David Lean's Doctor Zhivago had large shoes to fill when it was released in 1965, following two of the greatest epic films ever made in The Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia. That it stands up so well to those two titans is impressive indeed.

Doctor Zhivago, based on the novel of the same name by Boris Pasternak, is a tale of love, loss and life during the Russian Revolution. Zhivago is a poet and doctor torn between two loves, which will bring him across the Russian expanse and face-to-face with dangerous people. Grand in scope – do we expect anything but BIG from David Lean? – yet personal in focus, the film is less a point ‘A’ to point ‘B’ story as it is an examination of a man's life, the trials he faces, and the women he loves.

At three hours and twenty minutes, this film is long. We linger in seemingly small moments. The first hour is spent simply setting up the cast of characters, people whose lives will later become so intertwined, but who early on have little connection to one another. Despite this, rarely does the film feel slow. The pace, while deliberate, works.

Big And Small
The sweep of the landscape and scope of the story is vast. We see stunning vistas and gorgeous landscapes; sprawling masses of people; a beautifully rendered Moscow; and locations that are a joy to see. Doctor Zhivago comes from the same book of storytelling from which Gone With The Wind sprang.

Lean pulls out a series of great directorial tricks, dwelling in stylish cinematography and dabbling with cuts on par with Lawrence of Arabia's famous match-to-desert cut.

But in all of its expanse, Doctor Zhivago is about people. Omar Sharif gives a subtle but steady performance in the title role, managing to give us a strong sense of the good doctor’s love and heartbreak. Julie Christie, Geraldine Chaplin, and Rod Steiger all offer good screen presence, while Sir Alec Guinness’ smallish part is among his best.

Special Edition Worthy Of The Name
The good news for film lovers is that this release of Doctor Zhivago is superb. Warner’s special edition DVD release features an impeccable image with vibrant colors and fantastic clarity, this will look great on any home theater. Some decent sound has been coaxed out of this 40-year-old film, too. The only disappointment is that the film is on a two-sided "flipper" disc. If they don't bother you, great, but they bother me. Classic films deserve better.

The special edition comes with a second disc jammed with great extra material. A series of vintage documentaries and featurettes, as well as more recent interviews, highlight the extras disc, giving viewers a real behind-the-scenes look at the production. A smattering of trailers and the like round things out. All in all, a worthy collection of extras.

Epic storytelling fully remastered in a great package, all by the incomparable David Lean? You simply can’t go wrong.