Movie · 1963 · Drama, History, Romance · 4h 11m · G · English
Curator score: 4.5/10 (74.8K ratings)
The motion picture the world has been waiting for!
Overview
Determined to hold on to the throne, Cleopatra seduces the Roman emperor Julius Caesar. When Caesar is murdered, she redirects her attentions to his general, Marc Antony, who vows to take power—but Caesar’s successor has other plans.
Ratings
Curator score: 4.5/10
IMDb: 7.0/10
Letterboxd: 3.55/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 56%
Metacritic: 60
TMDB: 7.1/10
Director
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Production
MCL Films S.A., Walwa Films S.A., 20th Century Fox
Cast
Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Pamela Brown, George Cole, Hume Cronyn, Cesare Danova, Kenneth Haigh, Andrew Keir, Martin Landau, Roddy McDowall, Robert Stephens, Francesca Annis, Grégoire Aslan, Martin Benson, John Doucette, Michael Hordern, John Hoyt, Carroll O'Connor, Andrew Faulds
Curator Review
Verdict
A lavish, overstuffed historical epic with major spectacle, star power, and a surprisingly sharp sense of political maneuvering, but also a punishing runtime and a famously unwieldy structure. It’s worth it if you want grand studio-era excess and are happy to admire the production as much as the drama.
Best for
fans of classic Hollywood epics
viewers who enjoy costume drama and political intrigue
people interested in legendary film productions
Elizabeth Taylor or Richard Burton admirers
patients willing to sit through a long, ornate period piece
Skip if
you want a tight, modern-paced historical drama
you dislike long runtimes or sprawling epics
you prefer intimate character studies over spectacle
you’re mainly looking for action-heavy ancient history
Overview
Cleopatra is a monument to Hollywood ambition: enormous, expensive, and impossible to ignore. The film’s reputation is inseparable from its production chaos, but on screen that excess becomes part of the experience. It has the scale of empire, the vanity of empire, and the occasional pleasure of watching all that grandeur collide with human weakness.
Worth noting
What still works best is the pageantry. The sets, costumes, and star images are the reason to watch, and the movie knows how to frame desire as political power. Elizabeth Taylor gives the film its center of gravity, while the Roman scenes have a stately, theatrical bite that keeps the story from becoming pure museum display.
Bottom line
At the same time, it is very much a four-hour studio epic, with all the drag that implies. The pacing is heavy, the structure is uneven, and some stretches feel more impressive than involving. But if you come for old-school spectacle, historical melodrama, and the strange thrill of a film that seems to be collapsing under the weight of its own grandeur, it remains a fascinating watch.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Ellie ✨ (3.5★) · 936 likes
i can't argue with risking it all for 60s elizabeth taylor and her low-cut dresses
Chris 🍉 (4★) · 655 likes
4 hours and 11 minutes and all i can think to write about are richard burton's thighs. thank you for reading
Mary Conti (3★) · 483 likes
**Part of the Best Picture Project**
50 years later, Joseph L. Mankiewicz's Cleopatra is typically only remembered for its historical infamy, remembered not for the film itself, but rather the production itself and the impact its release had. It had one of the most expensive budgets of any film ever at 44 million (320 million when adjusted for inflation). The production itself was so bloated that by the end of its theatrical run, although it was the highest grossing film… more
tobias (: · 419 likes
what were people doing in the 60s that they had the patience to sit through a 4 hour period drama? like I get that Elizabeth Taylor is hot but at what cost
heavenlybody (3★) · 395 likes
“Words are wasted on such a man”“I’ve wasted so many words on so many men.”
yes i watched 4 hours of elizabeth taylor looking stunning in at least 50 different outfits and i have no regrets