Lawrence of Arabia

UPC: 043396094314

Studio: Columbia TriStar

MPAA Rating: PG   Contains:[Violence, Adult Situations]

Summary: This sweeping, highly literate historical epic covers the Allies' mideastern campaign during World War I as seen through the eyes of the enigmatic T. E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole, in the role that made him a star). After a prologue showing us Lawrence's ultimate fate, we flash back to Cairo in 1917. A bored general staffer, Lawrence talks his way into a transfer to Arabia. Once in the desert, he befriends Sherif Ali Ben El Kharish (Omar Sharif, making one of the most spectacular entrances in movie history) and draws up plans to aid the Arabs in their rebellion against the Turks. No one is ever able to discern Lawrence's motives in this matter: Prince Feisal (Alec Guinness) dismisses him as yet another "desert-loving Englishman," and his British superiors assume that he's either arrogant or mad. Using a combination of diplomacy and bribery, Lawrence unites the rival Arab factions of Feisal and Auda Abu Tayi (Anthony Quinn). After successfully completing his mission, Lawrence becomes an unwitting pawn of the Allies, as represented by Gen. Allenby (Jack Hawkins) and Dryden (Claude Rains), who decide to keep using Lawrence to secure Arab cooperation against the Imperial Powers. While on a spying mission to Deraa, Lawrence is captured and tortured by a sadistic Turkish Bey (Jose Ferrer). In the heat of the next battle, a wild-eyed Lawrence screams "No prisoners!" and fights more ruthlessly than ever. Screenwriters Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson used T. E. Lawrence's own self-published memoir The Seven Pillars of Wisdom as their principal source, although some of the characters are composites, and many of the "historical" incidents are of unconfirmed origin. Two years in the making (you can see O'Toole's weight fluctuate from scene to scene), the movie, lensed in Spain and Jordan, ended up costing a then-staggering $13 million and won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. The 1962 Royal Premiere in London was virtually the last time that David Lean's director's cut was seen: 20 minutes were edited from the film's general release, and 15 more from the 1971 reissue. This abbreviated version was all that was available for public exhibition until a massive 1989 restoration, at 216 minutes that returned several of Lean's favorite scenes while removing others with which he had never been satisfied. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Category: Epic

Awards: Best British Actor – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Film - Any Source – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Screenplay – British Academy of Film and Television Arts U.S. National Film Registry – Library of Congress 100 Greatest American Movies – American Film Institute Best Picture - Drama – null Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama – null Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama – null Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – null New Star of the Year - Male – null New Star of the Year - Male – null Best Director – null Best Original Score – null Best Cinematography - Color – null Best Actor – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Adapted Screenplay – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Color Art Direction – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Color Art Direction – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Color Art Direction – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Color Cinematography – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Director – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Editing – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Picture – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Original Score – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Sound – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Picture – National Board of Review Best Director – National Board of Review Best Supporting Actor – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Original Score – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Director – Hollywood Foreign Press Association New Star of the Year - Male – Hollywood Foreign Press Association New Star of the Year - Male – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Cinematography - Color – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Picture - Drama – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Director – Directors Guild of America

Features: ccDigitally mastered audio & Anamorphic video
Widescreen presentation
Audio: English 5.1 (Dolby Digital)
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Protuguese, Chinese, Korean, Thai
Animated & interactive menus
Scene selections
Feature length approximately 217 minutes. (Approximately 227 minutes including overture, entr'acte and exit music)

Lawrence of Arabia

Format: DVD

Release Date: 08/27/2002

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1

Runtime: 218 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Subtitles: English,French,Spanish,Portuguese

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 --
1. Overture [6:10]
2. Death of a Legend [3:19]
3. On Staff, in Cairo [2:55]
4. Dryden & Murray [1:51]
5. A Chat With the General [2:07]
6. "Find Prince Feisal" [1:17]
7. The Desert Journey Begins [4:31]
8. Friendship [4:28]
9. Ali at the Well [10:01]
10. Colonel Brighton [2:04]
11. What Modern Weapons Do [5:00]
12. In Feisal's Tent [5:38]
13. "Time To Be Great Again" [2:53]
14. "We Need a Miracle" [2:43]
15. "The Nefud Cannot Be Crossed!" [1:19]
16. "In Whose Name Do You Ride?" [2:38]
17. At the Oasis [:26]
18. "That Is the Railway" [1:50]
19. "You Were Drifting" [1:42]
20. Lost in the Desert [9:59]
21. Rescue of Gasim [3:49]
22. "Nothing is Written" [2:08]
23. El Aurens [3:46]
24. Robes of a Sharif [2:02]
25. Auda aby Tayi & Son [2:39]
26. Ali Vs. Auda [2:07]
27. "Dine With Me at Wadi Rum!" [5:34]
28. Execution of Gasim [7:55]
29. Attack on Akaba [3:38]
30. "The Miracle Is Accomplished" [2:25]
31. No Gold in Akaba [3:13]
32. Quicksand [4:23]
33. Suez Canal [:40]
34. The Officers' Bar [3:13]
35. General Allenby [3:01]
36. Planning the Campaign [4:10]
37. Entr'acte [6:37]
38. Jackson Bently, Journalist [4:47]
39. Destroying the Turkish Railway [4:19]
40. "It's Clean" [6:24]
41. Something Honorable [7:28]
42. Detonator [1:52]
43. Capture in Deraa [4:09]
44. "Beat Him" [6:32]
45. "Sleep... Eat" [1:02]
46. "Any Man Is What I Am" [4:43]
47. Entering Jerusalem [3:02]
48. A Clash of Temperment [:58]
49. Bodyguard [2:23]
50. British Staff Meeting [3:05]
51. Roads to Damascus [5:28]
52. "No Prisoners!" [3:22]
53. Chaos in Damascus [:59]
54. Turkish Hospital [2:52]
55. Going Home [9:26]
56. End Credits & Exit Music [8:27]

Rebecca Flint Marx

More of a sensory explosion than a simple movie, Lawrence of Arabia is epic in every sense of the word. Its images--of the desert, of the blinding sun, of Peter O'Toole's golden hair and staggeringly blue eyes--are some of the most memorable ever committed to celluloid, and its musical score remains almost unparalleled in its ability to evoke so many associations with a few simple notes. A richly detailed character portrait rather than a biography or an adventure film, Lawrence is the tale of a man at the mercy of both the desert and his own grand ambitions. As played by O'Toole in a star-making performance, Lawrence was a man whose character was defined as much by sexual ambivalence and thorny enigma as by his considerable vision and will -- in other words, a conflicted, fascinating figure whose personality tended both to inspire and to eclipse his cause. It is fitting that a man larger than life should have his story presented as an epic, and equally fitting that this epic is set in the desert, the only stage magnificent and unforgiving enough to showcase Lawrence's persona. Lawrence of Arabia is almost as remarkable for the story behind it as for the story visible on the screen. Director David Lean's handling of his material is legendary, from days spent on location waiting for the "right" sunrise to his staging of several key scenes, most notably that of the desert mirage that slowly evolves from speck to man. That shot alone could have made the film a legend, conveying the mystery, brutality, and scope of the desert just by remaining still and silent. Lean's respect for the desert is evident in every scene: rather than attempting to manipulate it, he lets it speak for itself. The result is one of the cinema's most iconic visual feasts, perhaps even more so because it was one of the last films to be shot in 70mm (as opposed to being blown up to 70mm from 35mm). Restored and re-released in 1989, 27 years after its initial release, Lawrence was still as beautiful and turbulent as its title character, stunning new and old viewers alike. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Harry Fowler  Actor 
Henry Oscar  Actor 
Norman Rossington  Actor 
Zia Mohyeddin  Actor 
Fernando Sancho  Actor 
Jack Gwyllim  Actor 
Kenneth Fortescue  Actor 
Jack Hedley  Actor 
Howard Marion-Crawford  Actor 
John Ruddock  Actor 
Stuart Saunders  Actor 
Robert Bolt  Screenwriter 
Maurice Jarre  Composer (Music Score) 
David Lean  Director 
David Lean  Producer 
Sam Spiegel  Producer 
Michael Wilson  Screenwriter 
Peter O'Toole  Actor 
Alec Guinness  Actor 
Anthony Quinn  Actor 
Jack Hawkins  Actor 
Omar Sharif  Actor 
José Ferrer  Actor 
Anthony Quayle  Actor 
Claude Rains  Actor 
Arthur Kennedy  Actor 
Donald Wolfit  Actor 
I.S. Johar  Actor 
Michael Ray  Actor 
Gamil Ratib  Actor 
John Dimech  Actor 
Hugh Miller  Actor 

Country: UK,USA