Cleopatra | Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton

Cleopatra | Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton | Half boring, half interesting...

DVDs:

Cleopatra

	Cleopatra Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation, 2006 average customer review:based on 160 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Two movies in one

With more than $25m in advance bookings in the kitty before it even opened, 20th Century Fox's notoriously out-of-control nightmarish production of Cleopatra is far from the biggest flop of all time but is certainly the most notorious. Indeed, it only has one major problem. Unfortunately, it's Elizabeth Taylor. When she's off the screen and Joseph L. Mankiewicz concentrates on Harrison's Caesar (the screen performance of his lifetime) and the events surrounding the death of the Republic, it becomes a different class of film altogether: intriguing, witty and absolutely riveting. And then the Queen of Hollywood comes on speaking Americanese ("I've done nothing but rub you up the wrong way.") and ruins it all.

Burton's Marc Antony is also a major problem. We have to take his greatness entirely on trust - we see him win no battles, nor does Mankiewicz attempt his own take on his famous oration at Julius Caesar's funeral. What we do see is Burton at his hammiest, flagon of wine constantly in hand, giving us a petulant drunken schoolboy much given to breathy intonations and snorts of outrage. His love scenes with Taylor, the odd well-written exchange aside, strike no sparks but all too-often come across as a camp rehearsal for Virginia Woolf. Still, he does at least get better as he goes along. The same cannot be said for Hume Cronyn, who is simply inept beyond belief here.

Unfortunately, when Harrison dies, so does the film, or very nearly, only showing signs of recovery in the last half hour as Roddy McDowall's superbly realised Octavian takes centre stage. There's still much to admire - the sombre opening, some beautiful writing, North's score, the lavish production design and some fine supporting performances from the likes of Martin Landau and George Cole (yes, George Cole) - but it is definitely a case of taking the rough with the smooth.

This is the uncut four-hour roadshow version, and the restored sequences, among the best in the film, really do make a difference. However, be sure to get the three-disc edition for the excellent two-hour documentary on the making of the film not included on the two-disc set.

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Half boring, half interesting...

The first half of this movie is so boring it almost put me to sleep. It was a struggle to stay awake. The acting was good and the costumes and colors were brilliant, the quality of the DVD excellent. But there wasn't much happening and I couldn't understand the politics of it. When Caesar is killed and Cleopatra takes Antony as her lover, it becomes a bit better. But that doesn't happen for a little over 2 hrs. You'll have to be patient and just appreciate the beautiful Ms. Taylor and the gorgeous picture if you want to get through it.

Shortened Version?

Agreed the movie is absolutely spectacular but disappointed that some scenes shown in the Laser Dsc version have been taken out: Caesar epileptic attact watched by Celopatra through a peekhole; Cleopatra on her sea journey to Rome passing by the coast watched by villagers; etc.

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