Cleopatra

G

Now Playing

4 hr. 3 min.

History

Drama

TRAILER

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List

56%

43 Reviews

Tomatometer

67%

10,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

"Cleopatra" is a lengthy, sprawling, spectacular love story, helmed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, depicting Cleopatra's manipulation of Julius Caesar and Marc Antony in her ill-fated attempt to save the Egyptian empire. This threesome in one of the most famous and gloriously powerful love triangles ever to be captured on film.

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Critics Consensus

Cleopatra is a lush, ostentatious, endlessly eye-popping epic that sags collapses from a (and how could it not?) four-hour runtime.

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Lanfranco C

It is really the last Hollywood kolossal, but it is too long and sometimes boring.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/10/24

Full Review

Matthew R

Both amazing and also campy. Loved it. The second half of the movie is the better half.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/18/23

Full Review

Red T

This movies problems and highlights can be summed up from one scene. The one where Cleopatra enters Rome. The scope, production value and special effects are amazing with good music to back it up as well. You feel the epicness. However as it keeps going 6-7 minutes strong you feel the problems start to seep in. This film loves to be self indulgent and bloated at times. Most of the acting say 70% of it is emotionless boring plot expose which is a HUGE amount for a 4 hour movie. Scenes go on way way way way too long. The pacing is the worst part of this film. It is bad. This shouldn't be 4 hours. Scenes that could be 90 seconds end up being 10 minute juggernauts weighed down by rambling plot expose and while the sets are lavish they aren't enough to offset the lack of epicness needed to justify holding on scenes for such a long time. A lot of this movie actually isn't that epic but more lavish. Overall it's disappointing to say the cinematography is just ok honestly. The other issue is the editing which is okay enough but needed more refinement. This feels like a Love Triangle/Love Tragedy mixed with a Historical Drama. Not a Biopic. Half this film Cleopatra isn't even the main focus. We never see her develop from a child to a young ruler which makes it hard to feel anything for her. Julius Cesar honestly has more focus in the first half surprisingly than anyone else and all his scenes are just boring plot expose constantly. Also, we learn more about the culture of Rome than we do the culture of Egypt which was a huge disappointment. I'm sure that was because many epics around this time focused on Rome but still. This needed to focus more on the life of Cleopatra and show her rise rather than part of a love triangle. It really feels like this is a film where Cleopatra is the Liaison for historical events. Not the main focus. This is why the 2nd half is better aside from the cool ship fight. It focuses more on Cleopatra and her ambitions. Not Romes. Also this needed much more narration montages to cut the run time down as well. I can't really recommend to anyone except die hard Taylor/Burton fans. There's enough here where I can't call this a bad film but it definitely isn't good and it's one of the most disappointing ones for sure.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

08/07/23

Full Review

Wandering A

A classic film full of grandeur, amazing sets and spectacle with so many extras that really gives it a sense of scale.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

06/21/23

Full Review

Emma B

Its historically not accurate but very entertaining to watch if you want romance or drama,in a historical enviornment

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

06/20/23

Full Review

Bram

This version of Cleopatra is still the best.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

05/25/23

Full Review

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Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Director

Elizabeth Taylor

Cleopatra

Richard Burton

Marc Antony

Rex Harrison

Julius Caesar

Pamela Brown

High Priestess

George Cole

Flavius

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Cleopatra: Trailer 1

4:37

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Kate Muir

Times (UK)

Cleopatra is a piece of overcooked lunacy.

Jan 2, 2024

Full Review

Penelope Houston

Sight & Sound

As the sets seem to grow bigger and bigger, so progressively the players dwindle.

Feb 11, 2020

Full Review

Richard Brody

New Yorker

Taylor inhabits the role with a focussed but uninhibited imperiousness, as when she turns Cleopatra's entrance into Rome, aboard a giant rolling sphinx, into the ultimate red-carpet photo op.

Oct 6, 2014

Full Review

Penelope Gilliatt

Observer (UK)

The events have no pressure behind them: instead of erupting out of the upheavals of three powerfully exciting and self-willed personalities, they seem to be happening because the extras and the sets are there.

Mar 6, 2024

Full Review

Dilys Powell

Sunday Times (UK)

The difficulty for the performer of getting out from under the scenery, the sets, the costumes and the colour and making an impression not as a member of the cast but as an actor (or actress) is severe.

Aug 8, 2022

Full Review

Judith Crist

New York Herald Tribune

I must report that this film is at best a major disappointment, at worst an extravagant exercise in tedium.

Aug 8, 2022

Full Review

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Synopsis

"Cleopatra" is a lengthy, sprawling, spectacular love story, helmed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, depicting Cleopatra's manipulation of Julius Caesar and Marc Antony in her ill-fated attempt to save the Egyptian empire. This threesome in one of the most famous and gloriously powerful love triangles ever to be captured on film.

Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Screenwriter: Sidney Buchman, Carlo Mario Franzero, Ranald MacDougall, Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Twentieth Century Fox
Rating: G
Genre: History, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 12, 1963, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 18, 2012
Sound Mix: Stereo
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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