Audio Video News

The classic film, Lawrence of Arabia is coming to a video store near you, courtesy of Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment. One of the most highly honored and beautifully produced films of all time, David Lean's epic has been remastered and repackaged as a two-disc widescreen "Limited Edition" DVD box set with over 90 minutes of bonus footage.

The story of T.E. Lawrence, an iconoclastic British lieutenant who changed the course of Arab history, Lawrence of Arabia won seven Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Sound, Best Music, Best Art Direction, and Best Cinematography. The 1962 film also received three nominations: for Best Actor (Peter O'Toole), Best Supporting Actor (Omar Sharif), and Best Screenplay. Outstanding cast members include Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins, Jose Ferrer, and Claude Rains.

The Limited Edition DVD includes an exclusive documentary on the making of the film, a conversation with Steven Spielberg, four original featurettes, original newsreel footage, collectible inserts, and "exclusive DVD-ROM features," according to an official announcement. Restored on DVD, Lawrence runs 227 minutes, with a soundtrack in Dolby Digital 5.1 and a choice of four languages—English, French, Spanish and Portuguese, with subtitles in Chinese, Korean, and Thai. (The film ran 222 minutes in its original UK release.) The ColumbiaTriStar Limited Edition of Lawrence of Arabia will sell for $39.95. Street date for the release is April 3, 2001.