But I can't believe the overall rating of 7,0. Although beautifully filmed and with a great soundtrack, I found it very boring, dull, and dreadful. It was like seeing ''Doctor Zhivago'' after 10 hours of stock fottage of the Russian revolution was added. The opening credits lasted 10 minutes while they could have lasted only 5 minutes. Yet many films are very long but still entertaining and engaging to watch (like ''The Longest Day'', ''The Greatest Story Ever Told'', ''The Young Lions''), but this should have lasted at least two hours. I felt asleep the first time I watched it, and the second time I left it after 2 hours! And when I leave a movie even after the second viewing it's a bad sign. Many scenes (like the parade scene) seemed to last an eternity, and the acting was very wooden.Now don't assume I don't like old American movies. I liked and loved many of them, just not this one.

Cleopatra is a historical biography about Queen Cleopatra and her relations with the Roman Empire. The movie centres around her attempts to resist Rome's imperial ambitions during her relationship with Cesear which produces a son. The main actress is beautiful and alluring, but she does not look much like Cleopatra should as she is very fair with blue eyes. It would have been easy to alter her appearance with makeup and contacts or cast a different actress.The costumes and weapons are stunning and appear to be historically accurate. There are many different unique and equally stunning costume changes throughout the film. I was surprised that I enjoyed it so much since it was so long, but it was interesting and engaging. The dialogue is descriptive and smooth.The settings are my favourite. There are marvellous Egyptian hieroglyphics on the walls and beautiful engraved pillars and columns on the front of the buildings, sphinxes, stained glass windows and gorgeous golden doors. The battles are amazing and engaging, especially considering this movie was made in 1963 and they were limited with what they could do with special effects. The screen cuts are excellent and the film doesn't really have many unnecessary or boring scenes despite its length.

Cleopatra is famous for many reasons, but it's not generally well-liked. Obviously, casting Elizabeth Taylor to play one of the world's most beautiful women, and cladding her in unspeakably beautiful costumes, is one reason this movie has been remembered. Liz was married at the time to Eddie Fisher, a union that cost her her reputation, but that couldn't stop the sparks from flying between her and her married costar, Richard Burton. Once again, Liz became a homewrecker, and her love affair and marriage to Burton is one of the most famous of all Hollywood couples.Also, Cleopatra was the most expensive film ever made at the time. It cost $44 million, and almost bankrupted the studio. Can you imagine a world without 20th Century Fox? Audiences at the time felt it was too long and too wordy, but modern audiences won't feel that way. We're used to long epics, like Gladiator and Alexander, so the four-hour running time won't be a hindrance. And watching Liz and Dick fall in love on camera is magical; "boring" just isn't an applicable adjective.I wouldn't call Cleopatra a must-see, unless you're particularly attached to that Hollywood couple, but it is a spectacle. If you like epics, or if you like your films to have glorious splendor, you're not going to want to miss this one.

This truly has a cast of thousands. All before the age of CGI, there are hordes of costumed people all doing something all the way to the horizon. It is spectacular.Elizabeth Taylor is supposed to be playing a teenager. No amount of makeup can disguise the fact she is 30. I pegged her as 40 because of her double chin and rather plump back and thighs that she reveals in a massage scene.Cleopatra is a spoiled brat, and nobody plays spoiled brats better than Elizabeth Taylor.I thought it would be all costumes and spectacle, but it has an interesting and involved plot.The violence in the first part of the movie tends to occur off screenThe most jarring scenes were the dancing girls in either Day-Glo bikinis or pasties looking like they had just stepped out of a Texas stripper bar. The real Egyptians were not shy about breasts. Day-Glo colours abound. I am pretty sure they had not been invented yet.For pure spectacle, Cleopatra's entrance into Rome is indeed amazing. Each stage of it is replaced by something even more astounding.What makes this movie work are the crowd scenes. The whole screen is alive with action. There is so much going on, you cannot possibly take it all in. These crowd scenes are so much more impressive than anything you see in modern movies.One of the odd things, though many of the characters lead entire countries, they never spend any time at all in administration. They make no laws, consult with no committees etc. One scene I found jarring was when the library at Alexandria burned. Cleopatra expressed distress that a Jewish bible had been destroyed. I found that highly improbable. Compare that with the one-of-a-kind Greek and Roman documents lost.Cleopatra is such schemer. She is so Machiavellian. She is like Lady Macbeth with her snake-like ambition. You would think anyone on encountering her would run in the other direction. Yet we know from history both Caesar and Mark Anthony were ensnared. In the scenes where she tries to be seductive, I just felt creeped out. Perhaps in 1962 that sort of behaviour was considered sexy. Perhaps she was trying to project insincerity.There is a great scene where Octavian persuades the senate to go to war with Egypt for the silliest reason. The ensuing war is pointless and depressing. The wild excitement at the start of the war contrasts with the sombre actuality.I normally find battle scenes in movies exceedingly boring. However, here they were interesting, fascinating and original. They were full of terror, sadness and dread.The language, especially in some of the longer speeches was stilted. I had some trouble understanding it. It was almost Shakespearian. The musical score has nothing in it that evokes Rome or Egypt. It is like Mantovani soaring strings. It feels out of place.