Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Skyler Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

NothingButDVD The first 5 minutes of this movie are incredible. Technically, it's top notch, the sets and costumes are luxuriant, and this is a Must Have for Dalton fans; Caesar never looked (or sounded) so good, striding into Alexandria with so much ego and charisma. Unfortunately, we all know what happens to Caesar, and it happens about halfway through this thing. Then we're left with Cleopatra, the most insufferable lead ever, due in part to terrible acting and the other part to terrible characterization. She does little but whine and pout like a petulant teenager, and is useless for addressing any of a Queen's duties. She can't help this movie any more than her similarly poorly-cast sister Arsinoe, or Billy Zane's unsympathetic Marc Antony. Everyone seems to realize that Caesar is too hard an act to follow, but they do try. The results are mediocre to good in places.However, it's totally worth the watch and the buy for the first hour, which is beautiful, sexy, and violent with an engaging story. And personally I never tire of watching Tim Dalton do what he does best: Upstage everyone and make out with untalented co-stars.

chrisaltman-1 I give it a 7 ONLY for the first part where Timothy Dalton performs as Julius Caesar. He was FABULOUS!!! Great performance as usual from this man. Having been a longtime fan of Mr. Dalton's, I can't believe I'm just now seeing it. I actually bought the DVD so I can watch his performance over and over. Even though Leonor Varela was okay, she DID have HOT chemistry with Dalton, more so than she had with Billy Zane. But then what woman doesn't have on screen chemistry with Dalton (well, maybe Mae West!). I read that Varela and Zane were engaged but never married. I can see why when watching them on screen......LOL!!!! BORING!!! Oh and Caesar's death scene is AMAZING, even though I winced throughout. Anyone who is a Timothy Dalton fan should rent (or buy) and watch the first 90 minutes. You won't be sorry.

FloatingOpera7 Cleopatra (1999): Leonor Varela, Timothy Dalton, Billy Zane, Rupert Graves, John Bowe, Nadim Sawalha, Art Malik, Owen Teale, Phillip Quast, Daragh O'Malley, Sean Pertwee, Bruce Payne, Kassandra Voyagis, Indra Ove, Josephine Amankwah, Elisabeth Dermot Walsh, James Saxon, Amina Annabi, Alexandar Francis Lynch...Director Franc Roddam Teleplay..Stephen Harrigan, Anton Diether.Based on the best-selling novel "Memoirs of Cleopatra" by Margaret George, this was a televised miniseries on ABC, released in May of 1999. It starred Leonor Varela as Cleopatra, Timothy Dalton as Julius Caesar and Billy Zane as Marc Antony. At the time it aired on TV, many epic made-for-TV films and series was all the rage. NBC had "The Odyssey" with Armand Asante and "Merlin" with Sam Neil. In following with the Cleopatra history/legend, this is a drama dealing with Cleopatra and her relationship with two powerful men in her attempt to empower Egypt as a force equal to that of the growing Roman Empire. While the 1963 Cleopatra with Elizabeth Taylor is far better known and more romanticized, this movie portrays Cleopatra as ambitious and power-hungry, sensual but tough and physically strong. Being the late 90's, she does not come off as a bitchy user of men as much as she does a liberated woman not afraid of confrontation and who uses not only her beauty but her brains. There's a scene late in the film in which Cleopatra, aboard one of Antony's ship in that final decisive sea battle, fights her way out of it. That's something that Elizabeth Taylor's more vulnerable Cleo would not have done on film. Leonor Varela is the first black actress to appear in the role of otherwise "white" Cleopatras and they cast her because she has a tan, Arabic/Mediterrenean look that historians believe is closer to the real Cleopatra. She is a wonderful actress and does the role justice. Timothy Dalton as Caesar is miscast in my opinion, yet another British actor in a role full of pomp. But Billy Zane as Antony is terrific. Shot in North Africa, the look of the film is gorgeous and epic. The screenplay is well-written and certainly a lot better than the 1963 film, but this owes to the fact that the script was drawn from a very well-written novel. This Cleopatra is for modern audiences with modern sensibility and with a feminist slant. Also, Varela's performance as Cleopatra is far more human and moving than Elizabeth Taylor's more wooden one. Varela's human touches of nuance and warmth makes her Cleopatra less cold and calculating than previous Cleopatras. In another scene, she feeds her starving people with wheat that had been stored for Roman occupants. Her Cleopatra is one we can feel sorry for and sympathize with, especially when her dreams of a unified Egypt and Rome alliance are thwarted and one by one her dreams are shattered. Her much talked about suicide is not an act of weakness or despair and in this film, it's made out to be a means of escape for her and a way for her to triumph over Octavian her enemy. Rather than being his new conquest and victimized as another Roman captive, she bravely takes her own life. A great movie with high production values, great sets and costumes and music by Trevor Jones who had done music for NBC's "Merlin" and at one time "Excalibur". So if you liked the novel and you are a fan of historical fiction in film, this one is definitely for you. Watch as the drama, passion and sensationalism unfolds as the triumphs and tragedies of Cleopatra Queen of the Nile comes to life.

kurt_messick This production of Cleopatra, intended originally as a miniseries on television, is a reasonably good production with significant differences from the block-buster Hollywood version starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and Rex Harrison. Cleopatra here is depicted as someone striving to maintain her own position, not necessarily someone with an eye toward world-wide conquest. Cleopatra is portrayed as an inexperienced person (both sexually and politically) until tutored by the more experienced Romans. She comes to understand her fate is inextricably intertwined with Caesar, then Antony, but her love for Antony keeps her from making the politically expedient move of giving in to Octavian. Apparently two Roman rulers are enough for one lifetime.Like the earlier film production, this one plays fast and loose with the actual history, albeit in different ways. The figure of Octavian/Augustus is far more present earlier here than he was in history; for a production that goes on the greater part of three hours, remarkably little detail about the history is brought forward, and I found that distracting. The last hour could have easily been recut into a half-hour, and some judicious editing throughout the rest of the film could make it into a much better paced two-hour film.The acting was tolerable but generally unconvincing. Timothy Dalton as Julius Caesar, Billy Zane (who got top billing) as Marc Antony, and Rupert Graves as Octavian were not up to their usual acting standards in this production. Dalton was not very expressive, and Zane and Graves were overly so (Graves plays an almost flippant character, not at all in keeping with the historical Augustus). Ironically, the title character Cleopatra was played by relative newcomer Leonor Varela, who was probably the best actor in the piece.The sets are great, as are the costumes (if not always appropriate – Cleopatra rarely wore Egyptian garb, preferring her more native Greek), and the music is worthwhile. The battle scenes are pretty typical television fare (with occasional glitches that make these seem more minor skirmishes than great battles). Unfortunately, the sea-going scenes of ships looked far too obviously fake to suspend disbelief.This is a pleasant diversion, but in the end not a truly memorable production save for bits and pieces here and there. But it is a good thing that such productions are still being undertaken.