 Tagline: The motion picture the world has been waiting for! This epic masterpiece has never been more glorious. Meticulously restored with a stunningly vivid picture and breathtaking sound, the scope and scale of this legendary cinematic treasure, and Winner of 4 Academy Awards, is brought to life like never before. Elizabeth Taylor stars as Cleopatra, the cunning queen of Egypt who seduces the rulers of Rome, only to meet her match in Mark Antony (Richard Burton). Their passionate romance could decide the fate of the world's greatest empires. Storyline: In 48 B.C., Caesar pursues Pompey from Pharsalia to Egypt. Ptolemy, now supreme ruler after deposing his older sister, Cleopatra, attempts to gain favor with Caesar by presenting the conquerer with the head of Pompey, borne by his governors, Pothinos and Achillas. To win Caesar's support from her brother, Cleopatra hides herself in a rug, which Apollodorus, her servant, presents to Caesar. The Roman is immediately infatuated; banishing Ptolemy, he declares Cleopatra Egypt's sole ruler and takes her as his mistress. A son, Caesarion, is born of their union. Caesar, however, must return to Italy. Although he is briefly reunited with Cleopatra during a magnificent reception for the queen in Rome, Caesar is assassinated shortly thereafter, and Cleopatra returns to Egypt. When Mark Antony, Caesar's protégé, beholds Cleopatra aboard her elaborate barge at Tarsus some years later, he is smitten and becomes both her lover and military ally. Their liaison notwithstanding, Antony, to ... Written by alfiehitchie Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman on May 24, 2013 -- It was the end of an era. Once mighty rulers found themselves powerless in the wake of events beyond their control. New alliances formed, sending shock waves across the bow of the existing world order. Communities that once teemed with activity were left barren and empty, mere husks of their former selves. A once incredibly opulent society was brought to its knees, never again to be the same. Wait a minute: are we talking about the decline of Ancient Egypt or 20th Century Fox circa 1962-63? The fact is, the descriptions are equally apt for either situation. If Cleopatra ostensibly was about the last Pharoah of Ancient Egypt, the film also stood as a metaphor for the bloated excesses which would continue to create problems for many of the major Hollywood studios, ultimately leading to either their outright demise or at least their radical reorganization. Fox seemed to be the most prone to stumbling in the 1960s, though it certainly had competition from other once mighty studios. Cleopatra probably looked stellar on paper, with a trio of A-list stars and (ultimately) the participation of Joseph Mankiewicz, an intellectual filmmaker of protean capabilities who had nonetheless never attempted a film of this magnitude before. But the actual production was weighed down by so many calamities, including the near death of star Elizabeth Taylor, that the already large budget ballooned into previously unheard of territory, coming very close to bankrupting Fox in the process. There's a certain irony in watching Cleopatra, especially its closing scenes which offer vistas of a deserted royal lair and realizing that Fox would soon suffer much the same fate, selling huge tracts of its now desolate backlot to create Century City in suburban Los Angeles (no jokes please about how desolate Century City turned out to be). Cleopatra was as famous for its cost overruns and the supposed scandal of the hyperbolically publicized affair between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton which occurred during the film's prolonged shoot as it ever was for anything inherent to the film itself, but the intervening decades since the film's release have offered some perspective on a famously troubled production that actually resulted in a rather awe inspiring film. Cleopatra obviously had anything and everything that money could buy, and one of the glories of this film is that unlike many films which shower their productions with piles of loot but have little to show for it in their finished products, in this case that money bought a lot—an incredible cast, impeccable production design, one of the greatest scores in the history of films, and perhaps most importantly an unusually literate screenplay by a consortium of top flight writers, including Joseph L. Mankiewicz himself. As is discussed in one of the featurettes augmenting this release, our knowledge of the historical Cleopatra is colored by it having been written largely by "the victors", in this case the Roman historian Plutarch. How could a "mere" Egyptian have so easily outwitted not one but two of the greatest Roman Generals in the annals of history? Why, by being a wily, seductive female, of course. Cleopatra's screenplay relies quite a bit on Plutarch, as well as the perhaps less agenda driven The Life and Times of Cleopatra by Italian historian Carlo Maria Franzero. What emerges is a surprisingly accurate recounting of the major events that brought Julius Caesar (Rex Harrison, Academy Award nominated for this role), Marc Antony (Richard Burton) and Cleopatra together in one of the most infamous—if not the most infamous—love triangles of all time. The film is a true epic, opening on the aftermath of Caesar's rout of Pompey and quickly moving on to Alexandria where Caesar arrives to quell a simmering case of sibling rivalry between Cleopatra and her infantile brother Ptolemy (Richard O'Sullivan) which could erupt into a civil war. When Ptolemy overplays his hand, Caesar strikes back and installs Cleopatra as the sole ruler of her land. In the meantime, the two leaders have discovered they have more than mere politics uniting them, which leads to their romantic entanglement and the ultimate air of tragedy which hangs over the bulk of the final two thirds of this already quite long film. When Caesar's deportment toward Cleopatra raises suspicions in Rome, especially after Cleopatra bears him a son, the handwriting is on the wall, and of course Caesar is betrayed, Christ like, by his own Judas, Brutus. That opens the door for Mark Antony to rout the assassins but to then make the same fatal misstep that brought down Caesar himself—mainly, falling in love with Cleopatra. Despite its huge (actually gargantuan) scope, the film is resolutely centered on the interplay between Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra. Unlike many historical epics where the larger than life characters seem unapproachable, there's a refreshing naturalness to the portrayals in this outing which make Cleopatra rather improbably accessible, given its setting and opulence. Taylor is perhaps just a tad too much of a shrill harridan at times in the film, but the measured excellence of Harrison and the passionate excesses of Burton are often riveting. The film's huge supporting cast, which includes everyone from Martin Landau to Hume Cronyn to Roddy McDowall, is similarly excellent, bringing spice and color to roles that are by their very nature often shunted to the background. Cleopatra is easily one of the most amazing visual feasts in the entire history of film. The sets and costumes are unbelievable (the costumes and art direction, along with Leon Shamroy's sumptuous cinematography, and the special effects won well deserved Oscars that year), but perhaps the most amazing thing about Cleopatra is its unusually intelligent screenplay. Despite the film having been removed from Mankiewicz's control after he delivered a debilitating five-plus hour initial cut, there is a really visceral intensity to much of this film that makes it one of its era's most compelling epics. Cleopatra the historical figure will live in history forever, and chances are Cleopatra will as well. I have loved Cleopatra since I first saw it on television when I was a kid and then managed to find the original soundtrack LP for a mere 49 cents at a bargain basement store. The film was unfairly pilloried at the time of its release due to the cost overruns and the infamous Taylor- Burton affair, but time has been more than kind to this enterprise. Unusually intelligent and impeccably produced, Cleopatra is a one of a kind entertainment that is both epic and intimate. This Blu-ray features fantastic video and audio and has superior supplementary material. Highly recommended. Trivia:
Cast Notes: Elizabeth Taylor (Cleopatra), Richard Burton (Marc Antony), Rex Harrison (Julius Caesar), Pamela Brown [I] (High Priestess), George Cole [I] (Flavius), Hume Cronyn (Sosigenes), Cesare Danova (Apollodorus), Kenneth Haigh (Brutus), Andrew Keir (Agrippa), Martin Landau (Rufio), Roddy McDowall (Caesar Augustus [Octavian]), Robert Stephens [I] (Germanicus), Francesca Annis (Eiras), Grégoire Aslan (Pothinos), Martin Benson (Ramos). IMDb Rating (06/30/14): 7.0/10 from 17,457 users IMDb Rating (01/21/02): 6.5/10 from 1,078 users
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