| | | One of the Most Critically Acclaimed and Beloved Films of All Time...
Features: Collector's Edition, DVD, Widescreen, Dolby Digital (5.1), Dolby Surround Sound, English, Subtitled, French
Director David Lean follows the heroic true life odyssey of T.E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) in this dramatic portrait of the famed British officer's journey to the Middle East.Assigned to Arabia during World War I, Lawrence courageously unites the warring Arab factions into a strong guerrilla front and leads them to brilliant victories in treacherous desert battlefields where they eventually defeat the ruling Turkish empire.
"Spell-binding cinema." Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
"...always visually mesmerizing...[and] boasting a radical, even subversive performance of the young Peter O'Toole." Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.com
"Sweeping, epic, majestic, awesome, sumptuous...with amazing performances and gorgeous visuals..." Empire Magazine
"...a truly magnificent film." Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
"...remains one of the most intelligent, handsome, and influential of all war epics." Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
"...belongs near the very top [of all-time "best film" lists]. It's an astonishing, unrepeatable epic." Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
"A gorgeous epic with an outstanding performance from Peter O'Toole." Wesley Lovell, The Oscar Guy
Editor's Note
David Lean's masterpiece, perhaps the greatest of screen epics, stars Peter O'Toole in one of the most electrifying debuts in film history. The film is less an ordinary adventure than an experience that leaves an overwhelming sense memory of the struggle between two powerful forces: the Arabian deserts, immense, intractable, ever-shifting, punishing; and T.E. Lawrence, humble as a monk, flamboyant as a rock star, protean, polymathic, heroic, enigmatic, mad. While working on the staff of British Intelligence in Cairo in 1916, Lawrence's fluency in Arabic earns him a post on a mission sent to establish contact with Prince Feisal (Alec Guinness), leader of the Arab revolt and ally of the British against the German-sponsored Turks in WWI. Impressed by Lawrence's knowledge of their culture, the prince allows the young officer to join his staff, and Lawrence quickly earns the Arabs' respect after he executes acts of extraordinary heroism. As the Englishman's genius for guerrilla warfare becomes evident, he assumes the role of de facto leader of the Arab revolt, uniting the heretofore warring tribes into a devastatingly effective weapon. But the chaos of war also unleashes the repressed officer's powerful need for self-abasement and mortification of the flesh. A visionary work that unfolds one indelible image after another, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA fuses the conflict of man against man, man against nature, and man against himself into a sublime poem of force. The film features a literate script by Robert Bolt and an outstanding cast, which also includes Claude Rains, Jack Hawkins, Arthur Kennedy, Anthony Quinn, Jose Ferrer, and Omar Sharif in his unforgettable desert-crossing debut.
Plot Summary
This classic film was based on the real-life exploits of legendary British scholar and soldier T.E. Lawrence. Stationed in Cairo in 1916, Lawrence languished in the mapmaking department of British Intelligence until he was asked to find and gather information on Prince Feisal, leader of the Arab Allied forces in World War I. His desert journey inspired his first military success when he led a small contingent of Arabs against the Turkish stronghold of Aqaba. Lawrence's military career flourished as he attempted to forge a new, united Arab nation out of squabbling tribes.
| Features | A Conversation With Steven Spielberg | | Advertising Campaigns | | Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, Dolby Digital Stereo | | Audio: Spanish, French, Portuguese Dolby Digital Stereo | | Dubbed: Spanish, French, Portuguese | | DVD-ROM Features: Archives Of Arabia - Historic Photographs Take You Behind-The-Scenes (Parts 1 & 2), & Journey With Lawrence - Interactive Map Of The Middle East | | Exclusive Documentary: The Making Of Lawrence Of Arabia | | Four Original Featurettes: Maan, Jordan - The Camels Are Cast, In Search Of Lawrence, Romance Of Arabia, & Wind, Sand, & Star - The Making Of A Classic | | Interactive Menus | | Original Newsreel Footage Of The New York Premiere | | Scene Selection | | Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Thai | | Talent Files | | Theatrical Trailers |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Sony Pictures |
| Release Date: 6/10/2008 |
| Running Time: 226 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1962 | | Catalog ID: 25622 | | UPC: 00043396256224 | | Number of Discs: 2 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Anamorphic Widescreen 2.20:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Winner (1963) | | | British Academy Awards, Lawrence of Arabia, Best Film from any Source | | | Golden Globe, Freddie Young, Best Cinematography - Color | | | Golden Globe, Lawrence of Arabia, Best Motion Picture - Drama | | | Golden Globe, David Lean, Best Motion Picture Director | | | Golden Globe, Omar Sharif, Best Supporting Actor | | | Oscar, John Box, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color | | | Oscar, Freddie Young, Best Cinematography, Color | | | Oscar, David Lean, Best Director | | | Oscar, Anne V. Coates, Best Film Editing | | | Oscar, Maurice Jarre, Best Music, Score - Substantially Original | | | Oscar, Sam Spiegel, Best Picture | | | Oscar, John Cox, Best Sound | |
Oscar (1963) |  | Anne V. Coates, Winner, Best Film Editing | | David Lean, Winner, Best Director | |
Golden Globe (1963) | | David Lean, Winner, Best Motion Picture Director | |
Oscar (1963) | | Freddie Young, Winner, Best Cinematography, Color | |
Golden Globe (1963) | | Freddie Young, Winner, Best Cinematography - Color | |
Oscar (1963) | | John Box, Winner, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color | | John Cox, Winner, Best Sound | |
Golden Globe (1963) | | Lawrence of Arabia, Winner, Best Motion Picture - Drama | |
British Academy Awards (1963) | | Lawrence of Arabia, Winner, Best Film from any Source | |
Oscar (1963) | | Maurice Jarre, Winner, Best Music, Score - Substantially Original | |
Golden Globe (1963) | | Omar Sharif, Winner, Best Supporting Actor | |
Oscar (1963) | | Sam Spiegel, Winner, Best Picture |
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| | Professional Reviews | Los Angeles Times
"...LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, restored to its full clarity and magnificence, is one of the Seven Wonders of the cinematic world..." 02/15/1989 p.C6Chicago Sun-Times
"...What a bold, mad act of genius it was, to make LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, or even think that it could be made....It is a spare movie in clean, uncluttered lines..." 09/02/2001 p.4 Entertainment Weekly
"...It's pretty damned good..." 04/06/2001 p.95 Total Film
"...With grand, sweeping desertscapes, huge battles and Robert Bolt's Oscar-winning dialogue, this is as shockingly beautiful and hugely intelligent as any film ever made..." 05/01/2000 p.102 ReelViews 10 of 10
The historical epic has been a staple of the motion picture industry since the silent era. Over the years, it has evolved to mesh with the times and meet audiences' expectations. Viewers in the 1910s got D.W. Griffith's racist Birth of a Nation, while movie-goers in the 2000s were poleaxed by the trite but visually impressive Pearl Harbor. In between lie the best of the epics, and, while it's impossible to single out one as being at the inarguable top of the heap, David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia is certainly a contender for the position. Riveting from beginning to end, featuring stellar performances, amazing cinematography, and a story without a trace of fat, the film does everything an epic is supposed to do - and more...For David Lean, widely regarded as one of the masters of epic filmmaking, Lawrence of Arabia represented the most ambitious undertaking of a fruitful career. Restored to its full length in 1989, the version available today shows the story as Lean intended it to be seen - provided the viewer is able to see it projected, not compressed onto a TV screen. While it's true that Lawrence of Arabia still works on the small screen, it is robbed of one of the most important aspect of any motion picture spectacle - the awe factor. When that is present, this becomes an event - something that even the most restless viewer will become lost in. - James Berardinelli
Chicago Sun-Times 10 of 10
What a bold, mad act of genius it was to make "Lawrence of Arabia," or even think that it could be made. In the words 27 years later of one of its stars, Omar Sharif: "If you are the man with the money and somebody comes to you and says he wants to make a film that's four hours long, with no stars, and no women, and no love story, and not much action either, and he wants to spend a huge amount of money to go film it in the desert, what would you say?" The impulse to make this movie was based, above all, on imagination. The story of "Lawrence" is not founded on violent battle scenes or cheap melodrama, but on David Lean's ability to imagine what it would look like to see a speck appear on the horizon of the desert and slowly grow into a human being. He had to know how that would feel, before he could convince himself that the project had a chance of being successful..."Lawrence of Arabia" was one of the last films to be photographed in 70mm (as opposed to being blown up to 70 from a 35mm negative). It is a great experience to see it in 1989 as Lean intended it in 1962 - and also a humbling one, to realize how the motion picture industry is losing the vision to make epic films like this and settling for safe narrative formulas instead. - Roger Ebert
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