon as it was available. Now with the release of the DVD version I was able to introduce it to my own 17 year old son and he also rates it an excellent production for all the same reasons I was so impressed by it at his age. In surround sound the score is as stirring as it was thirty years ago and the talent of Maurice Jarre lives on. The sweeping grandeur of the cinematography never overrides the bittersweet story of the Zhivago saga and the actors involved give performances worthy of the perfection that David Lean sought in tackling this great endeavor. There is little if anything that I can fault in this production and over the years this film has in my mind epitomized the high points of the careers of all those involved. I was heartened to notice that even with all the technical advances and tricks available to modern directors how well this project holds up today. Truly a masterpiece of film making and it certainly raised the bar for studios for many years to come. To impress a critical and jaded 17 year old in this day and age says a great deal about the timelessness of this David Lean triumph. It should stand as one of the great achievements of the director's art for a long time to come.
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Summary: Lean at his fattest
Review: I was 15 when this film was released. It was during a very hot summer in Des Moines that "Zhivago" played at the best equipped cinema in town, the Ingersoll. State of the art projection, sound, etc. I went to the first showing, which was a matinee, and I was only 1 of 5. I left the theatre, after hours of air-conditioning and the Russian steppes, to be blinded by our Midwestern summer. Though my body thawed on the bus ride back home, my heart held fast to the film I had experienced. I went back twice more, and would have gone more times had I been able to afford it.
Now, many years later, though I am much more cynical and crabbed with age, I watched the DVD version with the same enchantment, the same romantic urges I had felt so many years before.
Just watch it, without a snide side. Allow this wonderful film to fill you with it's sweep and emotions intact. Lean is a cinematic god.
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Summary: Latest incarnation of the classic film top-quality
Review: If the classic David Lean rendering of Pasternak's novel is as important to you as it is to me, I can only urge you to buy this latest video incarnation. Indeed, the only reason not to (aside from not having a DVD-player) is if you have the 30th Anniversary Edition on laserdisc and the few additional extra's on the DVD (commentary during film, isolated music track)are not worth the extra outlay for a new format. Otherwise, know that the video and audio quality of this release blows not only all previous VHS transfers out of the water (as you'd expect), but also edges the superb 30th Anniversary laserdisc transfer with its Dolby Digital sound and updated picture. Just a point regarding sound & picture: the surround channels are tastefully handeled, as on the laserdisc. What is different is the increased openness in the soundstage in general and the even greater spacial location of the sound effects. The picture is only subtly better than on the laserdisc, perhaps partly because it was viewed on a progressive-scan DVD system.
The foregoing points plus the exhaustive, high-quality bonus features make this a must for friends of great cinema.
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Summary: Boris Pastenaks Epic, AFI top 100, now on Widescreen DVD!
Review: Voted #36 on the American Film Institutes (AFI) Top 100 Films of the Last 100 Years now comes to the Widescreen DVD format. Doctor Zhivago can only be appreciated & enjoyed on the largest screen available. It's panoramic splendor captures Boris Pastenaks Epic Russian Novel beautifully under the Direction of David Lean (Oscar Winner - Bridge On the River Kwai & Lawrence of Arabia). Boris Pastenak was a Nobel Prize winner and Russian writer whose books were banned for years. His passionate writings which were romantic & political were popular on the Russian black market. Then his book "Doctor Zhivago was smuggled out of Russia and published. Almost instantaneouly became a classic, a world-wide bestseller. Doctor Zhivago is a grand story about young passion & romance from the Russian Revolution to WWII involving unforgetable & timeless characters. Maurice Jarres Oscar winning Musical score introduced us to "Lara's Theme" and the music of the balalaika's errie sound. This 2 DVD set provides us with a Big Screen digitally remastered transfer that captures this incredible epic in all its splendor & beauty. Extras are abundant & nice for background information. A lenghty movie 3 1/2 hours which is needed to spin this complex love & polictical story.
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