Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt experiences both triumph and tragedy as she attempts to resist the imperial ambitions of Rome.
The two things it is known for is being a bomb and having the biggest budget film at the time, starting with 2 million and spending 44 million at closing. It is also the film in which Richard Burton and Liz Taylor hooked up.
I got Cleopatra through the library as I was unable to finish a biography on her for book club so I thought I’d cheat. Unfortunately, that didn’t work either. I could only make it through the first disk only watching Caesar, played by Rex Harrison and Cleopatra’s love affair.
Julius Caesar was epileptic, and there was a scene of him having a seizure, which was pathetic. I am epileptic myself, and it was such a bad, inaccurate portrayal of a convulsion that I almost turned it off right then and there. The film was extremely sexual for its time, women scantily clad in provocative positions. There is one scene with Elizabeth Taylor in which one of Cleopatra’s servants has the job of pulling down her dress whenever Liz moved so as not to show her ass-crack.
Anything positive? The scenery and costumes were incredible and can see why they went over budget, but otherwise it was a complete bust.
Actually your review makes me want to watch this now! haha! So much kitsch!
I saw this as a kid, and I only remember all that make up and costumes. I think all the sexual content went right over my head. I watched both discs, but I didn’t really get much of Egyptian history. I think there’s been no good movie made of Cleopatra ever.