Lawrence: After Arabia

First things first, This was made on a non-existent budget for a feature, a first time director and a tiny crew. So I'll try not to be too harsh, but the director needs to know where he went wrong, so he can improve on it next time.

So there isn't a single aspect of this film that didn't have issues, some more glaring than others. By far the biggest issue is that technically is this the worst film I've ever seen. From Inaudible sound due to the lack of sound mixing and background noise, green screen issues such as jpegs being used as background and no effort to make these believable, visible artefacts from poor keying, horrendous editing (was there anyone keeping an eye on continuity??) along with all that, the camera work really felt like a lazy student film, shots being over and under exposed, lack of thought put into the shots, no colour grading and the footage just looked so dull, and finally I've never seen a film reuse so much footage before, you could turn it into a drinking game (which probably isn't a bad idea if you're going to watch this)

The acting wasn't the worst, but I can't see anyone getting any Oscars any time soon, and oh my god the pacing was mind-numbing this felt like a 4 hour movie. I hope the director reads and takes in all the feedback he will inevitably get and uses that as a jumping off point to improve his skills as a director.

What a dreadful mess this film was. It took the most banal conspiracy theory about Lawrence's death and failed to offer any evidence in support of it. Didn't seem able to get anything right. Ok the bike had the right number plate and Clouds Hill seemed to get a look in. Given that what makes Lawrence especially interesting is what he did with the latter part of his life, this really was a wasted opportunity to add something. Now i have been told i need to write a longer review. Seems more helpful to keep it short and sweet. But that's not what this website seems to value. I suggest potential audience instead read the very helpful book published about Lawrence's death which highlights the weaknesses of an inadequately serviced bike and the good thing that came out of it; a recommendation at the inquest for riders to wear helmets which was followed up in the war for despatch riders.

I applaud the director for giving it a go but the film was very poor and terribly shot. The acting, with a couple of exceptions, was a amateurish and the shots were over egged and tedious. A couple of beacons in the mist were the inquest scene (although terribly framed) I totally believed the actor presiding over the scene, I've seen him in lots and he's very believable, and the Cameo from Michael Maloney was enjoyable.. the rest were over acting I'm afraid.

I think my heading sums it up best...

When they started with the opening scene I though it had to be part of the local adverts..... right?

Wrong.... Yes i went in knowing it was low budget & shot locally but even so I expected much better than this.

Everything about it was poor, opening music sounded like it was done on one of those toy xylophone's, sound quality abysmal, acting that would have seen those in a local production having non-speaking parts the following year, the direction... where to start.... I think you get the picture...

It really is one to avoid, i walked out after 30 minutes otherwise I would have been rolling in the aisles & watching it locally I suspect there were a few in the audience who were "extras" so I saved myself the shaming....

Looking through the reviews I suspect those giving high marks actually appeared in the film as I really didnt see anything worthy of more than a one.

It really was horrible & moreso as I admire & am fascinated by the TE Lawrence story.

The worst film I can remember seeing. Memorable only for the screenwriter, actors, sound recording, cinematographer, editor and director duelling it out for who could deliver the worst performance.

That said I would recommend it if only for comedy value. Films as terribly made as this don't come along often. Enjoy.