Search - Cleopatra on DVD

MPAA Rating: G Content Advisory: Adult Situations, Questionable for Children Movie Release: 1963 DVD Release: 04/03/2001 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 3 Number of Discs: 3 Run Time: 4 hrs 8 mins Studio: 20th Century Fox Members Wishing: 5 Genres: Epic, Historical Film, Biopic [feature], Historical Epic, Romantic Epic See Also: Cleopatra

In 1963, this colossal and opulent $60 million spectacular was epic in every sense of the word -- an epic investment, an epic in the annals of Hollywood gossip, and, ultimately, an epic flop that nearly dragged 20th Century Fox down the Nile along with Cleopatra's barge. Handsomely mounted by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who replaced Rouben Mamoulian as director after six days of shooting), the drama follows the eighteen tumultuous years that led to the founding of the Roman Empire. Cleopatra (Elizabeth Taylor) meets up with Julius Caesar (Rex Harrison) and plans to lure Caesar to her boudoir in order to forge an alliance with Rome so that she may hold on to her Egyptian empire. When Caesar is stabbed to death in the Roman Senate, Cleopatra is left without an ally, and Egypt is up for grabs. When Roman general Mark Antony (Richard Burton) comes along, she seduces him in order to make him over into her new protector. But, under the charms of Cleopatra, Mark Antony is reduced from a an awesome and dominating general to a sniveling, drunken wimp. At the Battle of Actium, Mark Antony is defeated and Cleopatra withdraws her troops, dooming Mark Antony and his army. With Egypt in peril, Antony and Cleopatra, the doomed lovers, meet each other for the last time, as the enemy forces close in. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Elizabeth Taylor - Cleopatra
Richard Burton - Marc Antony
Rex Harrison - Julius Caesar
Pamela Brown - High Priestess
Roddy McDowall - Octavian
George Cole - Flavius
Martin Landau - Rufio

This is an impressive release, spanning three discs, two dedicated to the movie (with commentary track) and the third including the extras. The two movie discs are presented in a double-disc keep case, while the third, tempting fate, is inserted into a pocket in the booklet (which is made of heavy card stock). Of the most interest are the supplemental materials, which expand on the turbulent history of the production. The commentary track, featuring Martin Landau, Jack Brodsky, Chris Mankiewicz, and Tom Mankiewicz, delves from the beginning into the way that director Joseph L Mankiewicz's vision and intent for the film (which he had intended to be two films) was compromised by Darryl F. Zanuck and the precarious financial condition of 20th Century Fox. Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood, the documentary included on disc three, provides the note that the Fox back lot had already been sold to developers (for development into Century City) before development on Cleopatra had begun. Interesting stuff indeed. Martin Landau, incidentally, carries a good portion of the commentary track solo.
The film is transferred from a restored road show print, maintaining an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 (as opposed to the 2.20:1 aspect ratio sometimes used in prior releases). The transfer is anamorphic and looks excellent, with vivid and accurate colors throughout. There are no signs of compression artifacts, thanks in part to a generous bit budget provided by putting the movie on two RSDL discs. Blacks are solid and detailed, and shadows are excellent. Edge enhancement is almost completely absent, but there are some very minor instances of shimmering, usually involving Elizabeth Taylor's costumes or complex moire-work in scene design. The soundtrack has been redesigned and remixed for Dolby 5.1, sounding excellent, with Alex North's score spread nicely across the soundstage. Most of the dialogue is maintained in the center, though some is placed at varying degrees left or right of center, which works better in some scenes than others. Surround is used well, with some very well-done directional effects, both in the major set pieces (Cleopatra's arrival in Rome) and the more subtle moments (Cleopatra's ascension after Caesar ends the Egyptian civil war). The Dolby Surround 2.0 loses subtlety along with some of the separation -- the basic level is greater, but the actual dynamic range is reduced. The French 2.0 track sounds good as far as the music and effects mix goes, and the dubbing seems accurate enough, but the voice cast seems a bit off in places -- especially Cleopatra, who ends up sounding rather gruff. The movie discs have a total of 52 chapter stops, and include the overture and entre'acte music. The first pressing had a mastering error that left out the exit music; a revised second pressing was scheduled for a mid-2001 release. The discs have been mastered according to THX standards and include the THX Opti-Mode test and setup program.
The third disc has a number of extras, including the previously mentioned documentary, Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood, which was produced for the American Movie Classics cable channel. This is an impressive piece of work, narrated by Robert Culp, featuring clips from Rouben Mamoulian's aborted attempt at shooting the film at Pinewood, along with clips from the portions excised from the final movie. This is one of those documentaries that quietly proves that Hollywood is a town where the lunatics run the asylum. Unfortunately, the documentary has not been mastered with chapter stops, and Fox has disabled random access, so the only way to find a specific point is to fast-forward through the piece. Contrasting with the documentary is "The Fourth Star of Cleopatra," a Movietone News featurette that spends nine minutes on the Cinecitta-based sets without saying anything at all. The piece is in fairly good condition, showing some grain and some color balance problems. Two black-and-white Movietone News pieces put the East and West Coast premieres on display for the curious and starstruck. Three trailer variants are provided, along with the advance trailer (promoting advance ticket purchases) in English, French, and Portuguese. All but the French advance trailer are presented in anamorphic transfers at various aspect ratios. The extras disc is rounded out with an art and stills gallery section, featuring costume designs, stills, posters, assorted sales artwork, lobby cards, and excerpts from the commemorative program. This section is very easy to navigate.
This is an excellent package overall -- a way to find out more than one may ever have wanted to know about Cleopatra. ~ Steven E. McDonald, All Movie Guide