The story of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks.
Due to his knowledge of the native Bedouin tribes, British Lieutenant T.E. Lawrence is sent to Arabia to find Prince Faisal and serve as a liaison between the Arabs and the British in their fight against the Turks. With the aid of native Sherif Ali, Lawrence rebels against the orders of his superior officer and strikes out on a daring camel journey across the harsh desert to attack a well-guarded Turkish port.Written by
Jwelch5742
Referring to the secret Sykes-Picot Treaty, Faisal speaks of "the need to keep (the Arabs) in the British interest and the French interest." When he says "British interest," he shakes Allenby's hand, and when he says "French interest," he shakes Dryden's hand. The character Dryden--played by Claude Rains--is not French. However, one of Rains' iconic roles was that of the French Captain Renault in Casablanca (1942). See more »
Goofs
As Lawrence approaches the Suez canal from the east, he hears then sees over a dune the ship traveling left to right, obviously north. When he goes atop the dune, the ship is trailing away to the south. See more »
The abridged 202 minutes version has at least one scene that was not in the original 222 minutes version, where Auda Abu Tayi (Anthony Quinn) calls out, "Come dine with me at Wadi Rhumm." In the original 222 mins version this scene cut directly to the inside of the tent where the Bedouins are waiting to eat. Director David Lean felt that this came across as corny, so he decided to insert a new shot of the the cliffs and asked Maurice Jarre (the composer) to compose new music that would be appropriate for the additional scene. This was the only scene that was not in the original 222 mins version. of the film. See more »
Every once in a while there is a film that will blow you away from start to finish, in this case Lawrence of Arabia ins one of those very few films that will blow you away. For many years my grandfather enjoyed this film and suggested it to me for some time, finally being old enough to see it, I see why he and many others have enjoyed it. Epics are a kind of film that take an immense approach towards a story that needs a massive vision in order to tell such a story. David Lean took this massive vision in order to create something of epic scale and scope, which captured the extensiveness of an epic-genre film. Like most other epics, they take a great amount of time to tell their long stories, some ranging between three to five hours long which I will say may be too long for any kind of film. Lawrence of Arabia runs in at three hours and thirty-six minutes would seem like a rather long film, but this runtime feels appropriate when telling the progressional story of T.E. Lawrence building his character in great depth. Think of it like breaking the character of T.E. Lawrence into several parts such as a man, soldier, hero, leader, and advisor. In regards to the performances, Peter O'Toole brings T.E. Lawrence to life on multiple levels making us feel for his life journey and all other circumstances that he faces on that journey. All supporting and secondary performances adds a lot of good flare as well, especially from Omar Sharif's character. The direction by David Lean resonates every minute of this epic, Lean took such great care in creating a film of scale, meaning making this film both look and feel immense. Great utilization of wide lenses and shots allow the look of the film to larger than life, which in turn makes those particular shots more impactful.
I would recommend this film to anyone, even if it were just one time. This film has been on many "top films or greatest films of all times", after seeing it I feel that this film justifies its placement on those lists.
Overall Star Rating: 8.4/10
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Every once in a while there is a film that will blow you away from start to finish, in this case Lawrence of Arabia ins one of those very few films that will blow you away. For many years my grandfather enjoyed this film and suggested it to me for some time, finally being old enough to see it, I see why he and many others have enjoyed it. Epics are a kind of film that take an immense approach towards a story that needs a massive vision in order to tell such a story. David Lean took this massive vision in order to create something of epic scale and scope, which captured the extensiveness of an epic-genre film. Like most other epics, they take a great amount of time to tell their long stories, some ranging between three to five hours long which I will say may be too long for any kind of film. Lawrence of Arabia runs in at three hours and thirty-six minutes would seem like a rather long film, but this runtime feels appropriate when telling the progressional story of T.E. Lawrence building his character in great depth. Think of it like breaking the character of T.E. Lawrence into several parts such as a man, soldier, hero, leader, and advisor. In regards to the performances, Peter O'Toole brings T.E. Lawrence to life on multiple levels making us feel for his life journey and all other circumstances that he faces on that journey. All supporting and secondary performances adds a lot of good flare as well, especially from Omar Sharif's character. The direction by David Lean resonates every minute of this epic, Lean took such great care in creating a film of scale, meaning making this film both look and feel immense. Great utilization of wide lenses and shots allow the look of the film to larger than life, which in turn makes those particular shots more impactful.
I would recommend this film to anyone, even if it were just one time. This film has been on many "top films or greatest films of all times", after seeing it I feel that this film justifies its placement on those lists. Overall Star Rating: 8.4/10