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Cleopatra

Play trailer 4:37 Poster for Cleopatra G 1963 4h 3m History Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
60% Tomatometer 57 Reviews 67% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
"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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Cleopatra

Cleopatra

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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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Critics Reviews

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Marjory Adams Boston Globe 11h
Every so often the dialogue takes a downward plunge, sounding more Hollywood than Roman or Egyptian. But then it spurts upward again, and "Cleopatra" switches from just being a good spectacle to mature, well thought-out, intelligent drama. Go to Full Review
Sam F. Lucchese Atlanta Journal-Constitution 12h
It is a triumphant recreation of a historic epoch, a stunning panorama of thrilling, dramatic episodes, pageantry, panoply and pomp. Go to Full Review
Mary Dumond Arizona Republic 13h
In all, the film is a magnificent spectacle. The scenes are beautiful, portraying the ancient world in modern shininess. Go to Full Review
R.H. Gardner Baltimore Sun 11h
"Cleopatra" is a circus; I suggest you pack a lunch and go see it. Go to Full Review
Jamie Portman Calgary Herald 11h
Cleopatra is a film spectacle par excellence. It has shortcomings, yes - but it has also succeeded in an intelligent and, for the most part entertaining screen translation of a famous passage in history. Go to Full Review
Ardis Smith Buffalo News 11h
Producer Walter Wanger and Director-Author Mankiewicz deserve condolences and compliments. They haven't made a very good film for $40,000,000. But they were supermen to make this one at all. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Max G @JohnPaul1086 Mar 16 Meh. Burton looked like he was inebriated most of the time; far too drawn out, of course; and endless dialog. Great sets. See more Eli H @EliHendricks Oct 22 Its a gorgeous looking film, but it is excruciatingly long at four hours. It has a natural endpoint in the middle and probably is an example of a movie that could have been two films. Richard Burton is very good as Marc Antony, everyone else give middling performances. This movie needed to be cut, but Mank couldn't bare to have audiences miss a speck of gold of his immaculate set. You can skip this one unless you've got serious patience. See more John R @RT91501528 Oct 22 This movie is a gorgeous mess. I recently saw it in lovely 70 mm. It really is two movies inartfully smushed together. The casting of the spectacular and talented Elizabeth Taylor as the Middle Eastern Cleopatra does not work very well, although she does well given the script and circumstances. Roddy McDowall's character has a good arc. Rex Harrison and Richard Burton are good but not great. The movie also has too little action for its subject matter. See more Walter H @elBytes 06/08/2025 I saw this in a theater on its initial release. My date was a no show (sob) but I watched it all, with an intermission that was popular at the time for long movies. The supporting cast make the movie work. Taylor was OK but too old to play a 21 year-old Cleopatra with any credibility, while Burton did not convince me that Antony might've ruled the Roman Empire but for the nagging problem of Octavian. Rex Harrison as Julius Caesar and Roddy McDowell as Octavian make the movie work, as well as other good supporting cast members. It goes on and on but truly is an epic. See more Alexsander F @Aelxs 05/17/2025 Now that's Absolut Cinema, a memorable epic that can be compared to Virgil's great Aeneid. It's four hours that pass in four minutes, but I'm a bit biased since I'm a great enthusiast of Roman history, period films and epics, and this film is a real treat for lovers of history and the great Shakespearean tragedies. See more thiago s @Thiagostone 05/12/2025 Filme bacaninha, o roteiro é mais ou menos, as cenas são bacaninhas, o elenco é mais ou menos, e alguns ajudam a melhorar o filme, a história é bacaninha, os personagens sao bacaninhas, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores. See more Read all reviews
Cleopatra

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Movie Info

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
Producer
Walter Wanger
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
Runtime
4h 3m
Sound Mix
Stereo
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)