Doctor Zhivago Reviews and Ratings



  • December 23, 2009
    I have just one word. Beautiful!
  • December 17, 2009
    Great movie...an epic...

    The suspense scenes were great...as were the visuals with the iced over country house and winter scenes...
  • November 26, 2009
    Does it have many Waltz's?

    It's arrived... just got to watch!

    What a horrible film!

    A well made film, about difficult times...

    No waltzes... not enough music in my opinion, but a little music which was good & overall a good film to see.
  • November 23, 2009
    Dr Zhivago is a true classic movie, and one of my favorites.
    Zhivago (Sharif) is torn between the love of two women. His wife, (Chaplin) a sweet,and devoted woman, or Lara, (Christie) the beautiful woman he loves, & desires with all his heart, & soul.
    The beautiful song "Lara's...( read more) Theme" originated from Dr Zhivago. I highly recommend this movie to anyone that have not seen it. Beautifully done!!
  • November 18, 2009
    OK film, but it is a classic.
  • November 16, 2009
    This movie disappointed me. It didn't have anything that show an epic love story. I didn't like besides it is so long. You should see only if you want to know a little bit about the russian history.
  • November 16, 2009
    More than simply the quintessential love story of two people, this is a love story for a lost homeland. Many complain that this film is too long, but I would argue it only feels that way when watched with the wrong motives: this is about survival through finding love. It's not ab...( read more)out what's going to happen, but rather witnessing normal people from different classes cope with the political upheaval that is shattering their world. Lean shows us slices of Russian society from the very poor to the very rich, and the disparity of wealth which is the core reason behind the revolution. He doesn't shy away from the revolt's brutality either; in fact Zhivago's gentle and selfless nature serves to contrast with the violence around him, drawing more attention to its ugliness. Maurice Jarre's yearning score tugs at our heartstrings and if one were to romanticize, one could interpret the blanketing white landscapes as a metaphor for Zhivago's pure soul... and therein may lie a flaw - Zhivago seems too good to be true. Yet, underneath the horrors of war still lies the land he loves and Freddie Young's breathtaking cinematography captures it beautifully (a perfectionist, Lean would often wait for weeks for the perfect light). Seeing Russia through Zhivago's eyes, one can't help but fall in love with it too.
  • November 8, 2009
    Another classic I fee like I am supposed to like. Was good to see, but I don't nee to see it again soon...
  • October 2, 2009
    Doctor Zhivago is a 1965 epic or drama-romance-war film directed by David Lean and loosely based on the famous novel of the same name by Boris Pasternak.
  • September 28, 2009
    I love the shots and the colours, but I need a second look at the story. I watched this late at night the first time, and this is THREE HOURS AND SEVENTEEN MINUTES?! It's no puzzle now why I can't come up with anything to write for this film. When you're sleepy, you're sleepy, ...( read more)and your eyes just drop it like it's hawt...feel free to ignore that last comment.
  • September 11, 2009
    David Lean's giant epic masterpiece and arguably his most mature production as well. Watch it completely out of stress and any other concern you could have, open your mind and give it patience. You'll totally enjoy this terrific story, winner of 5 Academy Awards.

    94/100
  • September 6, 2009
    ...must see this story...
  • August 30, 2009
    Una historia de amor en La Rusia de los Zares
  • August 26, 2009
    It is one epic of a movie but I'm afraid to say even though I loved Omar and the themet it was too long and abit boring. Even though the Russian revolution was a powerful time in history you have to really stick this one out.
  • August 24, 2009
    Actually a pretty good film once you get into it.
  • August 10, 2009
    Dr Zhirvago

    Brilliant pictuer that seemed to have the essence of reflection to symbolize these truths, but from an obscure, not of the same social culture point of view.

    I thought it shown as an example of romantic closure in audultery. With the tram scene at the beginning...( read more) where the two of the stars Julie Christie and Omar Sharif have a closer than close encounter.

    The contraband story taken from the novel (Pasternak) has its pass or fail style agreement of understanding as to the nature of a place to begin qualifying the viewer depth of reading into this known picture to the viewers understanding ?if? reading into the words of it, spoken in conversation by Sir Alec Guinness initially when interviewing the young lady as a possible 'Niece of His', long lost to her extended family during the atrocities of harsh civil action ? relocating and establishing through Anarchy the fall of aristocratic power and the rise of rebellion into revolution.
  • August 8, 2009
    An exquisite tale of love, survival, family, community, and lost ideals.
  • August 6, 2009
    The cast is amazing. Not really a love story, and I find it somewhat objectionable (he sure uses his rich wife for her money and family) even though he loves another woman. The cinematography is breathtaking and the music is haunting. What a cast!
  • August 5, 2009
    Outstanding Epic film. This film has an outstanding story and a great cast.
  • August 1, 2009
    For me, this is like 'Lawrence' volume 2, that is, the same level of film-craft and emotion (plus Omar Sharif), but more poignant. I never get tired of watching it.
  • July 26, 2009
    So very long and I haven't seen it in years so I will give it a general rating.
  • July 16, 2009
    doctor zhivago,like all epic love story movie (titanic,gone with the wind,australia),has one weakness,which is its stupidly overlong storyline,.
  • July 16, 2009
    Now this was one hell of a love story!
  • July 11, 2009
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  • July 3, 2009
    like the last saviour
  • June 28, 2009
    i feel in love with omar shireff. i still love hime to this day. the music sweep me away
  • May 30, 2009
    Life of a Russian doctor/poet who, although married, falls for a political activist's wife and experiences hardships during the Bolshevik Revolution.
  • May 25, 2009
    Fairly uncomfortable to watch considering where the love story takes place, but still quite interesting.
  • May 24, 2009
    Una de mis favoritas
  • May 24, 2009
    Woah! Simply magnific!!! Easily one of the best movies I have ever seen
  • May 20, 2009
    The kind of sweeping epic rarely seen these days. You want it to go on and on.
  • May 17, 2009
    Wow long ass movie
    -i liked the time era costume clothing an such russia fur and the glamourous woman the country etc etc the scene etc.etc
    beautiful woman.
    mhmmmm somewhat liked the story line but not really
    a movie yea gotta be in the mood too watch
    but eeh i love old old m...( read more)ovies
  • May 14, 2009
    A very long movie, but a good one.
  • April 15, 2009
    Russia in winter has never looked more alluring and neither have Omar Sharif or Julie Christie. Chock full of terrific images and gorgeous landscapes, remembered by many for the haunting Lara's Theme.
  • April 5, 2009
    if you loved gone with the wind you will enjoy this one. I do and I did
  • April 3, 2009
    It took me a while to take the time to watch this film because it's so lengthy, but afterwards I was pleased I did. A great film and a true classic!
  • April 2, 2009
    so sad but beautiful!
  • March 29, 2009
    A great movie classic... it's a LONG movie but I love it!
  • March 26, 2009
    Few directors would always get international audience.

    And when one considers the positive public response to many of David Lean's films, it is just fair to say that only few directors have commanded such a large portion of the mass audience.

    Working again with his screenw...( read more)riter Robert Bolt, Lean's epic film Doctor Zhivago could be described as " a fateful series of brief encounters."

    The complicated narrative is held together by a series of connecting and associative images--moon, windows, candles, cornflowers and daffodils to suggest the two women in Zhivago's life.

    Doctor Zhivago (Omar Shariff) is the idealistic doctor hero swept along by the epic events of the Russian Revolution in Bolt's adaptation of Boris Pasternak's Nobel Prize-winning novel. Banned in the Soviet Union but acclaimed in the West, the novel is a about the story of love and a great documentary of the Bolshevik Revolution.

    The lovers are Zhivago and the beautiful, sensual Lara (Julie Christie), for whom a brief happiness is tragically engulfed by the tide of history. There is a stunning last shot of Lara, as she disappears alone down a grey street that is dominated by a huge red poster of Stalin.

    It is an image that crystallizes the theme of the individual and the state, as well as implicitly asking questions that are at the heart of Dr Zhivago--what the revolution was for, where it led, and, whom it affected.

    Again, Director Lean has approached this film with his customary deliberation and meticulous preparation.

    Inasmuch as some critics found the flick to be something of a disappoinment, it's a film with stunning cinematography, good script, and talented people behind it.
  • March 23, 2009
    Lumpy if sometimes sinfully rich borscht. This sprawling adaptation of Pasternak's epic novel of the Russian Revolution was director Lean's follow-up to his masterful LAWRENCE OF ARABIA. Told in flashback, the film follows Yuri Zhivago (Sharif) and Tonya Gromeko (Chaplin), who me...( read more)et as youths when the orphaned Yuri is taken in by Tonya's parents. Eventually Yuri becomes a physician and marries Tonya, but several times during WWI he crosses paths with Lara (Christie), the beautiful daughter of a dressmaker, and the two fall into a passionate affair that is disrupted by the Bolshevik Revolution.
    Unable to maintain a consistent level of interest through its seat-squirmingly long running time, this typically overblown Lean epic is not as exciting or as powerful as LAWRENCE OF ARABIA or THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI. Bolt's choppy screenplay leaves out great chunks of Pasternak's novel, turning the narrative in a bumpy, who-gives-a-damn roller coaster ride in the film's last half. Equally regrettable is the miscasting of Sharif, who had done quite well in LAWRENCE but here contributes a performance with all the sparkle of sawdust. Christie, Steiger, and (to a lesser extent) Guinness, however, imbue their parts with passion and intensity, and the huge supporting cast is generally fine.

    As always, Lean's handling of the purely physical aspects of the material is spectacular, with the scenes of revolution, the harsh Russian winters, and Zhivago's trek across the steppes simply unforgettable. Filmed mostly in Spain and Finland, the cinematography is often stunning even when the effects are pretentious (e.g. Lean's screen-filling closeup of the inside of a flower). Jarre's jarring score, though much praised at the time for the lilting "Lara's Theme," now seems repetitive and grating enough to make one want to sabotage balalaika factories everywhere.
  • March 7, 2009
    Epic and wonderful! There are some scenes that just stay in your head for years to come. The story, the acting, the music - everything makes this film a true classic.
  • March 5, 2009
    Beautifuly done, but I really hate a movie with this kind of ending.
  • March 3, 2009
    definitely sweeping epic
  • February 22, 2009
    incredible, and not just for its time, it's still moving and hard to watch

Summary


Doctor Zhivago Summary