Doctor Zhivago

Truly one of the greatest movies ever made.
Both Boris Pasternak's extraordinary novel and David Lean's magnificent film version are among my favorites of all-time. The story is basically about a poet/physician (Omar Sharif) who loves two women--his adoring wife, Tonya (Geraldine Chapin), and his enigmatic mistress, Lara (Julie Christie)--through the events of World War I and the Russian Revolution.

Robert Bolt's screenplay balances the political upheaval with exquisite, heartwrenching romance--one of the few films to succeed at this level. Lean, who seemed to make a specialty of making films about illicit love (Brief Encounter, Summertime, etc.), also works a tightrope, giving the film the necessary grandeur and sweep required for an epic while never losing sight of the intimacy of the characters. He is aided considerably by a magnificent cast: Sharif, despite or perhaps because of his Egyptian background, provides the perfect perspective of an individual observing things around him, each time as if it were new--it's a...

A BEAUTIFUL AND HEARTBREAKING LOVE STORY
This is one of the rare times when I actually liked the movie more than the book. Omar Sharif, Julie Christie and Rod Steiger, especially, are just wonderful in David Lean's adaptation of Pasternak's epic love story. The script was beautiful and lacked nothing; the actors couldn't have done a better job at delivering their lines. It was extremely well paced and never lagged or felt rushed. Maurice Jarre's haunting score is just beautiful and weaves throughout the movie like a tapestry. The cinematography is beyond compare. The views of the Urals, the frozen Siberian tundra and the countryside in springtime (especially the daffodils!) will never be forgotten. In my opinion, one of the greatest movies ever, never to be forgotten.

Utterly breathtaking.
I'm an avid movie watcher and when I heard my English teacher recommend this one while reading "Animal Farm", I just had to see it. I rented it, thinking it would be some ordinary movie. Little did I know it was a masterpiece. The academy award winning music score by Maurice Jarre was brilliant (I rushed out and bought the soundtrack). It caught every moment of the movie and added lovely Russian sounds (the balalaika was wonderful) in with it. One can not forget the beautiful & famous "Lara's Theme." The cinematography took my breath away, from showing the vast frozen tundra to the Ural Mountains rising out of the plains. The story was another well done point. It was intelligent and captivating. The acting was superb, the actors made the wonderful characters of Pasternak's novel come alive. All around it is one of the best movies ever made, period. I also learned a lot of historical facts, that helped with a report. The second time I watched it, I...

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