Review by Joseph C. Jones
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Both Boris Pasternak’s extraordinary novel and David Lean’s magnificent film version are among my favorites of all-time. The story is basically about a poet/physician (Omar Sharif) who loves two women–his adoring wife, Tonya (Geraldine Chapin), and his enigmatic mistress, Lara (Julie Christie)–through the events of World War I and the Russian Revolution. Robert Bolt’s screenplay balances the political upheaval with exquisite, heartwrenching romance–one of the few films to succeed at this level. Lean, who seemed to make a specialty of making films about illicit love (Brief Encounter, Summertime, etc.), also works a tightrope, giving the film the necessary grandeur and sweep required for an epic while never losing sight of the intimacy of the characters. He is aided considerably by a magnificent cast: Sharif, despite or perhaps because of his Egyptian background, provides the perfect perspective of an individual observing things around him, each time as if it were new–it’s a wonderful performance; Christie is simply luminescent; Chaplin nicely understated; and there’s terrific support from Alec Guinness, Rod Steiger, Tom Courtney, etc. What makes Zhivago a must on DVD is the awe-inspiring cinematography of Freddie Young, who deservedly won the Academy Award. I was lucky to see Zhivago at a theater, on the big screen proper, several years ago when it was re-issued; unbelievably, the DVD transfer here is even BETTER!!! There are shots in this film that are simply jaw-dropping beautiful.Doctor Zhivago is, like the book it’s based on, a challenging film that will reward the viewer with one of their most extraordinary cinematic experiences.

Review by
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This is one of the rare times when I actually liked the movie more than the book. Omar Sharif, Julie Christie and Rod Steiger, especially, are just wonderful in David Lean’s adaptation of Pasternak’s epic love story. The script was beautiful and lacked nothing; the actors couldn’t have done a better job at delivering their lines. It was extremely well paced and never lagged or felt rushed. Maurice Jarre’s haunting score is just beautiful and weaves throughout the movie like a tapestry. The cinematography is beyond compare. The views of the Urals, the frozen Siberian tundra and the countryside in springtime (especially the daffodils!) will never be forgotten. In my opinion, one of the greatest movies ever, never to be forgotten.

Review by Barron Laycock
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What a wonderful surprise to discover this film as finally been released in the DVD format. Indeed, absolutely no one was a more masterful film maker than David Lean, the British director of such classics as “Lawrence of Arabia”, “Bridge Over the River Kwai”, “Ryan’s Daughter” and, of course, “Doctor Zhivago” (see my reviews of all these films). Lean’s cinematography is always spectacular and breathtaking, for he had a special appreciation for how the nature of one’s natural surroundings set the stage and influenced the dramatic proceedings. Thus, Lean characteristically focused his films on the ways in which individuals and their personal characteristics clash and meld with the larger social, cultural, and historical surround in which they are located, and so each film is a uniquely captivating study of the specific dynamics of each particular individual situation. Each of these films is also a well-choreographed and photographed excursion into the topography, climate, and landscape of the geographic location in which the drama unfolds. The eyes and ears are always delighted by what Lean displays. Here the beauty and innocence of nature is constantly contrasted with the ugliness, artificiality, and depravity of man’s environs both under the Czar as well as under the brutally repressive communist regime. Omar Sharif turns on a wonderful performance as young Yuri Zhivago, by turns an orphan, poet, and medical doctor sponsored by the family he will soon marry into. The character of Zhivago is that of an unrepentant innocent, a true Russian peasant transported by situation and circumstance away from his rural origins into the bustling aristocracy of Moscow before the October revolution. All Zhivago wants is to immerse himself wholehearted in the life he has made for himself and his family, yet again and again he is forced by circumstance to serve for forces beyond his doorstep. Unfortunately for Yuri, he is caught in a time and place in which such personal extravagance and private self-absorption is no longer tolerated. Indeed, in the violent and tumultuous Russia of the first half of the 20th century, such a private life was impossible. When war comes, he is pressed into service as a field doctor. Later, after returning to the streets of Moscow, which is in turmoil and difficulty associated with the social changes forced by the Bolsheviks, he decides to escape the political madness by fleeing with the family to the country estate in the Urals. Once there, however, Yuri is forced once more into medical service by the Reds in their running civil ware against the Whites raging throughout Russia. In all this, he collides fatefully with the beautiful Lara, who is played by the very young and beautiful Julie Christie. In their love affair Zhivago finds the emotional inspiration and solace he has sought through all this but has denied himself for the sake of his wife and family. Against this backdrop of the personal odyssey of Zhivago, the events of the Russian revolution and its aftermath are brilliantly depicted. As in all of the Lean movies, the ways in which each character’s nature, individual characteristics, and personal foibles project themselves into the larger social circumstances provides the focus of the unfolding story. The cinematography here is absolutely breath-taking, and the many spectacular action sequences and memorable musical score by Maurice Jarre (for which he received an Oscar) all contribute to make this one of the most popular and memorable films of all time. The cast is wonderful, with terrific performances by Sharif, Christie, Geraldine Chaplin, Rod Steiger, Tom Courteney, Rita Tushingham (as Zhivago’s bastard daughter with Lara), and a number of notable others, including a small part by Sir Alec Guinness as Zhivago’s half-brother Yevgrav, who acts as the narrator of the film. By the way, the film has aged very well, and as a piece of history and as a piece of popular entertainment it is easily one of the top ten of all time. Enjoy!