How can a 40 years old, 220 minutes long movie be so captivating?

Rating: 10/10 (4 April 2001)

I was very thrilled to buy this movie on DVD. I had never seen it, but I was convinced it would be worth it. But I never expected it to be this good. This is what I consider the perfect movie. The characters are believable, and likeable, and played by incredibly gifted actors. The scenery is superb, easily replacing "Raiders of the Lost Ark" as my favorite "desert" movie. But most of all we aren't told what to think about T.E. Lawrence. After watching the film, I still don't know if he was a genius or a madman, a hero or a hack. It is 220 minutes long, but even though I had other, more urgent things to do, I could stop the film, I had to watch it in one sitting. The only thing that annoyed me was the poor quality of the film on DVD at times. It looks like the film they used for the transfer was in bad shape, as if it had been exposed too much to the sun. I can't recommend this movie enough. A definite 10.