The first half of this is terrific. Smart, witty, well acted. Elizabeth Taylor is fun in the title role and Rex Harrison isn't a soldier but the intellectual brilliance of Caesar is evident. Motives are clear, everyone is smart. Excellent support work from Martin Landau, Roddy McDowall and Richard O'Sullivan. The spectacle is sparing but awesome eg Cleopatra's arrival inRome.
The second half is less strong. The acting is still good - Burton steps up, though he looks silly with a sword - but the script wobbly. The spectacle feels more forced - did we really need to see so much of the Battle of Actium? The motivations less clear. Cleopatra wants... power but also Anthony. Anthony wants Cleopatra and power. But both are such whiny brats, it's hard to tell. Act one Cleopatra is smart as a whip. Act two Cleopatra is dumb, making silly decisions like declaring war on Rome and running away during the Battle of Actium. I think the passion of the two of them is meant to lead them to these bad decisions but it just seems silly.
They have McDowall/Octavius lying in bed everytime there's a battle, I think to contrast with the macho ness of Burton's Antony, but Antony looks like a fool especially drinking in strategy meetings.
After the Battle of Actium the film should wrap up but there's scene after scene: Burton being abandoned by his troops, charging the enemy, monologuing, Burton and Taylor saying goodbye to all these people who never got much screen time so it feels like a waste of time.
Still it is a smart epic. Looks gorgeous.
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