Event Films Collection: Noah's Ark, Merlin, Alice in Wonderland, Cleopatra

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The chemistry between Leonor Varela, who stars as the bewitching queen Cleopatra, and Billy Zane, as the steadfast Marc Antony, is undeniable. Their love scene is one of the steamiest to hit network television. However, once you move beyond this couple's sexual energy, the movie tends to droop, leaning toward the lackluster.

The tale of Cleopatra has hit the screen in many guises, but none have succeeded as well as Cecil B. DeMille's 1934 film. Here, director Franc Roddam tries once again to tell the story of the exotic queen who won the hearts of both Julius Caesar (Timothy Dalton) and Antony, while reigning over a troubled country. But how do you tell such an epic in a mere 140 minutes? Obviously, much is left out, making this film more worthwhile as a pleasant diversion than a real history lesson. The sets are quite remarkable for a TV movie, but unfortunately, the acting and dialogue leave something to be desired. Cleopatra comes across as a bratty child rather than an intelligent and manipulative seductress. Surely this tremendous queen had more going on in her life than her romances with Romans, but you wouldn't know it from this movie. Zane is the best part of the film, although his constant do-good boyishness can grate. Dalton is adequate as Caesar, although he seems to have a hard time taking the role seriously. Yet, for all its flaws, the action moves swiftly and while the battle scenes may leave you cringing with embarrassment for the director, the rest of this carefully staged piece is beautiful to look at. If you really want to know about the Queen of the Nile, though, you may be better off with A&E's Biography: Cleopatra or the Intimate Portrait: Cleopatra. --Jenny Brown

Customer Reviews:

very good could have been great.......2007-09-06

this was a very good movie and enjoy it and will watch it many times because i love all things ancient egyptian.it was entertaining and though some historical misteps i wont get into not the forum for that, alot was right in this,it was made for tv and was not shot on location and the compuetr generated graphics are sub par.i still hope they will make a modern big budget movie for this story soon.but over all this is worth the 10 bucks.

Performance.......2007-08-04

Cleoptra with Billy Zane is one of the best performances i've seen in a long time. If a movie holds my attention, it's good. Timothy Dalton was magnificent in his role. His role as Ceaser was powerful,yet it showed that his heart could be won over by Love. Leonor Varela was awesome as Cleopatra. Her acting was awesome. To me, the best of the movie was at the end. The way she cheated her enemy from death by taking her own life was great. This is one of the best versions of Cleopatra since Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.

For Insomniacs, A Rainy Day Off From Work or Timothy Dalton Fans.......2007-07-02

The 2 stars are for Timothy Dalton. Honestly, he was the only reason I was able to watch this film. Pure eye candy. As a chick flick, the film failed even in terms of wardrobe. What was with the ugly serpent headpiece Cleo wore through the film? The actress playing Cleopatra portrayed her not as a queen of a nation, but a rich girl with nothing to do but make trouble for family members and sleep around with important men. The worst scene is when Cleo actually asks Ceasar "Do you love me?" I expected her to start doing his laundry or making meals for him in the next scene. The other members of the royal family were equally laughable, especially the rotund general/advisor of brother Ptolomey. Please do not spend any money on this film. The writers are truly the culprits of this film. Wait until a baseball game gets rained out and the film gets scheduled as a filler. Unless, of course, you simply can not get enough of Timothy Dalton.

Historically inaccurate and exaggerated.......2007-07-02

I find it funny how this movie tries to make cleo patra into a superwomen type leader. Are we supposed to believe that Cleopatra with her small female frame who never lifted a finger to do anything consisting of labor can out dual and kill trained roman soldiers as what was shown in this movie.. Aside from that the other rediculous portrayal was not correctly pointing out that she had 2-3 kids with Marc Antony. Neither did they accurately portray that Octavian did kill Ceasarian but, instead we are lead to believe that he was given safe passage to india to one day return as a ruler of egypt and reinstate Cleo's legacy.
The main inaccuracy of this movie was to imply cleopatra had egyptian ancestory. The truth is that she was of Greek Ancestory. Her family which included her fathers Ptolemy's lineage were part Alexander the Great's conquest of Egypt. Hence the name of the city of Alexandria where Cleo resided.
In spite of this, the movie is entertaining. The wardrobe of the romans and egyptians looks real and the scale of the buildings look authentic.. The ships and some of the background scenaries such asn the sphinx however look fake which taints the visual quality of this film.
I'm a sucker for historical epic's so I will give it 3 stars. It wasnt terrible but, I expected a lot more from elizabeth taylor's cleo patra remake.

Based on a novel "The Memoirs of Cleopatra" by Margaret George.......2007-01-16

History for the longest time was based upon stories that were told and retold. History for the longest time was not necessarily facts, but stories told more for entertainment and or to convey lessons and how to live. The story of Cleopatra has been told many times in different ways for different purposes. This particular movie was based on a novel "The Memoirs of Cleopatra: A Novel" ISBN: 0312187459. It is just as true in its way as Shakespeare's Cleopatra is in its way.

One the major advantage of this movie, is that the actors to not overwhelm the characters with their personality. You could not create better actors than the ones that were selected for these parts. Timothy Dalton made a great Caesar and instead of speaking like an orator, he made it seem like a real person actually negotiating an understanding the situation. And who would not fall in love with Leonor Varela as Cleopatra?

Depending on whether you are an action person a romantic scene person, the film sometimes seen as like it is dragging and at other times moves at a good pace. Either way this movie is worth viewing.

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