Cleopatra

Rating:
Summary: Closer to the facts than any other
Review: I loved this movie. It was far closer to the truth than any other Cleopatra movie, with just enough of the legend thrown in to make it glamourous. Only one I have seen that makes reference to to the religious signifigance to their people of Antony as Dionysis, among other things. As T.V. movies go, it was awesome.

Rating:
Summary: The BEST Movie In The World!!! This Version is The BOMB!!
Review: This 1999 remake of the stinking '63 version starring Richard Burton is the ONLY TRUE biography of Cleopatra ( Leonor Varela) and her love affairs with Julius Caesar ( Timothy Dalton) and the loyal and brave but suicidal Roman General Marc Antony ( Billy Zane) features electrifying performances by Leonor Varela, Billy Zane and Timothy Dalton. Zane did an excellent job and Leonor Varela was even better. I'd like to thank all the cast and crew that were involved in the making of this film-guys you were WONDERFULL!! Ms.Varela and Mr.Zane, I ask you to PLEASE make more movies together. The love scenes in the movie were the BEST. Cleopatra has it all: intense romantic intrigue, powerfull drama, beautifully choreographed action-adventure and terrific seat gripping suspense. Timothy Dalton was excellent as Julius Caesar. Hey guys: DO NOT rent or by the '63 version. It stinks as hell. You'll be wasting your money. Rent or buy THIS version; it IS THE BEST version of Cleopatra's life. Leonor Varela IS the ONLY Cleopatra, trust me. I give this version a whopping 1000,0000000,00000000,0000000000000 stars. NOT RATED.

Rating:
Summary: Even with a Titanic star, doesn't work!
Review: I can't believe this film was made using such a high budget! I bought this thinking it would be on par or better than the mediocre made-for-tv flicks "The Odyssey" and "Merlin". "Cleopatra" isn't as good as either one. With how much money was spent, I thought the sets looked rather fake and unbelievable, including a few scenes where the characters are superimposed into a computer animated background reducing me to laughter and wanting my (money) I spent on this big-budget, bad acted flick. Save the (money) I spent and buy a book on her instead! I thought it would be fun and have great visuals, but it displayed neither and left me bored...a must-NOT see!

Rating:
Summary: Glamorized look at Cleopatra VII
Review: As a lover of ancient history, I was excited to watch yet ANOTHER film on the life of Cleopatra. This film is extremely glamourous, and seems as if it follows the script of an ancient soap opera rather than the life of the last queen of ancient Egypt. The filmmakers obviously didn't create this to be a factual account of Cleo's life. The acting by Billy Zane (Antony) and Timothy Dalton (Caesar) was very good, and Lenor Varella (Cleopatra) provides a good show, if you like passion and overdone drama. If you want to see a fictionalized and modern televison view of Cleopatra's life, than this is your movie, but the Cleopatra movie starring Elizabeth Taylor is far superior.

Rating:
Summary: An exceptional effort!
Review: This is an excellent, high budget made-for-TV project which ranks up there with "Odysseus," "Merlin," "Joan Of Arc" and "Jason And The Argonauts" in quality. In my mind, it is the most well-done film of them all.

The movie concentrates on Cleopatra's rise to power as well as her liasons with Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony. Timothy Dalton, in particular, gives a standout performance as the proud Julius. The sets are lavish and the film is very panoramic. Although not too much of the outside of ancient Rome is seen, the set designers did a superb (not to mention expensive) job of re-creating ancient Alexandria.

As with most films which try to cover as much ground as "Cleopatra," there is some fudging of history. For example, Octavion (later to be known as Caesar Augustus) was NOT in Rome prior to the assasination of his uncle. It was not until after the assasination that he stepped inside the walls of Rome (he was named by Julius as his chief heir). The most egregious fudging is a scene in which Octavion is let in on the conspiracy of Brutus & Cassius to assasinate Julius. I do not think this was necessary and most assuredly is not something Octavion would have allowed to happen, had he been aware of the plot. Also, in the struggle for power after the death of Julius, there was (for a short time) a triumverate: Octavion, Mark Anthony (Antonius) and Lepidus. Lepidus is not mentioned and the film leads one to believe the struggle was only between Octavion and Mark Anthony.

It may sound as though I'm being nit-picky and intentionally trying to find fault with this movie. I am not. In fact, I can see why they chose to gloss over most of the historical details I mentioned. First of all, if they had chosen to go for veracity as far as Octavion is concerned, they would have had to have gone one of two ways. Either they would have had to add another half hour or so to introduce his character, studying in Appollonia, or they would have had to have seemingly made his character appear "out of the blue" after Caesar's murder. I believe the way they did it was better, for the sake of pragmatism. After all, this movie is supposed to be about Cleopatra, not Octavion. Also, Lepidus was a very minor character & quickly dropped out of the triumverate. He was irrelevant to the "scheme of things" insofar as Octavion & Anthony were concerned. The only issue I take umbrage with is the scene where Octavion is told of the plot to slay Caesar, and does nothing about it. That not only did not happen, it could not have happened, given the closeness he shared with his uncle.

The movie does a wonderful job of making allusions to many historical nuances, such as the Lighthouse of Alexandria (one of the 7 Wonders of the World), the library of Alexandria and the Julian Calendar. The film contains a very ambitious staging of the Battle of Actium as well. There is also a wonderful scene in which Mark Anthony holds up the bloodied robes in of Julius at the Caesar's funeral. That is a historical fact & is what drove the masses into a rage (and also drove Brutus and Cassius out of Rome).

This is a very tasteful and well done movie. I would highly recommend it to all fans and historians of antiquity. This one is a can't miss. Also, for those who enjoy this project, I would advocate the BBC production of "I, Claudius" starring Derek Jacoby. It picks up about 20 years later and is a wonderful series to be seen in tandem with the present movie.

Rating:
Summary: Gimme a break
Review: I made it through about half of this movie before I ejected it and went to the video store to rent the Elizabeth Taylor version. If you like history, you'll find this movie a big disappointment. Cleopatra was not the bimbo this movie makes her out to be.

Rating:
Summary: the most amazing interpretation of the story of Cleopatra...
Review: I don't think I've ever read or seen a better version of the life of the most erotic queen of egypt. this movie not only told me the story of cleopatra, but sucked me into the past and as i watched it, i felt like i was the great queen herself. Leonor Varela portrayes Cleopatra like no other woman (except MAYBE Liz Taylor) can, and Tim Dalton displays top notch acting ability. combined with Billy Zane, this movie is sure to fulfill your crave for the most infamous queen of the nile ever.

Rating:
Summary: What a shame
Review: This happens to be one of my favorite times in history, and I have read alot about it. Now, I wasn't going into this movie expecting historical correctness, but neither was I expecting a whiney, bratty Cleopatra either. Timothy Dalton does a passable to good job on his portrayal of Julius Caesar. As does Billy Zane with Marc Antony (historical correctness aside). But I have to draw the line at the absolutely horrid job that was done by Leonor Varela as Cleopatra. I'm not sure if it was the acting, her direction, or the script, but her part in this movie really ruined it for me. Cleopatra was an intelligent, and politically adept woman. Her leadership of Egypt kept them from becoming just another Roman province in a time when the Republic was gobbling up land and peoples as fast as it could march their legions. Quite an amazing feat for a woman in ancient times. Not only did she capture the attention and favor of one powerful Roman general (Caesar), but two (Antony). Was this love? Or was it the maneuvering of a wise leader? Maybe it was both. I read the novel this movie was based on. It was excellent. This movie...was not.

Rating:
Summary: VERY GOOD!
Review: This movie is one of the best movies i have seen on the Roman Empire and it's history. Usually i'm interested in these kinds of movies but this is one of the best out there! If your interested in the Roman Empire or anything releted to it watch this movie!

Rating:
Summary: worst
Review: How these movies were made amazes me. How they were put in a collection that they think people would buy amazes me even more. This is absolutely the worst collection of DVDs ever. Each movie is a new kind of horrible. Each one is worse than the next. Don't waste your time.