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:

character name as series title | cleopatra character | julius caesar character | marc antony character | cassius character | 

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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

Cleopatra actually had two brothers, Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV, both of whom she was married to. Ptolemy XIII was her first brother/husband, but with the help of Pothinus, forced Cleopatra to flee Egypt with their sister Arsinoe. Caeser, who at this point was already Cleopatra's lover, reinstated her to the throne. However, Ptolemy XIII allied himself with Arsinoe against the pair, but Roman reinforcements forced them to flee the city, and Ptolemy XIII drowned attempting to cross the Nile in 47 BC, aged around 14-15. Cleopatra was then married to her second brother/husband, Ptolemy XIV, who was co-ruler with her (though she retained the power) until shortly after the death of Caesar, when he died (possibly murdered) at the age of about 15 and was replaced with Cleopatra's 3-year-old son Caesarion (Ptolemy XV).

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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

Pageantry and spectacle on TV!

Cleopatra is one of the most fascinating figures from history. This 1999 TV movie does a good job of telling her story from her point of view. Granted Leonor Varela is a bit off, but she's not bad and the movie moves very well, its hard to believe its almost 3 hours, its time that never feels wasted. The story of Egypt's last great queen and her Roman lovers Julius Caesar and Marc Antony have been told before, most notably in '63 with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, this film is close to that and in some ways better.

Billy Zane is terrific here, he plays Antony better than Burton! Zane remembers Antony was a solider who was prodded into lofty ambition by Cleopatra, even pitting Roman against Roman and splitting an empire, in his heart he must have known he couldn't succeed, Zane never lets your forget that and his performance should have been honored. Timothy Dalton is a good Caesar too. He plays the conqueror full on, ambitious and powerful, but not a monster or a hero, just a man who wanted glory for Rome. His assassination is well handled here. Rupert Graves is a slimy Octavian (Augustus) and does well as the villain.

The look of the film is pretty good, though at times it feels like a filmed play. The music is unmoving, but the fx shots tolerable. The battle of Actium is brief but accurate, Antony always rushed in like a bull. For a TV move they manage to be sexy and violent, two things necessary to tell Cleo's story. The birth of Cesarion is realistic.

The only real downer here is I think this movie was made, or at least planned before the discovery of records found in the sea that told of Antony and Cleo's great love and of the fact they did have children! At least 4, including a set of twins. It is also possible that a girl was saved from Octavian's butchery. The rest did not make, including, probably Cesarion. Unfortunately we don't see that here and the end, though well played, is just like earlier versions. Still this is historical fiction at its best. Well done!