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Title: Lawrence Of Arabia: Superbit
Region: One
Genre: Epic
Stars: Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Alec
Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins, Jose Ferrer, Anthony Quayle, Claude
Rains, and Arthur Kennedy
Writers: Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson
Director: David Lean
Feature length: 217 minutes
(Approximately 227 Minutes With Overture, Entr'acte, and Exit Music)
Languages: English DTS Digital
5.1Theatrical Surround Sound and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Subtitles: English Captions and Closed
Captions and French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, and Thai Subtitles
Packaging: Keep Case
Chapter Stops: 56
Sound: DTS Digital 5.1Theatrical
Surround Sound and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Year of Theatrical Release: 1962/DVD
Release: 2003
Theatrical Distributor: Columbia
Pictures
Home Video Distributor: Columbia
TriStar Home Entertainment
MPAA Rating: PG
Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera
A long requested jewel of the Columbia
TriStar Home Entertainment catalogue, “Lawrence Of Arabia” has enjoyed both
a limited edition two-disc set release and a single disc release already, but in
terms of picture quality and sound, Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment’s
“Lawrence Of Arabia: Superbit" is likely to be the best home video
presentation of the film itself until a commercially available high definition
media release comes to fruition.
If ever the phrase, "They don't
make them like they used to," has applied to moviemaking "Lawrence Of
Arabia" is a prime example of a film that is unparalleled in all of the
history of filmmaking. "Lawrence Of Arabia" is arguably the finest
epic motion picture ever made. The story details the inner journey of T.E.
Lawrence, played by Peter O'Toole in his first motion picture role, as he
organizes the Arabic tribes against the Turks during World War I. Enigmatic,
Lawrence is a combination of humanitarian, fierce warrior, natural leader, and
messiah rolled into one. The film lends itself to multiple viewing for the
brilliant performances from a cast that also includes Omar Sharif, Alec
Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins, Jose Ferrer, Anthony Quayle, Claude
Rains, and Arthur Kennedy. The visual compositions are simply stunning and the
film crosses into lines of self-examination that were not the norm in the age in
which it was made. "Lawrence Of Arabia" should not be confused with
some patriotic war picture or pulpy motion picture epic because "Lawrence
Of Arabia" is absolutely in a class all by it itself as one of he finest
motion pictures ever made.
Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment’s
"Lawrence Of Arabia: Superbit" presents the film in an anamorphic
widescreen transfer of the restored print, which presents the venerable film in
its original theatrical aspect ratio of (2.20:1). This is not the same transfer
from the original release but a new high definition transfer supervised by
Robert A. Harris and following the “Superbit” technique of transferring the film and
soundtracks at double the bit rate, the film is presented on two discs with the
chapters 1 through 31 encoded onto disc one (116:47) and chapters 31 through 56
encoded on disc two (111:34), with the opening, intermission, and exit music
intact as well. The film really looks marvelous. English DTS Digital 5.1
Theatrical Surround Sound and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound are encoded on to
the two dual layered DVD videos along with English Captions and Closed Captions
for the hearing impaired and French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, and
Thai Language Subtitles as options. The English DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1
Surround Soundtracks are excellent with nice separation and directional use of
the left and right speaker in addition to the center channel. Maurice Jarre's
beautiful soundtrack is gorgeous to behold in discreet 5.1 sound. There is a
little difference between the DTS and Dolby Digital Soundtracks. Either choice
seemed sublime to the ear.
Though this is a standard
“Superbit” release without any of the extra value materials from the
previous DVD release, I think in the end it is the film’s picture and sound
quality that are more important than any bonus bells and whistles. “Lawrence
Of Arabia: Superbit” is available on DVD-Video now from Columbia TriStar Home
Entertainment and I highly recommend checking this DVD out.
© Copyright 2003 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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