Though the image shows some of the flaws inherent in the source material - mainly due to some softness in early scenes, and some murky "day for night" photography - I thought the movie presented a wonderfully clean picture, with very few print defects on display. Except for those bits from the first 30 minutes or so, sharpness seemed rock-solid, and colors were vivid and accurate. It's a gorgeous transfer that thoroughly impressed me.

I expected the movie to look good, but I was surprised by the relatively sumptuous sound. No, it didn't present audio on a par with modern films, but it offered a very broad and engaging sound environment, and the quality seemed very good for the era. Most of the score came across as crisp and rich, and dynamic range appeared quite strong for an older film.

In regard to the extras, they're consistently decent. There's an hour-long documentary plus about eight minutes of a chat with Steven Spielberg. In addition, we find a few older featurettes and a smattering of minor features. It doesn't compare with the exquisite package prepared for <B>Cleopatra</B>, but it's a nice set nonetheless.

Anyway, here's a link to my full review:

http://www.dvdmg.com/lawrenceofarabia.html

Thanks for that - good review. Could you let me know if the packaging for this is 1) Like the Kwai Ltd set and 2) if it’s cloth covered. I ask because the R4 version has a ltd ed cloth covered case and if the R1 is just a paper printed case a la Kwai I’ll probably go for the R4.

Thanks

At the risk of looking like a boob - I don't remember! When I finished with the screener, I immediately mailed it to our webmaster so he could grab some screenshots, so I don't have the DVD around here currently. The case was similar to that of <B>Kwai</B> in the crummy plastic innards - very hard to remove the discs! - but I can't recall if the cover was plain paper or cloth. Frankly, I think it was paper, but unfortunately, I really didn't pay much attention to it. Sorry!