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.

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.

MoneyMagnet This Halmi extravaganza actually has a very promising start with a terrific entrance by Timothy Dalton as Caesar, followed up by a memorable first meeting between him and lovely Leonor Varela as Cleo. Unfortunately it soon goes downhill from there and by the time Cleopatra has consolidated her hold on Egypt we're getting dialogue likeCaesar: "I'm sorry about your library." Cleo, (sighing like she's just scratched off a losing $1 lottery ticket): "Half of it is gone... half the world's knowledge."However if you enjoy cheesy movies with beautiful people declaiming and narrowing their eyes at each other, you could do a lot worse than Billy Zane and Timothy Dalton, who are very much "into it" and who both look breathtakingly manly draped in togas and other bedsheets. (Dalton in particular looks amazingly fit and sexy for a 53-year-old, and it's hard to imagine another actor working today who could be a more commanding Caesar.) Unfortunately Varela's acting is just terrible and, well, the script is just hopeless. It gets slightly better when the plot goes from Egypt to Rome, where everyone speaks in English accents. But none of the acting in this is exactly Oscar caliber, shall we say. Take it for what it is and dig for the guilty pleasures.

TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews I don't know much about Cleopatra... well, to tell you the truth, before watching this, I didn't know anything at all. The name ringed a bell, and that's about it. I bought this along with the 1997 TV version of The Odyssey partly because my father expressed interest in seeing them, and partly out of my own interest in the epics. While, according to my father, this film gets many details right, it still throws some stuff in that makes little to no sense and which is hardly historically accurate; some parts were obviously doctored to make for more drama or Hollywood-like scenes(at one point, Cleopatra picks up a sword to fight several Roman legionnaires with ease). The sets and costumes are gorgeous, no argument there. Most of the effects were see-through, but that's no wonder for a TV-movie with a TV-movie budget. The costume people are all in my cool book, though, if for nothing else, putting Leonor Varela in so many sheer, thin and/or tight dresses throughout the film. The plot is mostly accurate. The pacing is fair. Much of the film was clearly based on the real events, the real clothes worn and the real places. They must have done extensive research, and it definitely shows. Bit of a pity they throw away some credibility with aforementioned Hollywood scenes. The acting is fairly good; Zane, as usual, does not disappoint. Dalton proved to me that he had talent, something I never would have believed about him before. Varela is decent. The visual side of the film is fine, but nothing innovative or impressive is to be found here. Same goes for the depth of the film. I enjoyed the somewhat erotic, though at times nearly soap-opera-like relationships Cleopatra had, but I can see why some wouldn't. All in all, it tells the story(most of it) and looks 'real' enough. Nothing mighty impressive, but most of us have come to expect much, much less of the typical TV-movie. I recommend this to people who want a retelling of the story and want drama more than accuracy. 7/10