Cleopatra (1963) May 28 Pre-orders

[lkmg]

UK Blu-ray cover art is updated!

Edit: added special features as well.

[KingSimba]

With a list of UK special features

• Cleopatra Through The Ages: A Cultural History
• Cleopatra's Missing Footage
• Fox Movie Channel presents Fox Legacy with Tom Rothman
• Commentary with Chris Mankiewicz, Tom Mankiewicz, Martin Landau and Jack Brodsky
• The Cleopatra Papers: A Private Correspondence
• Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood
• The Fourth Star of Cleopatra
• Archival Footage of the New York Premiere
• Archival Footage of the Hollywood Premiere
• Theatrical Trailers

[blufellas]

Originally Posted by kryptonite1970

hopefully, a digibook version!!!

A Digibook would be nice.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by Cinemave

I'm assuming this will be the 243-minute version, but hopefully some of the 72 minutes cut from the initial 6-hour-cut could be included as extras.

On the 2001 DVD, they said (in either the commentary or documentary, I can't remember which) that they searched the Fox vaults for the missing footage, but couldn't find it. I'd think we would have heard if they had finally discovered it.

A shame, as the film was apparently much better at that length, but the studio had gone so bankrupt making it that they didn't want to have to wait a year after the release of "Caesar & Cleopatra" to release "Antony & Cleopatra", when all the public wanted to see were the scenes with Taylor and Burton due to the sex scandal. So the pacing and character development of the movie were sacrificed. Taylor is famously said to have gone to the toilet and thrown up after seeing the eviscerated short theatrical version, due to all the important scenes that were omitted.

Originally Posted by Cinemave

Adjusted for inflation, I think this is still the most expensive movie ever made.

True, but the Soviet "War & Peace" had no official budget, it was a production of the state, with unlimited resources, hence tens of thousands of extras, Red Square covered in dirt, etc. I suspect if anyone had counted all the costs, and we could convert them, that film would - now and forever due to CGI - remain the most expensive ever made.

[Scooter1836]

Awesome!!

[in2video2]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

this is one of Fox's most iconic films--I would certainly expect great quality of any bd release.
Fox would be eviscerated if they screwed up Cleopatra.

Next to Lawrence of Arabia there are few 70mm classics that compare in sheer visual splendor except for Cleopatra. If Fox were prepared to invest heavily in The Sound of Music - filmed in the same Todd-AO 70mm 6-Track process - I am convinced lightning can strike twice! Count me in as well. Hopefully we can be provided with official confirmation very soon.

Hurry up Fox... evisceretion sounds quite painful!

[Dubstar]

Originally Posted by in2video2

Next to Lawrence of Arabia there are few 70mm classics that compare in sheer visual splendor except for Cleopatra. If Fox were prepared to invest heavily in The Sound of Music - filmed in the same Todd-AO 70mm 6-Track process - I am convinced lightning can strike twice! Count me in as well. Hopefully we can be provided with official confirmation very soon.

Hurry up Fox... evisceretion sounds quite painful!

Fotokem (65/70mm film and digital post facility) have been responsible for a few of Fox' 70mm bluray releases: 'South Pacific' 'The Sound of Music' 'The Bible' ... and 'Cleopatra' - I expect the latter to look spectacular!

[Douglas R]

It's a lousy, boring film but I'll have to buy this anyway because it will look so good

[fdm]

Originally Posted by s2mikey

Id rent it first. This film didnt do as well as hoped and IIRC it was almost considered a bust at the time. It had an enormous budget and was very grand in scope but may or may not have worked as planned.

A 6.8 on IMDB is quite a ways below some of the other epics from that era, like Ben Hur and Lawrence of Arabia.

Just saying.

Perhaps, but I get such a kick out of these kinds of films. Should be a treat if it's done well.

[BluPat]

Fantastic movie. Classic Hollywood glamour at it's finest.

[rkolinski]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

It's arguably Elizabeth Taylor's best film.

[lkmg]

Pre-order is up at Amazon UK @ £11.20. Hope the US side will have some updates soon.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cleopatra-Blu-ray-Elizabeth-Taylor/dp/B005QV2OV6/ref=sr_1_3?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1317381290&sr=1-3

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by Douglas R

It's a lousy, boring film but I'll have to buy this anyway because it will look so good

This just never made any sense for me. Why would you buy a movie you find boring just because it look's good? Blade Runner look's very good on Blu-ray but I still have no wish to buy it?

[Douglas R]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

This just never made any sense for me. Why would you buy a movie you find boring just because it look's good? Blade Runner look's very good on Blu-ray but I still have no wish to buy it?

That’s a good question which deserves a reply. Of course I was being flippant in my post and I certainly wouldn’t buy a disc simply because it looked good. The point is that I was a big fan of 70mm films and from about 1960 onwards saw just about every 70mm roadshow film (there weren’t really that many of them) and seeing a film in 70mm on a giant screen was an amazing experience. So, even if the film itself was not all that good, they still hold considerably nostalgic appeal for me. Additionally, even if some of those 70mm films were not particularly good, because of the epic scale of many of them, they invariably hold interest of some sort. In the case of CLEOPATRA, although the film, especially the second half, is slow going, it has brilliant production design – you can see that it cost a fortune to make – which is one of the things which makes it worthwhile to watch. I also like to have a film library which includes films of historical interest. I don’t much care for GONE WITH THE WIND but I feel it has to be in my film library due to its importance in film history. I hope that explains why I have to have CLEOPATRA in my collection even though I think it is far from a great film.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by rkolinski

Why do you find that funny? It was certainly one of her better ones.

[ghostdrknss74]

how much do you think will the film cleopatra on blu ray be once it is release here in the u.s. ? i hope no more than 15, because why would they charge more for it, the films been made, all they are doing is just transfer to a new format, and that is all,

[42041]

Originally Posted by ghostdrknss74

the films been made, all they are doing is just transfer to a new format, and that is all,

You think that's cheap

[Donat96]

Yeah, restoration ain't cheap, bud.
If it's done right, I'd say about $20-$25.

[William H Pratt]

A wild guess: $24.99

[mzupeman]

That's IF they don't do some ultra deluxe boxed set like was done in 2011 with Ben-Hur and The Ten Commandments. Or even Citizen Kane for that matter. With the studio realizing that old catalogue titles that have been properly restored WILL sell, especially in large sets with lots of extras, they'll probably want to do the same thing with Cleopatra.