Fine film, but I didn't connect

Rating: Null/10 (5 January 2003)

This is one film I wish I could have seen on the big screen. I get the distinct impression that watching it (with lights on, due to concern about recent eye strain as a grad student) on my 19-inch 1985 TV & $60 VCR simply did not do justice to the film. Even in this format I could tell that it was a visual masterpiece.
Peter O'Toole, Omar Sherif, Anthony Quinn and Alec Guiness are superb. It is definitely a classic. Yet I have to confess that I wasn't swept off my feet the way I had anticipated. Best movie ever? And I don't mean one screwball in 100 making this claim, but film lover after film lover seem to feel this way-most of them obviously intelligent film connoisseurs. (It was even immortalized by Billy Joelin fact, every time I looked at the video box, I'd catch myself singing `Lawrence of Arabia, British Beatle mania') I probably need to watch it again when I'm in a different mood. Or perhaps after doing a little research on the real Lawrence.
As it was, I came away with quite an ambiguous feeling about the man (as I suppose we were intended to) and somewhat puzzled by some of his mood swings and reactions. O'Toole's version of Lawrence definitely IS that of a charismatically gifted man, bordering on madness. I actually found the Arabs, Prince Feisel (Guiness), Ali (Sherif) and Auda (Quinn) much more likeable and on the level.
A few things puzzle me, such as: Was Lawrence TRYING to be captured (walking through a mud puddle, etc.) just prior to being tortured by the Turks? If so, why? Also, why was he singled out of the group of Arabs to be punished/tortured? Or, is this where some of the gay references have come in?
Actually I can't find much about the film to criticize; it was obviously very well done. It just doesn't connect with me in a way that many of my favorite films have. I enjoyed Patton, Waterloo and Conspiracy much more. It's probably just me, though. Enough knowledgeable viewers are knocked off their feet by L of A. Maybe on a second viewing I will be, too.