Rating: 
Summary: Good movie, GREAT DVD!
Review: My friend Dennis bought me this DVD before I had even seen the movie. I am glad he did! This is one of the best DVDs I own! There are some neat extras like the two hour backstory on the making of Cleopatra, a few movietime previews and several theatrical trailers, but the best thing about this three disc DVD is the picture. It is AMAZING! Incredibly clear and wonderfully layered and textured! Cleopatra may be one of the most gorgeous films ever made. It is quite a spectacle to behold! I hope that they re-release it at the theaters because it would be fantastic on the big screen! Oh, and the movie is good also. It seems a bit long even though the original cut is nine hours long! Of course Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton are wonderful and Randy McDowell and Martin Landau make u a strong supporting cast!
Rating: 
Summary: Grand spectacle and cinimatic excess
Review: Likely the most costly movie ever filmed (it would cost almost half a billion dollars to make today). For sheer specticle, nothing comes close to matching it. The costumes are wonderful, starting with a historical basis and going on to great, fantasy garb. The movie is loosely based on Shakespear's plays about Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra. While the writing is not as close to Shakespear's as is The Lion in Winter, it is still a good script.
Rating:
Summary: Worthy of a Big Screen
Review: I was completely surprised at how excellent this film is, and how lavishly presented. The wide-screen edition DVD is rich with elaborate sets in every seen. As lengthy as the movie was, I was sorry for it to end. The historical insight into Caesar and Cleopatra, as well as Mark Anthony, is interesting and, for the most part, factually accurate. I frankly didn't get the fascination with Elizabeth Taylor until I saw this - now I know. And the DVD comes with plenty of documentary background into the making of this movie - the record-breaking investments, the scandal and stories behind the scenes - those documentaries alone are worth the cost of the DVD. Most movies today are made for TV screens. This was not. I watched this on a 26" TV, and it was fine. But it's the first movie since Ben Hur that actually made me want to get a big screen TV.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: A masterpiece of the late studio era, though a little lo0ng in length, Cleopatra newly restored and put on DVD is not to be missed. There are so many great things about this movie, one in particular. A hollywood movie actually attempting to display the Fall of the Roman Republic (though romanticized), Spartacus attempted to do so, and while that was a decent film, its glaring historical inaccuracy is unforgivable. Never before on film has the great Gaius Julius Caesar been brought to such vivid life, though he was a bit old and slightly overweight. Rex Harrison and Richard Burton make this movie, not Elizabeth Taylor, if she was the center than the whole movie would be her own private birthday party entertainment as if she was a spoiled little girl. Ive seen Taylor in better roles, and this wasn't it. But R. Harrison as Caesar, and R. Burton as Antony are not to be missed. I notice alot of people are comparing this movie to Gladiator, which is good I think. Gladiator took the idea of the Roman epic and showed the primal brutality, the darkness behind all the marble and gold that was Rome. It is a step in the right direction, H'Wood should seriously consider going back to Republican times and show the world, brilliantly, and truthfully the fall of the Roman republic. This film is the closest to doing so and I applaud it. Mr. Speilberg, Mr. Scott, even Michael Mann, bring on Colleen Mccullough's books! There's a juicy script waiting to be adapted, I would love and so would many others to see Sulla come to the big screen, despite his ominous mention in Cleopatra: Harrison (Caesar): "Rome? What was Rome when Sulla died?" or in Spartacus: Olivier (Crassus): Sulla! To the infamy of his name, to the utter damnation of his line!" McCullough's Masters of Rome would be great to the big screen, what with the success of Gladiator. I would love to see Julius Caesar take the to the silver screen once more and be played not just brilliantly (like Harrison, dialogue, attitude and all) but physically (Caesar was a lean, trim powerful man, who did not cover his legs with trousers but flaunted every element of his masculinity and sexuality. He was a powerhouse, lets do him justice! enough about what hollywood should do, just enjoy this movie and consider it a step in the right direction to the perfection of the Roman epic (not yet done).
Rating:
Summary: Truly was and is still great!.
Review: This movie was miraculous that it even was finished and was able to have a road show engagement. After the much maligned and problematic (and endless) production, it's a surprise it ended up as good as it did. Number one, There will never be anyone else but Elizabeth Taylor to play Cleopatra. Whether you liked her or not in the roll, she was the only choice at the time. At least her salary said she was. I don't think Joan Collins had the depth that luscious Liz did. Audrey Hepburn was considered, but she didn't have the fire needed and was booked solid in film contracts anyway filming "The Nun's Story", "The Unforgiven", The Children's Hour", and "Breakfast at Tiffany's" practically in succession of each other. At least Liz didn't play it campy like Claudette Colbert in the cheesy 1934 version where she just gave in to the Roman Rulers. Number two, this movie probably has the most sumptuous sets, costumes, cinematography, promotion, etc., on and on, of any major movie to ever come out of Hollywood. It certainly again won all the Oscars to prove that. Joseph Mankewicz deserved the Oscar for this picture simply because he didn't die trying to complete it. The production manager did. It ended up being a far more superior film than what it was given credit for back in 1963. This was obviously due to the audience of the day responding to the hype over Liz and Dick and the enormous production problems that stuck to the film's image. All this aside, the completed product ended up being a gorgeously-filmed, intelligently-acted, marvel of a film. What if it were a few minutes too long? Look at who's lives you're dealing with here. It certainly was exceedingly better than that television piece of junk with that actress that couldn't act her way out of a paper bag. By the end of Cleopatra (1963 version) you almost felt you had lived a lifetime with these people. It almost took a lifetime to make. I always got the feeling that the actors actually really studied acting and read their scripts for the endless photographic shoots. From the hype at the time, you'd wonder how they did with all the shenanigans off the set and drinking, partying with Taylor and Burton, but their (as well as Harrison's and McDowell's) English Shakespeare-trained talents thus show especially on the literate script. Even in the comical areas they excel and there aren't many of those in a high-drama like Cleopatra. Rex Harrison's line "you all look so impressive, anyone of you could be king" was perfect. Of course, the end with the death by snake and the dialog just blows me away because it was done so well. I have always said there is only one "Cleopatra" and this was it. Also, thank God they finally released the soundtrack on CD two months ago. Why has it taken all these years to get this stuff out? It's mind-boggling, but 20th Century-Fox probably thinks they have a hit in "Cleopatra" with this generation. Who knows?.....the film will probably end up making more money than they imagined. It has certainly received far better reviews from people who recently or never saw it than not. Just to let anyone know about a small piece of trivia (not to Fox by any means)if they don't. Cleopatra was the biggest box-office moneymaker after all was said and done in 1963. It raked in over $58,000,000.00. Considering it cost $44 million, they have made a small profit and actually have made the money back and over the years have earned a tremendous amount of money and a better reputation for having made the costliest, most-publicized film in movie history. How could it not add to its credit? Anyway, then as now, "Cleopatra" is an absolutely beautiful, artistic, stunning film that will never be made again and was probably the last glamourous epic from a wonderful time in moviemaking! The usher will show you to your seats!
Rating:
Summary: Whew! DVD Rescues This One
Review: I was never a major fan of this movie but I couldn't resist seeing it again. This is the type of film that works best on DVD - not only for the great picture and sound - but for the extras! The extras alone are worth the price of this package. And if you never saw the film before, prepare yourself for a real pleasure - this was never a truly great movie, but it remains a pleasure. The best part for me was the recovered footage from the aborted 1959 shoot with Peter Finch and Stephen Boyd. If you're a true movie nut - this stuff is must see.
Rating:
Summary: A Hollywood landmark.
Review: The DVD: Great menu design, video transfer, extras. An exquisite 3-disk release. The documentary 'Cleopatra: The film that Changed Hollywood' is a highlight by itself, and probably the best I 've seen, with regard to the Hollywood industry. The film: Excellent (if over-elaborate) art direction/set decoration, beautiful score, surprisingly witty dialogue (if over-literary) and good performances by all actors (especially Harrison, Burton, MacDowall). Cons: the 60s touch, apparent throughout the film (from costumes till several of the sets). Some historical inaccuracies (e.g. the Roman arch in the procession). Also Taylor's performance: She was quite good I guess, but she also gave the impression throughout the film that she was feeling very uncomfortable acting in those heavy hair-dos and costumes (which most of the times were completely unnecessary and I may even say that looked ridiculous. But this is Hollywood's perception of antiquity, isn't it?). Moreover, as beautiful she was, yet she was not very convincing as an alluring, seductive and irresistible woman, but rather a tragic 'ice-queen', a shrewd politician, and, of course, an extremely determined leader. Mankiewicz clearly emphasized these latter elements of Cleopatra's character, while the real woman was believed to be very aware of both her feminine and 'masculine' sides. In this film, because of her manipulative and shrewish attitude, sometimes you just wish somebody to come and slap her! (As Burton cheerfully does, towards the end of the film). That said, what makes it still exceptional is that it was the most expensive spectacle ever made, and it was made by an intellectual. It is colorful, opulent, glamorous, and has spawned many film legends (on, and mainly off the screen). A true Hollywood landmark, that was never repeated again. And it is a good film, after all. Superior, I think, to other glossy and pompous epic productions that had earned a 'classic' status (like for example, the ultimately endearing-but-cheesy 'Ten Commandments'). Despite the production's size, it is essentially a subtle, a kind of dreamy vision of the story of a woman that changed the course of history. It is, with some exceptions, not a 'loud' movie. And that's probably why it may have displeased some audiences, who expected another 'Ben-Hur', or a 'Gladiator' more recently (with fights, battles, chariots, etc.). If it is seen in its' uniqueness then I think it will be more appreciated. And yes, the 4 hours and 8 minutes I also think is too much, but the denouement is ultimately compensating. Befitting to the woman, who's death marked the end of the two greatest ancient civilizations (the Greek and the Egyptian). 'Befitting to the last of so many noble rulers...'
Rating: 
Summary: She Barged Down the Nile . . . And Sank
Review: Ewww . . . usually I like the kind of spectacle "they don't make anymore" but in this case some of the world's most talented movie folk strove to make an outstanding aspic and wound up with Jello too runny to serve in a high school cafeteria. ... Basically the flick stays true to the Cleopatra story both from her point of view and the Romans' around the time of Julius Caesar, Marc Antony and the rising Octavian (soon to become Augustus Caesar). A few historical plot points were shifted in time, and a couple were invented to make the story flow better. What the movie conveys is actually fairly simple: love and war (Intermission); love and war. First miltary victor Rex Harrison as Julius Caesar visits Cleo (Elizabeth Taylor) at her home base of Alexandria, Egypt, where she is revealed to be nearly as imperialistic, just as smart, and perhaps more shrewd than Julius, and certainly more civilized than the blood-and-guts Romans. At one point Cleo gets to acting so catty that the Romans accidentally-on-purpose burn down the great library of Alexandria, destroying, among other things, all the great Greek dramas of which we today retain mostly fragments. Well, Julius falls for Cleo head over heels, even to the point of bringing her to Rome in a cast-of-thousands welcoming parade that makes the Tournament of Roses look like musical chairs. Back home in Rome, for his foreign flirtations in love and statecraft, Julius literally gets stabbed in the back. Et tu, Brute? The second half has Richard Burton, excellently cast as Marc Antony playing the military general who (gasp!) falls in love with Cleopatra. He is a genius of a tactician, but a walking inferiority complex when it comes to his love life. I don't mean in a virility way (this was, after all, 1963), but he feels he isn't worthy of Cleo, soul-wise. Not that that keeps them out of bed. Burton looks dashing running around in those pleated Roman metal skirts soldiers wore, and the folks at Fox really knew how to show Liz with maximum cleavage. By one-third through this interminable movie, I was saying, "What, that same square bodice again?" By then Egypt and Rome were enemies and Burton eventually had to fight Egyptian forces; he unwisely chose to do so on water instead of his accustomed venue, land. I won't give every detail, but you've probably figured out that, in time, Antony doesn't live to join the AARP. I don't think revealing the plot countour is telling tales out of school, because any junior-high history or Shakespeare's play "Julius Caesar" tackles the facts head-on. The denoument comes when forward-acting but selfish and sneaky Octavian (young Roddy McDowall) sets himself on the road to becoming Caesar Augustus, turning the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire, retaining the Senate but rendering it democratically impotent. "Cleopatra" is visually lavish, expensive, and frequently fun to watch. The actors are all top-notch, even minor roles filled by such as Cesare Danova, Hume Cronyn and Martin Landau (soon to become a regular on TV's "Mission Impossible"). The dialog is at times hyperliterate and witty, which may be the Mankiewicz touch (he wrote and directed the superb "All About Eve"). But we also get clunkers like "Italy will fall into your hands like . . . a drop of sweat!" (Please, use the standard cliches if you can't do better than that.) At four hours plus, this movie is w-a-a-y too long, whether in JFK's era or the Age of Dubya. The editing and pacing of of this film are such that a college student in Cinema 101 could take her Movieola editing machine and cut out half an hour of "Cleo" without the least compunction. A not-particularly-superb editor/director, even a warm-hearted one, could cut out an hour and make the movie all the more entertaining. My heavens, today "The Thin Red Line" is considered of epic length; it covered four stories in a little more than three hours, and nobody confused it with a Tom Cruise movie or accused it of "MTV editing." Don't misunderstand me: I truly like old movies that are good. ...In "Cleo," what Burton could do playing the inward, tortured soul; what Liz Taylor could (and still can) do to reveal emotions in a tiny but highly significant way in the closest close-up; and what Rex Harrison could do to alleviate the stinky dialog in this film are all admirable. But I would trade all of "Cleopatra" for the comedic consistency and bright pace of 1962's "Lover Come Back" with Doris Day and Rock Hudson. It is worth noting that Fox released Cleo as a "road show." That meant the film had a limited release, usually one movie house per town; tickets were sold in advance and cost almost twice as much as regular admission; queing up and seating were regimented and restricted. In other words, as much as possible was done to mimic the experience of attending legitimate theater, even to the point of including overture, intermission and postlude (leaving-the-theater) music on the soundtrack. I am proud to report that the special boxed VHS version includes this music, as well as a delightfully hucksterish account of three very formal dress previews of "Cleopatra" in New York, L.A. and Washington, and a sincere, educational account of how the big Alexandria set was built in Italy. It's nice to see such DVD-type anecdotal material on VHS. As for "Cleo," I'm sure everyone had the best of intentions, but the American public clearly didn't want to waste an evening on a pseudo-dress affair of a mediocre-at-best film, word of mouth stank, and costly Cleo darn near drove Fox into bankruptcy. I usually don't read the previous reviews before I write mine, lest I "review the reviews" or unwittingly drift toward the median, but you can bet the minute I file this one I'll go see why the average of all reviews before this one netted out above four stars.
Rating:
Summary: Taylor & Burton Epic
Review: Cleopatra is one of the most infamous movies in Hollywood history. Stars Richard Burton & Elizabeth Taylor first started their on again, off again relationship on the set, there were numerous production problems, Joseph L. Mankiewitz left as the director before the shooting was complete and dozens of other problems plagued the film. At the time it was the most expensive film ever made, but was a major dud at the box office. In fact the back story to Cleopatra in many ways is more interesting than the movie itself. This 3 disk special edition provides you with a healthy dose of the intriguing behind the scenes information included a documentary that appeared on AMC that is outstanding. The film itself is magnificent to look at, with impressive sets and incredible detail. The acting is pretty good too, with the elegant Rex Harrison standing out as Julius Caesar. The film is quite long, clocking in at over four hours, and does tend to drag in certain spots. The overall packaging of Cleopatra is tremendous and worth checking out.
Rating:
Summary: Historical Epic receives fittingly lavish DVD production
Review: In the documentary included with this film, entitled "Cleopatra: the Film that Changed Hollywood," the narrator states that after Elizabeth Taylor saw the London premiere of this movie, she went immediately to the restroom and vomited. Actually, it isn't that bad. In fact, it is a very good movie, although Taylor was a little out of her depth in the title role. The scandal of scandals is that it was -and still is- the most expensive movie ever made. The (...) spent to make this movie in the early 1960s translates into about (...) on in today's dollars. By comparison, "Titanic" came in at about (...), but the cost of Titanic was split between two major studios. Fox absorbed the entire cost of this runaway production; "Cleopatra" virtually shut down the company, almost putting it out of business. How the production got so out of hand is one of the subjects covered in the fascinating "film that changed Hollywood" documentary. Among the reasons: the producer, Walter Wanger, sold the studio on a much larger production than had originally been contemplated; principal photography was begun without a usable script in hand; Elizabeth Taylor's contract specified a foreign location, and (...) were wasted on an abortive shoot in England; two different directors were used; the second director, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, was writing a new screenplay at the time the movie was being shot, so instead of the scenes being filmed in some sort of economically efficient order, they were shot as they were written. Along the way, control of the studio changed hands from Spiros Skouras, who had come up through the ranks of exhibitors, to Darryl F. Zanuck, one of the original founders of the 20th Century Fox. Also along way, Mankiewicz decided he was actually shooting two movies, "Caesar and Cleopatra" and "Antony and Cleopatra," each of which was to be about three hours long. Zanuck viewed a screening that was over five hours long, didn't like the film, didn't like Mankiewicz' concept of releasing it in two parts, and insisted that it be released as one film. After much contentious wrangling between the two men, Mankiewicz produced a version that was about 4 hours 8 minutes. This was the movie that was premiered in the U.S. It was too long to be exhibited more than twice a day, however, and Zanuck ordered it to be shrunk to about 3 hours 14 minutes. (This was the version that was premiered in London and caused Liz Taylor to throw up). The film was not generally well received by critics when it was released in 1963. It was also snubbed by the Academy, which, probably out of revulsion at the waste and scandal surrounding Cleopatra, gave the best picture Oscar to "Tom Jones." A smaller film in every way, Tom Jones looks like a made-for-television movie compared to Cleopatra. Alex North, who produced the truly outstanding, evocative music for the Cleopatra was robbed of an Oscar that he should have received. Tom Jones had no memorable music whatsoever. In 1995, Fox executives explored the possibility of releasing a restored version of Cleopatra at a length of about 6 hours. With Mankiewicz having passed away in 1993, it would have been impossible for anyone else to find the excised footage and edited it in the way Mankiewicz originally envisioned it. What we do get on this disk, however, is the 4:08 version of the film, as originally premiered in the U.S. This is a very good DVD product, widescreen, on two discs, with bonus material, including the excellent documentary, "Cleopatra: The Film that Changed Hollywood." At the reasonable price for which Amazon is offering it, I can recommend this DVD without hesitation.
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