Rent Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

One of The Greatest Of Films - Lawrence of Arabia review by GI

This is one of those magnificent movies that makes you realise why you fell in love with cinema. It's a masterpiece, epic, stunningly beautiful, brilliantly scripted and directed and keeps at it's heart an intimate character study of a diverse historical figure. Set during the First World war it tells the story of T.E. Lawrence, an eccentric young British army officer who is sent by his superiors to act as liaison to an Arab prince to encourage the Arabs to fight the Turks. The British, of course, have designs on Arabia but Lawrence against the odds and to the surprise of his British High Command unites the warring Arab tribes and secures unprecedented victories against the Turkish army at personal cost to his beliefs and perhaps his sanity. There are some very famous scenes to be enjoyed here and a story that is really interesting and brilliantly told. Peter O'Toole plays Lawrence to sheer perfection aided by a stellar cast including Alec Guinness, Omar Shariff, Jack Hawkins, Anthony Quayle, Claude Rains and Anthony Quinn. The film garnered seven Academy Awards and they are richly deserved. A magnificent, beautiful film and one every film fan must see and watch time and time again.

The Mirage of Greatness - Lawrence of Arabia review by griggs

It’s hard to think of another film that feels this vast and this intimate at the same time. One minute you’re dwarfed by endless desert, the next you’re watching a man wrestle with ego, identity, and empire. O’Toole doesn’t just play the part—he glows with reckless charisma and boyish enigma, a blond question mark on a camel. Every shot looks like it should be in a museum, yet the story gallops along with real moral weight. War, politics, and performance all blur in the heat.

It’s also a film about myth-making—how legends are built, and how they buckle under scrutiny. That balance of grandeur and doubt is what keeps pulling me back. I don’t watch it for the spectacle (though, yes, that entrance), but for the tension behind the eyes, the sense that greatness might just be another kind of madness. Epic in scale, precise in detail, and utterly timeless. Some films are great. This one feels carved into history.

Riveting - Lawrence of Arabia review by KD

A David Lean classic with huge panormas and a riveting performance from Peter 'O Toole.

Just as good as when we first saw it in the 1960's

A Visionary masterpeice - Lawrence of Arabia review by CP Customer

I saw this film in the 60's but too young to appreciate the magnificence.

This time around I found the film breathtaking on my flat screen, its scale colour and visionary composition. The music that urged the pace unlike blockbuster music we have today. Every word clear as a bell and the constant shifting of scale giving us a true feeling of the colossal size of a desert. Camels camels oh the camels, the elegance of these strange creatures, must have had thousands of them so medieval when they charge through the desert bearing the standard flags and this is where part 1 ended.

Thats just the film the acting has easily and handsomely stood the test of time, P o' Toole has that timeless quality, I can see him in ANY of the films made today & cant wait for part 2 and would have asked for them both together, if I had noticed the film was split in to 2 halves.

disc - Lawrence of Arabia review by MC

great film, i haven't seen it yet because i was sent a broken disc! (which I returned to Cinemaparadiso and am waiting)

War Epic. - Lawrence of Arabia review by Steve

Hugely ambitious and influential biopic based on Seven Pillars of Wisdom by Thomas Edward Lawrence about his experiences in co-ordinating nomadic Bedouin Arabs to fight the Turkish empire during WWI. With its Super-Panavision, extensive cast of stars and extras, big orchestral score and massive production logistics, this is the ultimate example of the cinematic epic.

Its extreme length presents a challenge, spread out over nearly four hours. There is an abundance of unhurried photography of the desert. But the narrative drive rarely falters and even the slightest interest in the history is amply rewarded. The politics strikes a balance. The Arab fight for self determination is portrayed as fanciful, but the British motives are avaricious and mendacious.

The characters all express an opinion on Lawrence, but it's Peter O'Toole's phenomenal portrayal which most impacts how we appraise him; a strong willed fantasist with a god-complex. While the photography and the production design are magnificent, it's the star who makes the exotic feel real. Freddie Francis' camera establishes Lawrence as a mythic figure.

There were ten Oscar nominations and seven wins including for best picture and director. It looks astonishing. There is nuance, but mainly this is a spectacular realisation of a broad sweep of political history. It is overwhelming both in terms of its enterprise, and the demands it makes of the viewer. It's also among the greatest and most imposing historical epics ever made.