Lawrence of Arabia (1-Disc Edition) (1962)
Review by Doc Ezra
Film:
DVD:

Written by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson
Directed by David Lean
Starring Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins, Jose Ferrer, Anthony Quayle, Claude Rains, Arthur Kennedy, Omar Sharif, and introducing Peter O'Toole.

Features:

• Digitally remastered audio & anamorphic video
  

Rating: PG

Anamorphic: Yes.

My Advice: Buy the more robust two-disc set.

I'm going to assume here that I don't need to explain to you what Lawrence of Arabia is. If you're reading this and don't understand why, report to the detention camps immediately. Quite simply one of the finest movies in American cinema history, it cleaned house with seven Academy Awards, featured a cast that today forms a roll call of Hollywood elder statesmen (most no longer with us, alas), and told one of most grandiose epics this side of Gone With the Wind (and didn't feature bad Southern accents, to boot).

Following the legendary T.E. Lawrence throughout his travels in the Middle East, the film is composed of seemingly endless wide vistas of deserts and mountains, with tiny insignificant people moving among them. Despite this, however, the story manages to reinforce the power of those tiny seemingly insignificant individuals to enact large changes on the world around them, sometimes temporary -- but sometimes permanent.

The presentation is a beautiful transfer, with color that hasn't looked this good since opening weekend, and the sound remastered in Dolby 5.1. Unlike some of the old video cassette versions, this leaves the Overture, Entr'acte, and Exit Music intact, so the disc runs the full 227 minutes from first note in the overture to last note in the exit. A bit daunting, to be certain, and perhaps the only film not an installment of Lord of the Rings for which I will sit still this long (and the intermission at least gives you a chance to stretch your legs). Of course, it's DVD, so you can stop any time you like, but I highly recommend one viewing as it would have been in the theatre...it just provides a tremendous perspective on how massive a tale is being told.

Now, as noted above, this is the "Single Disc Edition" of the film, which means basically a stripped-down feature-only presentation. Were it actually offered at any sort of significant reduction in price, this would be a decent option for the movie buff that could care less about documentaries, theatrical trailers, commentary tracks, or what have you. But at only a few dollars cheaper than the bang-up two-disc set, there's really not much reason to pick this one up (except that the first version has been discontinued in favor of this one). I will say this for both versions, though -- how can one assemble a DVD of such a landmark film, and include nary a commentary track on either version? For crying out loud, O'Toole and Omar Sharif are the only two principles still breathing! Didn't it occur to someone that asking them a couple of questions might be in order?

But I digress. Basically, if you're just so strapped for cash that tracking down and paying the extra $4-5 for the spiffy double-disc set would keep you from making rent or eating dinner, then get this one by all means. But if you can skimp on the groceries for the extra scratch, it would be worth your while to step up to the big league edition.