The most immersive epic of all time

Rating: Null/10 (5 October 2002)

In recent years, we've been served some rather epic films. Kevin Costner's directorial debut proved fruitful, and Dances With Wolves is, in my opinion, the best American epic of the decade. Mel Gibson didn't fare so well, with the rather static, but nonetheless enjoyable Braveheart. Then we have Lord of the Rings, a questionable film on the levels of novel loyalty and acting, but nonetheless a beautiful looking film, well-directed and exciting, that more than makes up for the blunders of the Star Wars films we've been served in 99 and 02. But they all fall flat, when compared to one title.
Easily the best historical epic of all time, Lawrence of Arabia is the opus of David Lean's "Epic Period", bringing to life the legend of one of the greatest heroes of the 20th century. Put simply, this film is magnificent and beautiful. Never before in a film, have I sat through action sequences, admitting their beauty and direction, but begging the film to hurry on, as the brilliant drama and sheer beauty of the desert so perfectly grabs my attention. I'll be the first to say, I have a short attention span, but I've never been bored with a film to the point of disliking it...a film may be stupid, clunky, poorly acted or amateurish, or I may have wanted to take a break from a film, but I have never been bored enough to hate a film...even by overrated stinkers like The Shawshank Redemption (the Armageddon of dramas). Being bored with a film is, more or less, the viewer's own innate flaw, like my inability to sit through something as gorgeous as The Passion of Joan of Arc, alone in my home, for more than 40 minutes. But I only took a break in this film, with my poor attention span, to eat dinner. The acting in this film defines "powerful". It is recommended to anyone who loves a good movie, and is willing to work for enjoyment.