Epic but....

Rating: 9/10 (18 February 2005)

This is a great movie, and I agree that it is lost in todays fast paced world filled with movies of fast paced editing techniques, which OBVIOUSLY started with Eisenstein, this is not argued by anybody. But the editing of this film is sloppy, and it could be tightened into a two hour and forty five minute to three hour movie. It drags in certain parts, shots are held too long. The character development is obviously the most extraordinary part of this film, watching you feel like you are getting to know Lawrence as if you are actually with him. However, despite the fact it is a classic, which no one argues, with great acting and wonderful cinematography, I think that older people glamorize some of the negatives of movies like this while not giving newer movies their due credit. The editing techniques that have been developed in the last twenty years are masterful and astonishing, and while some of these techniques have their roots in older masters like Eisenstein their originality and style are all their own. I am tired of hearing that everything is a copy of this or a knock off of that. While all film is influence by other film (simply because directors emulate those they admire) each director new and old (of consequence) adds a personal flair that cant be considered a "copy". Aronofsky is not Eisenstein, Minghella is not Lean, and Shyamalan is not Hitchcock.