I've been looking forward to this movie for a while, with a little hesitation. That's a long movie and a big commitment. I watched it in two sittings, which is rare for me, but natural given the structure of the film. This is such a highly regarded film that has been examined countless times in countless ways. I'm not going to provide any special insight, so I'll keep this simple.
I can't believe the production was as large as it was. There's several sequences that broke my brain realizing that all the extras weren't digitally added in. Peter O'Toole is iconic and it's baffling to think he lost the Oscar for this*. Really, all the performances are great. The score is rightfully revered. Even my standard definition DVD looked great. I'd love to see the 70mm cut in theaters some time.
It's hard for me to find anything bad to say about the film. It didn't connect with me at my core. At least, not yet. I think this is a movie that I will only appreciate more over time.
*He lost to Gregory Peck for To Kill a Mockingbird. That's a tough call. Any other year, O'Toole would've won. In fact, look at O'Toole's career 0-8 at the Oscars. Except for maybe a couple early losses, it's remarkable the bad luck he had landing next to other iconic performances. The man lost to Brando (The Godfather), De Niro (Raging Bull), and Kingsley (Gandhi) as well as Wayne (True Grit) as part of a career make-up call a la Leonardo DiCaprio this past year.
Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend
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