Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Average Rating: 8.9/10
Reviews Counted: 65
Fresh: 64 | Rotten: 1
The epic of all epics, Lawrence of Arabia cements director David Lean's status in the filmmaking pantheon with nearly four hours of grand scope, brilliant performances, and beautiful cinematography.
Average Rating: 8.2/10
Critic Reviews: 16
Fresh: 15 | Rotten: 1
The epic of all epics, Lawrence of Arabia cements director David Lean's status in the filmmaking pantheon with nearly four hours of grand scope, brilliant performances, and beautiful cinematography.
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Average Rating: 4.2/5
User Ratings: 69,147
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Movie Info
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
Dec 16, 1962 Wide
Apr 3, 2001
Columbia Pictures
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Cast
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Peter O'Toole
T.E. Lawrence -
Alec Guinness
Prince Feisal -
Anthony Quinn
Auda abu Tayi -
Jack Hawkins
Gen. Allenby -
Omar Sharif
Sherif Ali ibn el Khari... -
José Ferrer
Turkish Bey -
Anthony Quayle
Col. Harry Brighton -
Claude Rains
Mr. Dryden -
Arthur Kennedy
Jackson Bentley -
Donald Wolfit
Gen. Murray -
Michael Ray
Farraj -
I.S. Johar
Gasim -
Gamil Ratib
Majid -
John Dimech
Daud -
Hugh Miller
RAMC Colonel -
Howard Marion-Crawford
Medical Officer -
Kenneth Fortescue
Allenby's Aide -
Harry Fowler
Cpl. Potter -
Jack Hedley
Reporter -
Zia Mohyeddin
Tafas -
Henry Oscar
Reciter -
Norman Rossington
Corporal Jenkins -
John Ruddock
Elder Harith -
Fernando Sancho
Turkish Sergeant -
Stuart Saunders
Regimental Sergeant Maj... -
Jack Gwyllim
Club Secretary
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Lawrence of Arabia Trailer & Photos
All Critics (65) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (73) | Rotten (1) | DVD (33)
It is O'Toole who continually dominates the screen, and he dominates it with professional skill, Irish charm and smashing good looks.
Top CriticIt was a big bold project and has turned out a big bold film.
[It] remains one of the most intelligent, handsome, and influential of all war epics.
The passage of time has only proved how difficult it is to run ideas, history, characterisation and landscape in harness on this sort of scale.
Approach it from whatever angle you like, performances, script, cinematography, score; David Lean's sweeping biography of T.E. Lawrence is unarguably magnificent.
Even the flies in the opening Cairo scene jump out at you.
How did David Lean and star Peter O'Toole achieve such perfection? If we could define and distil it, we wouldn't need a special category for those flicks we call 'classics.' Lawrence of Arabia is that, and then some.
This is a movie with the excitement of a cavalry charge.
To appreciate the film fully, Lawrence must be seen in a cinema, in 70mm on the widescreen and in stereophonic sound, and the present theatrical revival is not to be missed.
This seven-Oscar wonder remains exhilarating thanks to Freddie Young's majestic desert lensing, Maurice Jarre's gorgeous score and Peter O'Toole's career-defining portrayal of the feted but flawed protagonist.
David Lean's movie also works on a personal level, eroding the legend of T.E. Lawrence to reveal the complicated mix of ego and understanding that drove him to perform amazing military feats.
It may be legend, and it may be romanticized, but "Lawrence of Arabia" feels authentic. It's as stirring an epic as Hollywood has ever produced-one reason why the American Film Institute has named it the Number 1 epic of all time.
O'Toole, all piercing blue eyes and steadfast idealism, buzzes with charisma in the role of a lifetime.
Does it really matter that the sun that rises in the film is a 'real' sun as opposed to a CGI sun?
...an overlong yet watchable epic...
Mature teens will appreciate this gripping epic.
One of the cinema's grandest spectacles, Lawrence of Arabia is at turns exhilarating, devastating, and puzzling as it ponders the mystery of a man who was a mystery to himself.
Spell-binding cinema.
Sweeping, epic, majestic, awesome, sumptuous, you name the grandiose superlative and you'll be right, with amazing performances and gorgeous visuals, although very, very long.
It's probably heresy to suggest it's overlong, but if Lean's epic outstays its welcome, there are more than enough magical moments to explain why it enjoys its lofty reputation.
A gorgeous epic with an outstanding performance from Peter O'Toole.
Lean's epic biography of the enigmatic and complex British hero is visually mesmerizing, even if it omits crucial aspects of Lawrence's life, and it boasts a radical, riveting performance from Peter O'Toole.
Audience Reviews for Lawrence of Arabia
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Jackson Bentley: You rotten bloody man. Here let me take your rotten bloody picture for the rotten bloody paper.
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- Prince Feisal: I long for the gardens of Cordoba... but first must come the fighting...
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- Mr. Dryden: If we've been telling lies, you've been telling half-lies. A man who tells lies, like me, merely hides the truth. But a man who tells half-lies has forgotten where he put it.
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- Gen. Murray: I can't make out whether you're bloody bad-mannered or just half-witted.
- T.E. Lawrence: I have the same problem, sir.
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- T.E. Lawrence: My friends, we have been foolish. Auda will not come to Aqaba. Not for money...
- Auda abu Tayi: No.
- T.E. Lawrence: ... For Feisal...
- Auda abu Tayi: No!
- T.E. Lawrence: ...nor to drive away the Turks. He will come... because it is his pleasure.
- Auda abu Tayi: Thy mother mated with a scorpion.
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- T.E. Lawrence: The trick, William Potter, is not minding that it hurts.
Discussion Forum
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Foreign Titles
- Lawrence von Arabien (DE)
- Lauwrence d'Arabie (FR)
While I consider this film necessary viewing for anyone who considers him/herself a student of film, I can't say that it is unquestionably great. Yes, Peter O'Toole's performance is marvelous, and David Lean's direction, particularly the cinematography, is quite strong as he frames beautiful shots and often captures the mood of the environment.
However, at close to four hours, the film is extraordinarily long, and some of its length can be attributed to Lean's penchant for showing people walking great distances in order to carry out the scene. Rather than keep the camera focused on a character as he walks into the scene, it's rather simple to show the character approaching, cut away to an reaction shot, and then have the character present to begin the scene. It's a technique that's so often used we barely notice it any longer. It's true that Lean is trying to capture the vastness of the desert, but he does this in so many other parts of the film that I could see how the film's running time could be trimmed considerably.
More important is the film's relationship to race and politics. Edward Said writes eloquently about Lawrence in Culture and Imperialism arguing that Lawrence follows a tradition of colonialists who treat Arabs and Arabia as racially inferior. The film argues that Lawrence's relationship to these people is far more complex than Said claims. The Lawrence of the film recognizes his white privilege and is in conflict with his own identity. which makes a compelling conflict. If the film's relationship to race and colonization stopped there, then I wouldn't have a problem with it. After all, just because the film's thesis differs from Said's opinion of Lawrence doesn't mean it's a film to be rejected. But the casting is more problematic. Alec Guinness, a Brit, and Anthony Quinn, a Mexican, portray Arabs in - for lack of a better term - "brown face." The only Arab in the film with a major speaking role in Omar Sharif (who coincidentally harassed Edward Said during their school days). While I balk at calling Lawrence of Arabia a racist film, I think that it's fair to say that the casting and the inability of the film to fully question the morality of Lawrence's behavior makes it racially problematic.
Overall, I think you should see this film because its scope and its technical proficiency are extraordinary, but it's not without its ambiguity and flaws.