Dr Zhivago [VHS]

Directed by the late, great David Lean, and starring Omar Sharif in his most famous role, Dr Zhivago is, of course, the story of the title character. Set across five decades, he finds himself married to one woman and in love with another, while the war and revolution around him continues to take its toll. That’s a simplified version of the narrative, granted. But even though it’s now 45 years old, this is a film rich in storytelling, and rightly regarded as one of the all-time greats.

It’s also a sumptuous film to look at, boasting genuinely startling cinematography, and that’s where the pleasure of a 1080p picture transfer comes into its own. It’s perhaps easy to note that Dr Zhivago has never looked better in the home than it does here, but this is nonetheless a very good upgrade. Rich and evocative, the transfer does the film proud, as does the packaging together of such a diverse collection of interesting extra features.

Given the treatment that some back catalogue releases have suffered on the Blu-ray format to date, it’s terrific to report that Dr Zhivago proves to be a worthy upgrade for an excellent piece of cinema. --Jon Foster