better than the cinema (Lawrence Of Arabia (DVD))

Member Name: batmoz

Product:	Lawrence Of Arabia (DVD)
Date:	24/05/03 (27 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great movie, captured on DVD masterfully, excellent extras

Disadvantages: no commentary

With the grand, sweeping desertscapes glowing on DVD and Robert Bolt's Oscar winning dialogue comibg through loud and clear, this truly beautiful and hugely intelligent film has never looked or sounded better. Making stars of Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif, David Lean's account of the life and times of TE Lawrence may take the odd historical liberty, but as a movie it's faultless.
And it's a near faultless package, too. You could quibble about the absence of a commentary but that's made up for by the four featurettes, premier footage, maps, trailers and filmographies. In any case, the 60-minute Making Of not only interviews all the principal players, it also examines the restoration process that resulted in this 227-minute print (Lean's intended length). The movie also remains true to the director's wish that it have an interval half way through. A musical overture plays before each half, meaning you've got time to nip out and make a cuppa. And, more importantly, it also means that putting the film onto two discs doesn't jar at all.
The best thing about the disc is the conversation with Steven Spielberg. Gushing with enthusiasm for Lean and his work, it says as much about Spielberg (often accused of nicking ideas and shots from the "Lawrence of Arabia" director) as it does about Lean himself.

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