Rating: ****
Review Date: 12/16/12
Director: David Lean
Cast: Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Anthony Quinn, Alec Guinness, Claude Rains
An epic adventure of a bygone age. T.E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) is an awkward, clumsy, and insubordinate misfit in the British army. He's also highly educated, and gets sent to the Arabian desert to report on Prince Feisal's (Alec Guinness) losing battle against the Turks. Lawrence sees an opportunity to unite the warring Arab tribes and manages to lead them to victory against a common foe.
At three hours and forty-two minutes, this is a doozy to sit through, and while the pacing is slow and deliberate, the film remains engaging throughout. The cinematography is dazzling and the film is simply beautiful to watch. David Lean's direction is superb, and his love of the desert is apparent. The stellar cast does an excellent job with the material and each of the characters are wonderfully realized. A sweeping musical score adds an extra emotional punch. The scale of the film is massive, and the battle sequences are impressively staged. O'Toole does a wonderful job of recreating Lawrence's larger-than-life persona, as well as the madness that came with it.