Critic’s Choice: ‘Lawrence of Arabia,’ a thinking adult’s movie for the ages

Perhaps the greatest of the wide-screen literate epics, David Lean’s magisterial “Lawrence of Arabia” is returning to the big screen in a meticulous 4K restoration that should be a knockout.

Winner of seven Academy Awards, including best picture, this epic story of the exploits of British officer T.E. Lawrence in the Middle East during World War I not only has Freddie Young’s cinematography and Maurice Jarre’s music, it’s got acting from standouts like Peter O’Toole, Omar Sharif, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins, Claude Rains, Alec Guinness and more.

No special effects are front and center here, simply the way a master creator of images pulls us into a dramatic story of great psychological complexity. The intelligent, big-budget epic intended for thinking adults is vanishing before our eyes, so see one while you can.

Presented by Fathom Events and showing on Sunday and Sept. 4 at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. at more than two dozen Southern California theaters.