Cleopatra 

Princess Cleopatra becomes Egypt's Queen and has an out-of-wedlock son with the son-less Roman ruler Julius Ceasar. Through two romances, she strives to protect Egypt from the Romans, and make her son the heir to Ceaser's Roman Empire.

Stars:

Nadim Sawalha, Owen Teale, Philip Quast

Nominated for 4 Primetime Emmys. Another 11 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Nadim Sawalha	...	Mardian 2 episodes, 1999
Owen Teale	...	Grattius 2 episodes, 1999
Philip Quast	...	Cornelius 2 episodes, 1999
Daragh O'Malley	...	Ahenobarbus 2 episodes, 1999
Bruce Payne	...	Cassius 2 episodes, 1999
Sean Pertwee	...	Marcus Brutus 2 episodes, 1999
David Schofield	...	Casca 2 episodes, 1999
Kassandra Voyagis	...	Arsinoe 2 episodes, 1999
Indra Ové	...	Charmian 2 episodes, 1999
Josephine Amankwah	...	Iris 2 episodes, 1999
Caroline Langrishe	...	Calpurnia 2 episodes, 1999
Elisabeth Dermot Walsh	...	Octavia 2 episodes, 1999
Ralph Brown	...	Guevarius 2 episodes, 1999
James Cosmo	...	Agrippa 2 episodes, 1999
Denis Quilley	...	Negotiator Senator 2 episodes, 1999
James Saxon	...	Pothinus 2 episodes, 1999
Amina Annabi	...	Jehosheba 2 episodes, 1999
Oded Fehr	...	Egyptian Captain 2 episodes, 1999
Stephen Jenn	...	Nakht 2 episodes, 1999
Ashley L. Clark	...	King Ptolemy - 12 yrs 2 episodes, 1999
Alexandar Francis-Lynch	...	Ptolemy Caesar - 6yrs 2 episodes, 1999
Michael Francis-Lynch	...	Ptolemy Caesar - 3yrs 2 episodes, 1999
Omid Djalili	...	Storemaster 2 episodes, 1999
Andrew Peisley	...	Cavalryman 2 episodes, 1999
Tim Barlow	...	Elderly Senator 2 episodes, 1999
Antony Bunsee	...	Ship's First Mate 2 episodes, 1999
Ace Bhatti	...	Sceptical Citizen 2 episodes, 1999
Stephen Giffin	...	Victor 2 episodes, 1999
Mark Delafield	...	Suetonius 2 episodes, 1999
Mark Hill	...	Dionysios 2 episodes, 1999
Matthew Bartlett	...	Theocritus 2 episodes, 1999
Richard Armitage	...	Epiphanes 2 episodes, 1999
Naim Khan Turk	...	Eos 2 episodes, 1999
Simone Harper	...	Wet Nurse 2 episodes, 1999
Karim Doukkali	...	Egyptian General 2 episodes, 1999
Patrick Gordon	...	Assassin 2 episodes, 1999
Simon De Selva	...	Egyptian Admiral 2 episodes, 1999
Bouchra Ababsa	...	Belly Dancer 2 episodes, 1999
Carlton Headley	...	Nubian Guard 2 episodes, 1999
Trevor Lovell	...	Nubian Guard 2 episodes, 1999
John Bowe	...	Rufio 2 episodes, 1999
Art Malik	...	Olympos 2 episodes, 1999
Timothy Dalton	...	Julius Caesar 2 episodes, 1999
Rupert Graves	...	Octavian 2 episodes, 1999
Leonor Varela	...	Cleopatra 2 episodes, 1999
Billy Zane	...	Marc Antony 2 episodes, 1999

Storyline

Princess Cleopatra becomes Egypt's Queen and has an out-of-wedlock son with the son-less Roman ruler Julius Ceasar. Through two romances, she strives to protect Egypt from the Romans, and make her son the heir to Ceaser's Roman Empire.

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Plot Keywords:

cleopatra | queen | defeat | assassination | suicide | 

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Taglines:

Passion. Power. Betrayal.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Hallmark Entertainment

Country:

Germany USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 May 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cleopatra

Filming Locations:

Agadir, Morocco

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Babelsberg International Film Produktion, Hallmark Entertainment, RTL2

Technical Specs

Runtime:

177 min 50 min (3 episodes) 155 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby (as Dolby Surround)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

It's barely noticeable, but in Part 1, when the Roman who had stolen grain, was brought in front of Cleopatra, she is holding the Crook and Flail. In the close up views she is holding Them correctly, with the open end of the Crook up. In the farther away views, it is held with curved end still Linking up, the opened side is pointing downward.

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Goofs

The legionaries are dressed like the Imperial Legions with lorica segmentata armour (plate in sheets held together by joints) and not as the post marian reform units they really were at that time that would wear a sort of chainmail armour or "Lorica Hamata". It is contested by some historians even that the Lorica Segmentata never reached widespread use and even maybe only functioned as a ceremonial type of armour. In any case the first known (minor)a ppearance of this armour is in 19 BC, some time after the events portrayed in the movie.

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Quotes

[Final lines]
Octavian: You have won, Cleopatra. You have won!

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Alternate Versions

The DVD version is uncut and contains a little over 30 minutes of scenes not included on the VHS version.

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Connections

References Ben-Hur (1959)

User Reviews

A spectacle, with gorgeous color and sets. But disappointing.

Dalton was surprisingly good as Caesar, as was Zane as Marc Antony. Ms. Varela, however, gave a most unfocused reading of Cleopatra--varying from passion to cruelty to vapidity but with no established core. In an effort such as this, that proved a cruel disappointment.

Sets were gorgeous, as were costumes. One COULD wish that Hollywood might approximate historically accurate women's clothing more closely, though.

This was a visually rich spectacle. The story was fine. But some really effective bits (Cleopatra with attendants in final tableau) really rang enormous bells for those familiar with the Taylor/Burton version.

Not my top cleopatra, nor my 2nd to the top (Colbert is very very good), but definitely on the list. And, indeed, the DVD transfer is gorgeous.