Lawrence of Arabia is one of the very best movies, possibly THE best, ever made. That’s not just my opinion, since it shows up on almost every “best” list by critics, directors, and fans. But it has always been special for me since first seeing it more than once during its initial “road show” engagement in the 1960s and in numerous subsequent theatrical viewings including the restoration tour in 1989. I've enjoyed watching it with friends, family and by myself many times.
For a long time, I wanted the opportunity to play this film at home. So over the years I’ve owned copies on Beta, VHS, laser disc and DVD. All the previous home video incarnations were problematic, either being limited by the inherent quality of the medium, or in the case of the previous DVD release, suffering from excessive edge enhancement and intermittent problems with the color balance. With the previous DVD, even though they were working with the restored video, Robert Harris (who led the film restoration team) was not allowed to participate in the production. This time, he was involved. And the results are stellar.
The SuperBit edition is the first home video incarnation that does justice to the movie for a demanding fan who has experienced it in 70mm theatrical presentations. The image is crystal clear, the colors are stunning, just about perfect and the sound is superb. Even if you invested in the “40th Anniversary” edition, this is the one to have if you really want to see this movie at home in anything approximating its original cinematic splendor. Caveat – if you are running S-Video or composite to a 25 inch or smaller TV, it might not make that much of a difference. However, I still see enough of a difference on my 14 inch flat screen Toshiba to make it worthwhile, IMO, even on this smaller screen.
But projected on a big screen using component out, it makes a MAJOR difference – from the opening credits all the way through to the ending, the images are sensational. For instance, before, in a scene where Lawrence is walking alone through the desert trying to figure out what to do next, the blowing sands were kind of a blur. Now they are subtly layered in the wind. Whereas before, the images of people on camels in the foreground looked like cardboard cutouts propped against a painted backdrop, now the scenes take on visual depth and the foreground figures have three dimensional shape and volume. The landscape is at once forbidding and beautiful.
The only quibbles I have with it are 1) a slight bit of image shimmer in a few scenes where there are a lot of closely spaced horizontal lines (and this is inconsistent – sometimes the shimmering starts and then just goes away within the same image in a pan). And 2) the disc change comes at a fairly clumsy point. But given the stunning video quality that necessitated spreading the film evenly over two discs, this is forgivable – there are places in the narrative where it could have been a lot worse.
If you don’t have this one in your collection, it is worth spending a few dollars more to get the best. (But if you have a small TV and don’t plan on getting a big screen TV soon, it would be better to get the less expensive version than to do without completely.) If you already have another edition, replace it with this one. This is one SuperBit edition that really does look substantially better than its predecessors. HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION.
Burke
Spelling and grammar checked in MS Word. If you detect an error, please notify Bill Gates.
For a long time, I wanted the opportunity to play this film at home. So over the years I’ve owned copies on Beta, VHS, laser disc and DVD. All the previous home video incarnations were problematic, either being limited by the inherent quality of the medium, or in the case of the previous DVD release, suffering from excessive edge enhancement and intermittent problems with the color balance. With the previous DVD, even though they were working with the restored video, Robert Harris (who led the film restoration team) was not allowed to participate in the production. This time, he was involved. And the results are stellar.
The SuperBit edition is the first home video incarnation that does justice to the movie for a demanding fan who has experienced it in 70mm theatrical presentations. The image is crystal clear, the colors are stunning, just about perfect and the sound is superb. Even if you invested in the “40th Anniversary” edition, this is the one to have if you really want to see this movie at home in anything approximating its original cinematic splendor. Caveat – if you are running S-Video or composite to a 25 inch or smaller TV, it might not make that much of a difference. However, I still see enough of a difference on my 14 inch flat screen Toshiba to make it worthwhile, IMO, even on this smaller screen.
But projected on a big screen using component out, it makes a MAJOR difference – from the opening credits all the way through to the ending, the images are sensational. For instance, before, in a scene where Lawrence is walking alone through the desert trying to figure out what to do next, the blowing sands were kind of a blur. Now they are subtly layered in the wind. Whereas before, the images of people on camels in the foreground looked like cardboard cutouts propped against a painted backdrop, now the scenes take on visual depth and the foreground figures have three dimensional shape and volume. The landscape is at once forbidding and beautiful.
The only quibbles I have with it are 1) a slight bit of image shimmer in a few scenes where there are a lot of closely spaced horizontal lines (and this is inconsistent – sometimes the shimmering starts and then just goes away within the same image in a pan). And 2) the disc change comes at a fairly clumsy point. But given the stunning video quality that necessitated spreading the film evenly over two discs, this is forgivable – there are places in the narrative where it could have been a lot worse.
If you don’t have this one in your collection, it is worth spending a few dollars more to get the best. (But if you have a small TV and don’t plan on getting a big screen TV soon, it would be better to get the less expensive version than to do without completely.) If you already have another edition, replace it with this one. This is one SuperBit edition that really does look substantially better than its predecessors. HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION.
Burke
Spelling and grammar checked in MS Word. If you detect an error, please notify Bill Gates.
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