Everything about this film is bold, clean, striking, vivid -- most apparent in the magnificent visuals. The landscape might as well have been Mars. Desert scenes convey a wonderful sense of sterile beauty, pristine and natural: blowing sands, the sun, the sky, and not much else, uncluttered by modern techno-jumble that renders cities ugly by comparison. The presence of a few humans on camels magnifies the grandeur of this spiritual place.

So spectacular are the desert scenes, they almost swallow up the story, about an eccentric, quirky Englishman named T.E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole), on a mission to help Arab tribes come together against the Turks in the early part of the twentieth century. Although not entirely factual, the film at least offers viewers a sense of real-life historical figures including not only Lawrence but also Prince Feisal (Alec Guinness), among others. All of the major characters are interesting in their own ways. All convey a sense of intelligence and enlightened vision, even as their cultural or socioeconomic backgrounds clash.

The script's dialogue is rendered potent due to its sparseness. Visuals carry the story effectively; minimal dialogue needed. And when it is present, it's sharp, crisp, striking. At one point a character asks Lawrence: "What is it ... that attracts you personally to the desert?" To which Lawrence responds in two words: "It's clean." Yes indeed. And so is the film's plot: simple, straightforward, bold, uncluttered.

Costumes and prod design are detailed. The score is pleasantly haunting, though it does get repeated a bit too often. Casting and acting are acceptable. I especially liked the camels; they are fun to observe. Color cinematography is brilliant, especially outdoors. The use of day-for-night camera filters is obvious in some scenes, giving the production an antiquated look, at times.

My major complaint is the runtime. I could have wished for a shorter film by about one hour. Some scenes are not really necessary; other scenes could have been shortened, all without losing character development or status as epic. It's a serious problem for this film, in that the resulting impression is one of pretension. I have no doubt that Lawrence and his Arab adventures are film worthy. But his story is hardly so earth-shaking as to merit nearly four hours, complete with "Intermission."

"Lawrence Of Arabia" was much better than I had expected, owing mostly to the visual grandeur. It's a very well put-together film, runtime notwithstanding. The film gives us historical and cultural perspective, and does so in a way that makes the desert landscape as much a character as the film's protagonist.

I'm doing this review despite not having seen the movie in a number of years but what I remember best is some fantastic desert cinematography from the point when "Lawrence" (Peter O'Toole) arrives in the desert until about the last third of this 3-and-half-hour film. There are just numerous spectacular desert scenes and, of course, this was a must to be seen in widescreen. Fortunately, that has been available for many years, even on VHS. Between the direction of David Lean and the photography of Freddie Young, this is a fabulous visual treat, one to be treasured.

Unfortunately, the story as well as the great visuals, seem to dissipate in the last hour-plus of the movie. It just kind of peters out, like Lawrence's desert campaign.

The acting is superb with the possible exception of Anthony Quinn, who overacts. Two of the all-time greats - Alec Guiness and Omar Sharif - also added life to this monumental epic story. This was O'Toole's first role, too, and probably his most famous and some think his best. After this film and for a short period afterwords, O'Toole was looked upon as the premier actor in the business.

For a film this long and with such little action, it's amazing it entertains as well as it does. For those who need some pretty women to aid in the story, forget it: in fact, there are NO women that I can remember. It gets by with the cinematography, O'Toole intense acting portraying a real-life vain, courageous, stubborn and obsessed Englishman trying to unite the Arabs to fight the Turks.

Another very memorable and impressive aspect of this movie was the soundtrack. Is it my imagination or were soundtracks (like this one) more important and remembered better than movies in the last quarter of a decade? The main theme song is played throughout the film and I still remember it 44 years later.

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.