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When Omar Shariff enters as a speck on the horizon it takes him five minutes to reach the foreground. Letting a match burn down to his fingers, Peter o'Toole explains, "the secret is not to mind it hurting."
Every frame of this movie, the greatest ever, stays in your mind's eye.


What can I say about this 7 Oscar winner of 1962 that the other reviewers haven't said already? This is a wonderful film and a great epic that was directed by David Lean (Ryan's Daughter, Brief Encounter), he is probably one of the greatest filmmakers of all time and most of his films have some of the best cinematography you have ever seen taking advantage of the landscape. In Lawrence of Arabia there is a breathtaking shots of the desert; the musical score is also amazing by Maurice Jarre (See The English Patient for Jarre's son OST). The best thing about Lawrence of Arabia is the fact that it is flawless; everything from the performances to the script are excellent and is based on a true story although I'm not sure if it is accurate.


The film is about T.E. Lawrence brilliantly played by Peter O'Toole (unknown Irish actor) who is a young lieutenant in the British army in Cairo during World War One, he is assigned to help the Arabs fight the Turks in Arabia and becomes successful at uniting the waring tribes of Sherif Ali played by Omar Sharif in a role that made him a star and Auda Abu Tayi (Anthony Quinn), together they end up capturing the city of Aquaba and destroying the Turk strong hold.

Allenby: "What in hell do you want, Lawrence?"

Lawrence: "I've told you -- I just want my ration of common humanity."

There is no way that enough could be said about this film, in fact Steven Spielberg called it a "miracle of a movie." This is the definitive classic film from a transitional time just before salacious movies became the norm. It is to director David Lean's credit that he chose patently unknown actors (at the time) for his key roles that truly made this film soar. The fact that they performed so exceptionally is a testament to the professionalism and dedication of those actors.


The contributions of "Lawrence of Arabia" to future films are seen to this day in the cinematographic techniques and similar shots in recent films. Compared to Lawrence's books, the film, by virtue of its medium can never capture the Shakespearean quality language that T.E. Lawrence possessed. If any book parallels the film it would be Lowell Thomas's 1925 book, "With Lawrence in Arabia," that recounts the journalist's experience as an "imbedded" reporter with Lawrence. Thomas is often credited with spreading the stories of Lawrence's Arabian exploits that made him so popular in the west.

Murray: (Lawrence has just given a rather awful salute) "If you're insubordinate of me, Lawrence, I shall put you under arrest!"

Lawrence: "It's my manner, sir."

Murray: "Your what?"

Lawrence: "My manner, sir. It looks insubordinate, but it isn't really."

Murray: "I can't make out whether you are bloody bad-mannered or just half-witted!"

Lawrence: "I have the same problem, sir."

The desert scenes are beautifully shot, the glowing shots almost familiar because we've seen similar movie shots like these, but they were after this film was made--it clearly inspired many imitators. You can almost feel the desert heat and dirt. The film also offers prescient insights into today's sectarian violence where religious and tribal loyalties and feuds are seemngly more important to many Arab leaders than are national agendas or progress for all their people. The history within the film is mostly accurate and there is no neat wrap-up at the end, no ponderous speeches, no stirring conclusion. I waited too long to see this film but now I know why it is a classic. This is the wide-screen edition, which is essential to appreciating the cinematography.

Lawrence: "I killed two people. I mean, two Arabs. One was a boy. That was...yesterday. I led him into a quicksand. The other was a man. That was...well...before Aqaba, anyway. I had to execute him with my pistol, and there was something about it that I didn't like."

Allenby: "Well, naturally."

Lawrence: "No, something else."

Allenby: "I see. Well, that's alright, let it be a warning."

Lawrence: "No...something else."

Allenby: "What then?"

Lawrence: "I enjoyed it."

Wood is true to his name, in thick-honeyed tones he lays on a pc monologue totally devoid of insight. Wood is as thick as the proverbial two short planks of...

I would give this no stars at all. There was NOTHING beautiful about "life" for the Jews who went through the Holocaust. This is the most cynical, insensitive, arse-covering, insulting interpretation of the Holocaust ever to be produced. I hate it! And I hate that foolish Roberto Benigni for producing it.

...this is a fine set, you get Hang 'Em High in addition to the traditional 3 film set, usually refered to as the man with no name films, although he does have names, Joe, Manco and Blondie (nickname?) if I remember correctly.

I'm only writing this review as I think the one star is unfair as loads of boxsets are repacked from other sets.

What a great DVD to have, unfortunately it wasn't the greatest that I have seen. The Treble DVD was miles better, though it is still fun to look at Chelsea coming second in everything.

'Frasier' season 10 attempts to claw back some of the comedy lost by the previous two seasons, which ran the risk of turning the show into a drama series. Unfortunately, the writers seem to believe that adding high farce and new characters are the ways to revitalise the show; wrong on both counts. Making Daphne's mother (played by Millicent Martin) a regular character is an insane decision, a fifth wheel who only serves to antagonise the other characters (and the viewers!) Similarly, the addition of Julia Wilcox (Felicity Huffman) to the KACL family means we are given yet another retread of Frasier being annoyed at a new colleague stealing his thunder: think back to Kate Costas (season 3), Dr. Clint Webber (season 5), Dr. Nora (season 6), Dr. Mary (season 7) etc! Knowing references to parent sitcom 'Cheers' are made as the relationship between Frasier and Julia becomes more heated than either had expected, but reminding the viewer that the story of two colleagues with a love/hate relationship was done (and done better) 20 years ago on 'Cheers' doesn't make sense! Worst of all has got to be the three-part story dealing with a major health crisis for Niles, where the show slips back in to the drama of the previous two seasons. This storyline sits uncomfortably with the rest of the season's episodes, and beyond the three-parter we rarely, if ever, hear mention of it ever having happened!

This season isn't a complete waste of time, however. While the show could never live up to what had gone before (ensured by the Daphne/Niles relationship, plus the end of the hilarious references to Maris Crane), we do see a return to good form in episodes such as 'Proxy Prexy', 'Star Mitzvah', 'Door Jam', 'Daphne Does Dinner', 'Fraternal Schwinns'; and the excellent 'Fathers and Sons', where the return of a former colleague of Frasier's mother brings the Crane boys to wonder if he could be their real father! There's also a compelling return for Frasier's ex-wife Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth) in two episodes, and good use is made of Frasier's colleagues at KACL, who took a backseat in the last two seasons. Alas, the excellent Bebe Glazer (Harriet Samson Harris), Frasier's demonic agent, returns in the dull 'Devil and Dr. Phil' episode, which fails to live up to her past appearances. Another criminally underused character is Peri Gilpin's Roz, who the writers don't seem to know what to do with, and is saddled with a boring cliffhanger at the end of the season. All in all, there have been better seasons of 'Frasier' but there have been worse, and an average season of 'Frasier' is still miles ahead of most of the dross that passes for comedy on television!

Disappointing. I expected quite a lot of detail about life in Iran and the oppressions forced upon the people following the deposition of the Shah in the late 70's. What followed was really just the most cursory glance at the changing culture, before the 'heroine' Marjane hastily departed for Europe. The subsequent university years were much more about growing up and self-discovery, and told me next to nothing about the impact of the establishment of the islamic republic back home. A watchable film - but not really Oscar material, in my opinion.

To Kill A Mockingbird
Lone fathers and their kids have been a hit in many movies. I have severl examples, like, Ryan and Tatum O'Neil in Paper Moon, Jon Voight and Ricky Schroeder in the re-make of 'The Champ' and Dustin Hoffman and Justin Henry in Kramer vs Kramer. Gregory Peck, won an Academy Award, for playing a sole parent, and he's never been better. The script for this movie was based upon Harper Lee's sensitive and intelligent novel set in racially-torn Alabama. Gregory Peck, plays Atticus Finch, a wise lawyer bravely raising his two kids Jem(Phillip Alford) and Scout(Mary Badham) in the hot-headed Southern town. The crux of the plot is Finch's defence of a colored man accused of rape. The film was put together by two excellent film-makers, producer Alan J. Pakula and director Robert Mulligan.