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During World War I, English officer Thomas Edward 'T.E.' Lawrence sets out to unite and lead the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes to fight the Turks.
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Character
Epic, earnest, grave and classical in form.
- intimateepic
- earnestironic
- gravecomic
- classical in formformally daring
- rawmeticulous
Who loves it, who doesn't
45 profiled raters. Loved most by The Prestige Hunters; disliked most by The Comfort Seekers.
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“Is Lawrence of Arabia better than The Bridge on the River Kwai?”
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“Is it too big for its own story?”
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“Does it take too many liberties with the true story?”
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A yes-or-no question, answered from what people wrote here, on TMDB and on Wikipedia. Never made up.
Reviews
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Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Tastebuds's numbers.
- CinemaSerfon TMDB · Nov 20249/10
This has got to be in my top ten movies - it is an almost flawless exercise in marrying fantastic photography, casting, writing, costumes and a score into three hours of wonderful entertainment. Rumour has it that Albert Finney was offered the lead role and suggested Peter O'Toole instead. If that is true (or not) then clearly serendipity was already on hand to guide this rendition of the story of TE Lawrence, who inspired and led an Arab uprising against the Ottoman empire. The iconic scene that introduces us to Omar Sharif as Lawrence heads to meet Prince Faisal (Alec Guinness) starts us on a journey mixing adventure, politics, superstition, ambition and cruelty. Anthony Quinn is superb as are, in lesser capacities, Claude Rains, José Ferrer and Jack Hawkins as his somewhat cynical, but opportunistic GOC. Arthur Kennedy helps take Lawrence's story to the world and through his eyes we see how his character is changed by all the violence around/instigated by him. Peter O'Toole conveys the emotional rollercoaster of a journey from naive, optimistic officer to war-weary veteran in a dazzling fashion. This is a true treat of a film.
Read the whole review on TMDB - r96skon TMDB · Sep 202410/10
227 minutes of greatness! I've always wanted to watch <em>'Lawrence of Arabia'</em> given its standing as being one of the greats, though that rather long run time always put it on my subconscious back-burner. At last, I rooted out some time for it and man it was a well spent near four hours! I'm not going to say its length is ignorable, though it truly doesn't feel like a 3hr 47min movie - so every credit to all involved. Peter O'Toole's performance is undoubtedly outstanding, I can't really add anything more to what I'm sure many, many others have noted down the decades - he is, put simply, brilliant. Other strong performers are Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Omar Sharif and, albeit more minorly, Claude Rains. No-one on the cast puts a foot wrong, as expected. The cinematography throughout is also absolutely exquisite, the entire look and feel of the film is just stunning. There is much more to say about this but I'll leave that to those that have already said such things. I'm just here to watch great movies and this 1962 picture is unequivocally one of those. Quite evidently a classic, no doubt about it.
Read the whole review on TMDB - Peter McGinnon TMDB · Sep 20207/10
This is obviously an epic film, lasting nearly four hours with the wide, sweeping desert vistas and huge cast. It describes a fairly brief period of time out of a remarkable man’s life. I wonder how modern viewers handle the length of the movie, accustomed as they are to movies this lengthy featuring superheroes with humor and almost constant action. I don’t even remember how long ago I originally watched Lawrence of Arabia —quite possibly forty or more years ago. It has aged pretty well overall. The only negative thing that struck me when I recently re-watched it may well be due to my age. But it can be a talkative film at times, which is fine, but they sometimes talk fairly softly, and if such a scene transitions to music, I found the music to be so loud in comparison that it lifted me half of my chair. I had to have remote in hand to be ready to adjust the volume. A minor thing.
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Cast
- Peter O'TooleT.E. Lawrence
- Alec GuinnessPrince Feisal
- Omar SharifSherif Ali
- Anthony QuinnAuda abu Tayi
- Jack HawkinsGeneral Allenby
- José FerrerTurkish Bey
- Anthony QuayleColonel Harry Brighton
- Claude RainsMr. Dryden
- Arthur KennedyJackson Bentley
- Donald WolfitGeneral Murray
Crew
- David LeanDirector
- Michael WilsonScreenplay
- Robert BoltScreenplay
- Freddie YoungDirector of Photography
- Maurice JarreOriginal Music Composer
- Anne V. CoatesEditor
- Sam SpiegelProducer
Where to watch
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Pairings
Companions we picked from the closest works, and how to take them.
Similar in taste
Closest on the same fourteen dimensions, from everything scored on Tastebuds Other media included when they land close.
Giant 195684% alikeBoth epic, earnest, grave.
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Doctor Zhivago 196580% alikeBoth epic, earnest, grave.
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The Last Emperor 198777% alikeBoth epic, grave, earnest.
The Bridge on the River Kwai 195776% alikeBoth classical in form, earnest, epic.
Nixon 199576% alikeBoth epic, grave, earnest.
Killers of the Flower Moon 202373% alikeBoth grave, earnest, classical in form.
Pachinko 201778% alikeBook · Both earnest, epic, grave.
War and Peace 201677% alikeTelevision · Both epic, earnest, classical in form.
Often watched with
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