Quite Simply the Greatest Cinematic Experience of All Time!

Rating: 10/10 (3 June 2006)

I saw the Restoration version of "Lawrence of Arabia" in 1989 at a local big screen theatre in surround sound. It was a thrilling experience that I will always cherish. I made the 9 mile walk home that night, beginning after midnight, and I felt as though I had been to Arabia on some dream-like cloud. I walked on air all the way home.
The greatest film of all time hardly needs more words from me, but this film should be owned and seen on a regular basis just to remind us what great cinematic movie-making is all about.
Sir David Lean's effort was not wasted. This WWI history was told brilliantly and the equal of it will not likely ever be achieved. I believe this film was greater in scope and cinematography than Lean's "Bridge on the River Kwai." "Lawrence of Arabia" makes movie magic by creating an atmosphere that places the audience successfully into another world in another time.
I wonder why filmmakers today do not set their standards a bit higher so they can produce decent works of art. Perhaps they know they cannot achieve such a high standard for themselves so they give up and produce nonsense that they think will sell to younger audiences.
Maybe one day soon some miracle will happen to revive the mystique of the past in the movie making of today. But this could be too much to hope for in a high tech world that is only bent on making "a fast buck."
"Lawrence of Arabia" captures on screen for all time the beauty and mystique of the desert in a time of conflict and war in this 1989 restored version. I am glad I saw it.