Amazon.com essential video: David Lean focused all his talent as an epic-maker on Boris Pasternak's sweeping novel about a doctor-poet in revolutionary Russia. The results may sometimes veer toward soap opera, especially with the screen frequently filled with adoring close-ups of Omar Sharif and Julie Christie, but Lean's gift for cramming the screen with spectacle is not to be denied. The streets of Moscow, the snowy steppes of Russia, the house in the country taken over by ice; these are re-created with Lean's unerring sense of grandness. The movie is so lush and so long that it becomes an irresistible wallow, even when logic suffers--like Gone with the Wind before it and Titanic after. Sharif, who achieved stardom in Lean's previous film, Lawrence of Arabia, mostly looks noble, but the supporting cast is spiky: Rod Steiger as a fat-cat monster, Tom Courtenay as a self-righteous revolutionary, and Klaus Kinski and Alec Guinness in smaller roles. Geraldine Chaplin, in her adult debut, plays the doctor's compliant wife. Robert Bolt's screenplay won one of the film's five Oscars, with another going to perhaps the most immediately recognizable element of the movie: Maurice Jarre's romantic music, with its hugely popular "Lara's Theme" weaving in and out of a swooning score. --Robert Horton
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Great movie
I really liked this movie.It had all the emotions that a normal person would have in their life.It is a must see movie.
Rating: - Dr. Zhivago review
Oustanding purchase price, packaging and delivery .
The Movie ain't bad either !!! Real tear-jerker . Put it on and watch the wife/lover cry .
Rating: - There is beautiful, then there is Julie Christy
Not much to add to the positive reviews, this is a truly great movie, and one of the few love stories I care to watch.
That said, Julie Christy transcends the term 'beautiful' in this film. ... Read More
Rating: - Classic movie epic based on the classic novel
It is easy to see why this is one of the movie classics of 20th century film based on the book by Boris Pasternak of the same name.
This drama-romance-war film is set for the most part in early twentieth ... Read More
Rating: - A Timeless Piece
The depth of this master piece is timeless for all generations to come. Compared to what we are having on the market today, most of them are cheap, superficial and rediculous, I recommand this movie to everyone; ... Read More
- Great movie