The three-hour war and adventure epic, Lawrence of Arabia, has been hailed as a ‘must watch’ by film enthusiasts and is set to air on Film Four today.
The 1962 cinematic masterpiece is renowned for its breathtaking cinematography and sweeping musical score composed by Maurice Jarre. The film was a significant success at the Oscars, earning 10 nominations at the 35th Academy Awards and winning seven, including Best Picture and Best Director for David Lean.
It also clinched the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Drama and two BAFTA awards.
The film features an all-star cast with Peter O’Toole playing Lawrence, Alec Guinness as Prince Faisal and Omar Sharif as Sherif Ali. With a runtime exceeding three hours, this adventure epic has captivated film fans, many of whom have dubbed it ‘one of the greatest films of all time’, largely due to its stunning visuals.
Filmed on location in the expansive deserts of Jordan, Morocco, and Spain, the film beautifully captures the vast desert landscape alongside its gripping storyline, reports the Mirror.
Lawrence of Arabia centres around the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire during World War I, albeit with some fictional elements woven into the narrative.
As per the IMDB website, the film’s synopsis reads: “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.”
The film, with a budget of roughly $15 million, raked in about $45.4 million at the US and Canada box office, amassing a global gross of around $46 million. One glowing five-star review on the film website Rotten Tomatoes said: “A must-watch epic by David Lean featuring many great performances.”
Another reviewer echoed this sentiment, writing: “Best movie of all time. Cinematography is amazing. Acting is incredible. Screenplay is phenomenal. There were great movies before and there have been since. But this is the best of all time.
“Long, very long. More of a documentary at times- but the acting was superb and you really felt vested in the characters journey. I have watched it all the way through maybe 3-5 times in my life, it always amazes me how you really feel transported into the sand dunes. Visually one of the greatest films of all time,” commented a third.
Another said: “Truly epic. I love the cinematography, the costumes, and the gigantic battles with real men, camels and horses. Although, the pacing is quite slow. If the movie were 1 hour shorter, it would be nearly perfect.
“A grand war epic by one of Britain’s most acclaimed filmmakers David Lean is an extraordinary and powerful journey that somehow manages to make an almost four-hour long film, so mind-blowing, into a shorter runtime,” praised a fifth.