Imagine some very unlikly person going to Arabia, and uniting many warring Arab tribes into one force (The United Arab Republic) against a common foe! The turks! Well, that's what this great movie is about. They crossed the Sainai Dessert to take back from the Turks Acaca on the sea. The great canons of Acaba were fixed toward the sea and can't be turned around since they never expected an attack from that deadly dessert. And when told that ya can't cross the Sainai dessert with children, Lawrence said, Why not? Moses did! (only Moses went the opposite way.)So they cross the Sainai and if David Lean ever meant that the location is as important as any of the characters, this is it. They caught on film this tall and spindly desert tornado right there for all to see. The original movie and video release was a bit of a choppy story with some loose ends not tied. There is a restored version where they had in hand the extra film footage but not all of the sound from the actors speaking. But everyone from the original filming is still alive and thay managed to perfect the film in David Lean's original vision. It is very psychologically satisfying. Rent it!!