Lawrence Of Arabia's Restored November Blu-ray Release Is Extensive

The last time I saw Lawrence of Arabia, it was via a DVD copy, and I was still pretty impressed. To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the film, however, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment went above and beyond to restore the film and put it into stunning Ultra High-Definition (formerly 4K). Earlier this month, the film was even re-released theatrically on October 4. If you were one of the lucky few to have been in a position to see it, you have a better notion of what the upcoming release will entail picture-wise than myself; however, I’ll try to get across the awesomeness of the upcoming Blu-ray set as interestingly as possible.

Lawrence of Arabia will be hitting Blu-ray in a four-disc limited edition set or, alternatively, in a 2-Disc Blu-ray set on November 13. The mammoth 227 minute-long film will be accompanied by a lengthy group of featurettes, some that are new and some that have been released previously. While the gift set will come with all of the goodies—including a coffee table book, a CD of the soundtrack, deleted scenes, and a 70 mm frame, as well as additional featurettes, the 2-Disc set will still come with a slew of extras. You certainly can’t go wrong with either set—it’s just about choosing which right way you want to go.

Here’s the really important part of the set, however. The Lawrence of Arabia Blu-ray will come as the director’s cut of the film, which was restored in the 4K format from the original negatives. The 7 Academy Award-winning film will also come with newly improved audio and a picture-within-picture track that will supplement the movie itself. Overall, the Blu-ray will be a pretty eye-popping and unique take on a film that has made its mark in cinematic history, but the gift set won’t come cheaply. While the 2-disc set will only run $26.99 the gift set will cost a whopping $95.99. Thank goodness for Amazon sales.

Lawrence of Arabia Blu-ray Bonus Features

Disc 1

  • Feature Film, including overture, intermission, entr’acte and exit music
  • Newly re-mastered 5.1 English audio
  • “Secrets of Arabia: Picture-in-Graphic Track

Disc 2

  • “Peter O’Toole Revisits Lawrence of Arabia” - All-New Interview
  • “The Making of Lawrence of Arabia” documentary
  • “A Conversation with Steven Spielberg”
  • “The Camels Are Cast”
  • “In Search of Lawrence”
  • “Romance of Arabia”
  • “Wind, Sand and Star: The Making of a Classic” (1970 version)
  • Newsreel Footage of the New York Premiere
  • Advertising Campaigns

Disc 3 (Gift Set Exclusive Disc)

  • Never-Before-Released Deleted Scene with Introduction by Anne Coates
  • “The Lure of the Desert: Martin Scorsese on Lawrence of Arabia”
  • “In Love with the Desert”
  • “King Hussein Visits Lawrence of Arabia Scene”
  • “Wind, Sand and Star” (original version, 1963)
  • Archival Interviews with William Friedkin, Sydney Pollack, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Teaser Trailer #1
  • Teaser Trailer #2
  • 70mm Restoration Trailer (1989 Release)
  • TV Spot #1
  • TV Spot #2

Disc 4 (Gift Set Exclusive Disc)

  • Exclusive Lawrence of Arabia Soundtrack CD
Jessica Rawden
Managing Editor

Jessica Rawden is Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. She’s been kicking out news stories since 2007 and joined the full-time staff in 2014. She oversees news content, hiring and training for the site, and her areas of expertise include theme parks, rom-coms, Hallmark (particularly Christmas movie season), reality TV, celebrity interviews and primetime. She loves a good animated movie. Jessica has a Masters in Library Science degree from Indiana University, and used to be found behind a reference desk most definitely not shushing people. She now uses those skills in researching and tracking down information in very different ways.