I know it's a classic and it's easy to see why but here's why it isn't perfect

Rating: 8/10 (5 February 2007)

I finally decided to watch the classic Lawrence of Arabia in my attempt to catch up on film classics I have never seen. Now I don't for one minute intend on talking down about this film. It is easy to see why Lawrence of Arabia stands the test of time as a classic. The absolutely stunning breathtaking cinematography, the incredible 'would be' special effects that probably had to be done with man power and the thousands and thousands of extras used in stunning battle scenes and traveling across the desert. You can't get more spectacular than the scenery in this film. Hands down a huge 10/10 for what they did with the cast and scenery. The story is simple enough and based on a true story of World War II British soldier who finds himself conflicted on who he is truly fighting for when he becomes entangled with the Bedouin armies of Arabia. I also realize that this is an epic and that being said and being filmed in the sixties, historical epics were known to be lavish productions. I watched this film on a 2 disk DVD and at the end of the first DVD I was so pleased, I almost wanted to watch it again and again and slap a perfect score on it. I would have been just as happy to have it end right there. But as it turned out there was another disk with an hour and a half on it adding the total running time to an outstanding 3 1/2 hours and I have nothing against that unless it's not necessary. I found the last part of this film very unnecessary, it dragged, it bogged down the story and I found it quite confusing. Yes I understand that it brought about T.E. Lawrence's conflicted opinions about the war but it just almost felt like an anti-climax and sadly brought the film down for me.
Veteran actor in his screen debut Peter O'Toole plays Lawrence. I think O'Toole perfectly captures everything Lawrence was meant to stand for. O'Toole as Lawrence is conceited, young, naive, bull headed, and has great delusions of grandeur which he uses to win over the Arabians. On top of these less than desirable traits Lawrence has incredible charisma and leadership qualities and O'Toole is the same way. At first he seems almost smug and monotone but the more you watch him the more he electrifies the screen and you become enamored with him. I don't know if that's talent of a gift but either way he makes the film what it is. The incredible Sir Alec Guinness plays Prince Feisal, the leader of one faction of the Arabian army who leaves his men to the trust of Lawrence after becoming enamored with him. It's not a big role but when Guinness is on screen he makes it larger than life. Anthony Quinn is the opposite leader Auda abu Tayi whom Lawrence brings together with Feisal's men to take Damascus away from the Turkish army. Quinn is much like Guinness who doesn't need a lot of screen time to make an impression. They are both worthy of royalty. And Omar Sharif is brilliant and intelligent as Sheriff Ali who becomes Lawrence's wing man and friend.
The cast are all brilliant together, the story is of epic proportions and the direction which was Academy Award winning by David Lean is nothing short of brilliance. It might possibly be one of the best directed films I have ever seen. It's simply breath taking. But so much extra is added that I'm just not sure it was necessary. Lawrence becomes so conflicted and ends up leaving them and it just seems to contradict everything he had done. Perhaps I am just being petty about it and I didn't like the ending but nonetheless the last hour and a half was too much for me. Still I don't regret for a minute seeing it and I encourage everyone to see this because even now it's spectacular to watch, imagine how it felt more than 40 years ago. 8.5/10