Could someone tell me about the Lawrence of Arabia 2-DVD Collector's Edition scheduled for release on 3/20/2007? I searched Google and looked at various sites which gave no information about the extras included. There's no DTS listed, and the running time is slightly shorter (3:22 instead of 3:28). Is this the rumored extended cut without the overture/intermissions, or is it the same as the 2-DVD "Special Edition"?

http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_ite...tem_id=1284998
http://video.barnesandnoble.com/sear...=0043396183636
http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.c...63&promotion=y

Searching Google and Amazon turned up nothing useful on this edition for me. Any details would be appreciated.

I dunno, could be a reprice or a re-release of the old 2-disc CE. Your DVD Empire link list the movie duration at 226 minutes, which is 3:46.

I see no point of watching this movie without the overture and intermission. Although they're blank screen, its become so integral to the movie.

Also listed for release that day are a GUNS OF NAVARONE: Collector's Edition. THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI: Collector's Edition, and THE CAINE MUTINY: Collector's Edition.

If it doesn't have the Robert Harris supervised transfer, then there is no reason to pick this up. The next release of this I'll get is the Blu-Ray (NO ANNOUNCMENT). Until then, it's the Superbit for me.

I'll certainly take these cheaper 2-disc re-releases of Lawrence of Arabia and Bridge on the River Kwai.

I've seen what this movie looks like in HD during the Blu-ray demo and this is definitely one to wait for if you are considering Blu-ray. The differences between the SD and HD version were as dramatic as I have seen.

Maybe they'll finally use the new transfer AND put the disc break in the right place - that's what kept me from buying the Superbit.

I'm interested to know which transfer of LOA this is, and where the break is. It would also be interseting if the BOTRK has a quicker layer change compared to the long one on the original release.

this was discussed at HTF a few weeks back...just a re-release of the old two discers with the crummy color for LOA

I don't think they had any choice about where to put the intermission. If they could have put the intermission at the end of disc 1 without compromsing quality they probably would have.

BOTRK actually changes titles during the layer change, which is why it takes longer than usual.

Thanks for the answer. It sounds like the Superbit is the best choice until BluRay. I probably would've never found the answer myself... I guess I'm lousy at searching on Google (I used variations of "Lawrence of Arabia" + "Collector's Edition" and then variations of the release date), or maybe Google doesn't search HTF posts.

Robert Harris posts over at the HTF from time to time, and I believe he said the way it compressed, the intermission ended up on the second disc, and he would rather it compress well, then force the intermission onto the first disc and possibly affect the picture quality.

Looks like the Superbit is getting hard to find online - at least at a reasonable price. The lowest price I found is for a used one at Wherehouse.com. It's $8.24 ($10.99 - 25%) during their current promotion. It would be $11.19 with shipping + any tax you might have to pay.

A good decision. Thank you, Robert Harris.

I just sold mine on Amazon for about $33.

That was my suspicion without knowing this info from HTF. I'll be passing on all three till HD/BD versions are released.

I paid $20 for mine when it was released, and I don't regret it.

They're Sony titles, so you'll unfortunately be waiting a very long time for the HD-DVD version to come along.

I picked up the 2 disc superbit last year when they were all $9.99 at best buy.

apparently, this will be released in june along with The Bridge on the River Kwai CE...but they will amazon.com EXCLUSIVES for now.this is what it says in amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=amb_link...01&pf_rd_i=130

I already have both the Superbit and the older 2 disc LE. The only thing that would tempt me to triple dip would be Blu Ray. Hear me Sony?

They have the back cover art for these over at DVd empire....
They appear to be pretty much the same re-issues of the 2-disk "Limited Editions" that have been available for like 7 years.
I actually just ordered these two titles and in the 2-disk LE boxes with booklets and dont plan on buying them again since the releases look to be the same.

So are these two new versions of Lawrence and Kwai still exclusive to amazon?

And are they just repackagings of the existing 2-disc sets that have been out forever? Because their amazon page states that they have new improved transfers and new extras. Does anyone know for sure?

Same. I've been reading that a Blu-ray release is definitely in the works.

and the HiDef preview (on HDNet Movies) of the eventual bluray release (although not in true 1080p) still looked very impressive.