Landscape of Arabia

Rating: 8/10 (2 May 2006)

The story of T. E. Lawrence as he fights for the Arab cause becomes a sprawling screen epic, magnificently photographed under the keen eye of Lean. The film made O'Toole a star and boasts an all-star. This is a fine film, but is extremely overrated. The plot, what little there is of it, is generally uninteresting and rambling, causing the middle part of the film to drag terribly. An hour or so could easily have been trimmed from the middle, thereby producing a tighter and more compelling story. The acting is uneven, with Guinness underacting and Quinn overacting as Arabs. Ultimately, though, the cinematography and score manage to compensate somewhat for the weaknesses in the script.