Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

[RomanBlade86]

I'm on the fence with this one. I'm sure it's a good movie on a technical standpoint but I wonder if I'll ever watch it again since it is over three hours long.

[RogelioT]

I ordered it, replacing my laserdisc version that has the prelude before it and no chapter stops... for the whole film! Ok,OK, to be fair there's the three spots where I have to change disc sides.

[Fellini912]

1..2..3..4..5..6..7..8..9..10. Now relax

I dedicate this to everyone who has skipped this beautiful piece, Lawrence of Arabia-Overture by three time academy award winner Maurice Jarre. Enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=RuxHLzwlDY4

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by octagon

They're just corn flakes, dude. Make another bowl.

I thought they were Wheaties, but very funny just the same!

[KrugerIndustrial]

Originally Posted by RomanBlade86

I'm on the fence with this one. I'm sure it's a good movie on a technical standpoint but I wonder if I'll ever watch it again since it is over three hours long.

From a technical standpoint, it's not a good movie, it's a masterpiece. That said, no matter how gorgeous it looks and how perfect of an film it is, it still left me a little cold. I'm happy that I finally got a chance to see it, but I too ask myself that same question - am I really going to watch this often enough to keep it in my collection?

[RomanBlade86]

Originally Posted by KrugerIndustrial

From a technical standpoint, it's not a good movie, it's a masterpiece. That said, no matter how gorgeous it looks and how perfect of an film it is, it still left me a little cold. I'm happy that I finally got a chance to see it, but I too ask myself that same question - am I really going to watch this often enough to keep it in my collection?

That's how I imagine I'd feel. This film seems to be a masterpiece from all of the reviews that I've read but how will I feel watching this on my paltry 50" plasma? Much of the experience will be diminished since this film was meant to be watched on a big screen for the ultimate experience since from the looks of the screenshots and footage it is a visual marvel. I think I may have to skip this one.

[Early Memphis]

Originally Posted by Jerry579

Great news, but only when the blu ray comes out. Theater releases can't or don't help most of us.

Minions

[Hypnosifl]

Originally Posted by Early Memphis

What, are you guys all in the same club? Hey, I'm breathing just fine, thanks for the concern. What you're interpreting as anger is mere annoyance.

I agree with your points about it being better for to have the option of skipping the overture since it was designed with a different theater viewing experience in mind (same with "intermissions" in movies like 2001 and Seven Samurai). But you did sort of invite the comments about anger management with that one over-the-top line "Perhaps if you had actually read the post, instead of basking in ignorance, you'd better understand garyrc's reasoning."

[Hypnosifl]

Originally Posted by RomanBlade86

That's how I imagine I'd feel. This film seems to be a masterpiece from all of the reviews that I've read but how will I feel watching this on my paltry 50" plasma? Much of the experience will be diminished since this film was meant to be watched on a big screen for the ultimate experience since from the looks of the screenshots and footage it is a visual marvel. I think I may have to skip this one.

If you sit close enough you can get the screen filling your whole field of vision, won't you see just as much detail as you would sitting further away from a big screen in a theater, assuming the screen would take up about the same amount of your field of vision in that case? I'd think that what really matters is the angular diameter of the screen relative to you, not its absolute size.

[BaronVH]

Originally Posted by Hypnosifl

I agree with your points about it being better for to have the option of skipping the overture since it was designed with a different theater viewing experience in mind (same with "intermissions" in movies like 2001 and Seven Samurai). But you did sort of invite the comments about anger management with that one over-the-top line "Perhaps if you had actually read the post, instead of basking in ignorance, you'd better understand garyrc's reasoning."

I am a little surprised at all of this. I seem to remember hitting the next chapter button or either fast forwarding until the titles start. This certainly is not the only film with an overture or intermission. It harkens back to a time when going to the movies did not have ads for the local car mart, soda commercials, and then thirty minutes of trailers. They had a trailers, a cartoon, a serial, then you had time to get situated during the overture.

[Early Memphis]

Originally Posted by Hypnosifl

I agree with your points about it being better for to have the option of skipping the overture since it was designed with a different theater viewing experience in mind (same with "intermissions" in movies like 2001 and Seven Samurai). But you did sort of invite the comments about anger management with that one over-the-top line "Perhaps if you had actually read the post, instead of basking in ignorance, you'd better understand garyrc's reasoning."

You may be correct, it certainly did draw flies. At the time it seemed like a fair response to "I stopped reading this post right after the bolded comment." - meaning all of garyrc's work on the next dozen lines of text was wasted, but ...

[RBBrittain]

Originally Posted by BaronVH

I am a little surprised at all of this. I seem to remember hitting the next chapter button or either fast forwarding until the titles start. This certainly is not the only film with an overture or intermission. It harkens back to a time when going to the movies did not have ads for the local car mart, soda commercials, and then thirty minutes of trailers. They had a trailers, a cartoon, a serial, then you had time to get situated during the overture.

IIRC, "roadshow" releases (the ones with an overture, intermission, etc.) did not have trailers, cartoons or serials, at least in their original release. They were presented more like stage plays, with reserved seats, printed programs, and an actual break at the intermission. (Edit: The "INTERMISSION" card is usually the ONLY one that's original to the film; "OVERTURE", etc. are strictly for home video.) In some cases (I'm almost certain this was in the exhibition instructions for Ben-Hur), late-arriving moviegoers were NOT seated during the overture as it would disrupt the mood being set by the score composer.

[Nightman04]

Originally Posted by Hypnosifl

If you sit close enough you can get the screen filling your whole field of vision, won't you see just as much detail as you would sitting further away from a big screen in a theater, assuming the screen would take up about the same amount of your field of vision in that case? I'd think that what really matters is the angular diameter of the screen relative to you, not its absolute size.

uh........what?

[BaronVH]

Originally Posted by RBBrittain

IIRC, "roadshow" releases (the ones with an overture, intermission, etc.) did not have trailers, cartoons or serials, at least in their original release. They were presented more like stage plays, with reserved seats, printed programs, and an actual break at the intermission. (Edit: The "INTERMISSION" card is usually the ONLY one that's original to the film; "OVERTURE", etc. are strictly for home video.) In some cases (I'm almost certain this was in the exhibition instructions for Ben-Hur), late-arriving moviegoers were NOT seated during the overture as it would disrupt the mood being set by the score composer.

Interesting. I would pay double if I could see a movie theatrically exactly that way. No previews and the family of idiots arriving late with the infant being denied seating sounds like heaven.

[Hypnosifl]

Originally Posted by Nightman04

uh........what?

What part of that was confusing to you? It's just about perspective, a smaller screen closer to you will look exactly the same size visually as a larger screen farther away (aside from depth perception), so you should be able to see exactly the same amount of detail either way (assuming you're sitting far enough away from the TV screen that the size of the pixels isn't an issue)--do you disagree?

As an example, if you are sitting 5 feet (60 inches) away from a TV that's 43.6 inches wide (the width of a TV with a 50 inch diagonal, which RomanBlade86 mentioned having), it should look the same size as if 30-foot-wide movie screen with the same proportions as the TV, if you were sitting 41 feet away from the screen (because 30/41 = 43.6/60). You can also think of it this way: if you drew a TV-shaped rectangle 43.6 inches wide on a clear sheet of glass and had the glass 5 feet in front of you, and you were looking through that glass at a 30-foot movie screen 41 feet away from you, you could position it so the borders of that rectangle on the sheet of glass would line up perfectly with the edges of the movie screen, from where you were sitting. So likewise if there was a drawing inside the rectangle on the glass, and exactly the same drawing was projected on the screen (blown up to fill its proportions), all the parts of the drawing on the glass would line up perfectly with the drawing projected on the screen. If a detail is too small to make out on the drawing on the glass from 5 feet away, it'll be too small to make out on the image on the screen from 41 feet away.

[garyrc]

Originally Posted by Fellini912

I stopped reading this post right after the bolded comment. Maurice Jarre is the French equivalent to John Williams, therefore there is no good reason to skip one of the greatest film score openings.

I agree that Jarre is great ... who can we effectively write to in order to get The Man Who Would be King released on Blu-ray with good sound instead of the screechy mess on the DVD? The Lp of TMWBK and the sound in the theater were fine. As to my complaint about not being able to skip the overture to LoA, the rest of my comment included the following: "Why skip the overture? Granted, music lovers like myself would like to hear it (and I have); but I find that Home Theater audiences tend to fidget during most overtures, especially if they know the movie will be more than 3 1/2 hours long. HT guests are in their seats within a few moments, unlike in a road show theater with a few people straggling in during the overture, and where there is the magic of the house lights slowly dimming during the music, leaving only the curved curtains dimly illuminated, making the screen area the focus of attention".

Originally Posted by Hypnosifl

If you sit close enough you can get the screen filling your whole field of vision, won't you see just as much detail as you would sitting further away from a big screen in a theater, assuming the screen would take up about the same amount of your field of vision in that case? I'd think that what really matters is the angular diameter of the screen relative to you, not its absolute size.

I liked your post, including your use of the term angular diameter, one of my favorite ways to talk about visual size as opposed to mere physical size. The trouble is that a projected 70 mm image, under ideal road show conditions, has many times the resolution of a Blu-ray image (the negative has almost 8 times the resolution, and the prints -- at least the 70 mm ones -- are made on expensive fine grain stock). So, if you moved up close to a Blu-ray image of LoA (which I do on my 130" horizontal -- not diagonal -- screen), you will get a good image, simulating the immersion and involvement you get in the theater, but there will be much less detail than in an image projected from a 70 mm print which is of the same angular diameter.

Early Memphis, thanks for the defense!

[JavaJulien]

I just blind bought Lawrence of Arabia today. It's my Birthday and since Amazon price matched Best Buy and had it on sale for $10, I figured I owed it to myself to get it as a gift.

[RiFiFi1955]

Originally Posted by JavaJulien

I just blind bought Lawrence of Arabia today. It's my Birthday and since Amazon price matched Best Buy and had it on sale for $10, I figured I owed it to myself to get it as a gift.

Happy Birthday!

[Early Memphis]

Originally Posted by JavaJulien

I just blind bought Lawrence of Arabia today. It's my Birthday and since Amazon price matched Best Buy and had it on sale for $10, I figured I owed it to myself to get it as a gift.

Happy Birthday, JJ!

[dturner88]

Dang it. I got this one a couple weeks ago for like 17 bucks or something. I need to be more patient! Great deal at 9.99.