Two Post-’Lawrence’ Epics

The letterbox format is the ideal way to watch those ‘60s and ‘70s wide-screen spectacles that tried to do “Lawrence of Arabia” one better. Two recent releases set in the waning days of the 19th-Century British empire, “Khartoum” (MGM/UA, $50) and “The Man Who Would Be King” (CBS/Fox, $50), point up the advantages of the format.

The classic 1975 “Man Who Would Be King,” directed by John Huston and starring Sean Connery and Michael Caine as rogue soldiers is an epic from scenery to screenplay (based on a Kipling story) to score by Maurice Jarre (beautifully reproduced in digital stereo).

The final scene apparently so horrified British censors that the film was shown with an abbreviated ending in England, unceremoniously thrown in here after the 129-minute film’s credits. It is not announced anywhere on the cover notes or the 11 chapter stops.

The more lackluster 1966 “Khartoum,” directed by Basil Dearden, features Laurence Olivier, Charlton Heston and Ralph Richardson.

Both laser discs offer the first two sides in extended play (CLV), and the third in the standard-play mode (CAV), enabling the viewer to freeze frames, including Connery’s spectacular death fall in “The Man Who Would Be King” and Heston’s equally poignant death in “Khartoum.”

While both discs are well-produced, MGM/UA’s failure to list “Khartoum” chapter stops is annoying.