Saw this on digitalbits. Hopefully the announcement will come very soon. Been hearing about this since, 2007??

"...the Norwegian BD website Release.no has posted details from a leaked Sony sell sheet that indicate we're finally about to see the long-awaited Blu-ray Disc release of Lawrence of Arabia. The reported street date in Norway is 6/13, with dates in other countries around the same time. One would certainly expect an official announcement from Sony in the next few days or weeks."

about goddamned time. I await our US release.

For such a long wait, it better look freaking amazing. Though I'm pretty sure it will.

Minor complaint, but I hate threads announcing a film only to open it and read it's for another country.

Me, too! Why do people keep forgetting that the internet is only for one country?!

Norwegian release?

I got excited for no reason. At least it means that a US release won't be far behind.

Doctorossi: not all of us in the United States of America have a region-free bluray player. They would prefer such announcements be made in the International Dvd Talk part of the forum.

You need a region-free player to be excited by a news item that says that a US release will be coming in the same time-frame as the Norwegian disc?

No shit, that's why I put this in the HD thread. This has been talked about for years, and now it looks like it'll finally be released. I don't know of any Sony releases where it was announced in one region and not in another.

Have a region free BD player and excited about this finally being released. Pretty sure we'll see announcements for other countries. But you never know with those sneaky Norwegians.

I hate it when I open a thread and it turns out I'm expected to read all of the first post!

About damn time! This better be a brand new transfer to show off the glorious 70mm source material as best as 1080p possibly can.

Was reading about this on the HTF and it is supposed to be a brand new master, meticulously redone using the 1989 restoration as the source. Given Sony's track record, I agree that everyone has the right to expect nothing less than the best presentation of this masterpiece.

from what I've read the release will be like 'Taxi Driver' - the restoration will be released to theaters prior to the bluray release.

Oh, wow, that's good news. The only time I've seen it on the big screen it was a really beat-up, scratchy old print.

I saw that restoration on a huge screen!

Looking forward to picking up the eventual U.S. release.

Me too, on both counts. It was a 70mm print and one of the great moviegoing experiences of my life. I'll never forget it.

And best of all, I'd never bothered watching the movie in its entirety on TV. My first real exposure was on that big screen, with a large bag of popcorn, stereo sound, and at the intermission people were talking to each other about how beautiful it looked.

Ok, I missed that part of the announcement...

To be fair it says "Other countries" which may or may not include the US.

Sony typically releases its major titles worldwide. I'm sure that will be the case here.

If this doesn't have a transfer that brings me to full climax, I'll be pissed!

I saw it in Cinerama!

seeing it on a large screen is indeed a treat - but since LoA's 70mm's aspect ratio is only 2.20:1 it's nowhere as wide as common place 2.35 scope film or even Cinemascope film's (2.55) - I saw a reissue of 'Ben Hur' at the Uptown and when the curtain kept rolling back to reveal the whole 2.76 image - my jaw was on the floor. I hope when the theatrical release is scheduled for Lawrence - the biggest and best screens are booked.

Seeing Lawrence of Arabia on the big screen in 70mm is one of the greatest experiences you can have at the movies.

Indeed. Not only is it a visual treat, but even the little scene where Lawrence is singing "The man that broke the bank at monte carlo" - the echo audio cue is a fun and effective 'sound moment'.

I don't know what I'm more thrilled about: finally getting Lawrence on blu-ray or seeing it on the big screen.