+14
Lawrence of Arabia was #22 on my ballot. Here's what I wrote on it in a Hall of Fame:
This is the kind of film where there's not much I can say about its greatness that hasn't already been said, but since I read about some controversy about the apparent white savior elements of the film, I figured I'd respond to them. First things first, I don't have an issue with the white savior trope as long as the people the white person is helping aren't depicted as dumb or incompetent, and I'd say this film accomplishes that just fine. However, to dismiss Lawrence as a white savior is an inaccurate reading of his character. Instead of being portrayed as a hero, Lawrence is instead shown to be naïve for thinking he can save the Arabic people from the Turkish army and from British colonization. The film also makes a point to nullify many of Lawrence's significant accomplishments. For instance, acting as a father figure for Daud and Farraj is countered by how they both die in his company, his rescue of Gasim is countered when he's forced to execute him shortly afterwards, his decision to blow up the Ottoman railways is countered by how he's forced to execute one of his only remaining friends, his ambush of a group of retreating Turkish soldiers is countered by how he leads to the massacre of numerous surrendering soldiers and later regrets it, and his victory in capturing Damascus is countered by how they lose the city to British rule. Most importantly though, all his accomplishments in the film are countered by how they help pave way for British colonization. Given all that, it's clear Lawrence is actually presented as a modern Icarus rather than a hero. Calling this a white savior film because of Lawrence's success against the Turkish army misses the entire point. With that being said, "The Bridge on the River Kwai" is still my favorite David Lean film, mainly because the character dynamics and the final act in that film resonated with me more. If there's one area this film outshines the other one in though, it's the cinematography. In addition to having some terrific shots, like the iconic match scene and Ali's introduction, the numerous landscape views of the desert look incredible. Seemingly stretching out for miles and miles, they're at once beautiful and foreboding to look at. Overall, while I don't think this film will ever rise to favorite status, it's still great and I'm glad I was finally able to rewatch it.
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Like I said fun movie and while Peter Sellers is a real talent at playing a man of a 1000 faces, it's George C. Scott and Sterling Hayden who have me laughing the most. 
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