- Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Import
- Language: English
- Region: (US and Canada This DVD will probably NOT be viewable in other countries. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
- Number of discs: 1
- MPAA Rating:
- Studio: Koch International
- Release Date: Mar 1 2006
- Run Time: 183 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 1.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B000059XTP
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Product Description
From Amazon.com
Part of a nine-play series produced in England, this production of Antony and Cleopatra was meant to offer a more conversational and less intimidating version of Shakespeare, to be used in classrooms where it would make Shakespeare more accessible to students. Still, it's hard to imagine students sitting still for this stiff, three-hour version. Using relatively bare-bones production values for the sets, this video offers Timothy Dalton as the lovestruck Mark Antony, smitten with the temptress Cleopatra (Lynn Redgrave). He's so caught up in his affair with the Queen of the Nile that he loses track of politics at home and winds up fighting for his life against former comrades. The acting is serviceable at best. Shot in 1981, the kicky cast for this play includes Anthony Geary (General Hospital), Walter Koenig and Nichelle Nichols of Star Trek fame, and even the late John Carradine. --Marshall Fine
Video Details
The clearest and most understandable Shakespeare productions ever made. Staged as seen in the 16th Century with award-winning performers. The popular tale of two of history's most famous lovers. Starring Timothy Dalton, Lynn Redgrave, John Carradine and Anthony Geary. 183 minutes.
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Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
Dalton talent lost in terrible production,
By "kinseyc" (Montreal, Quebec Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Plays of William Shakespeare, Vol. 1 - Antony and Cleopatra (DVD)
I love Timothy Dalton. His performance offers what few enjoyable moments there are to be found in this version of Antony and Cleopatra, but it unfortunately cannot salvage this atrocious production. Seeing it is enough to turn someone off Shakespeare. (Should that happen, I highly recommend viewing Al Pacino's delightful LOOKING FOR RICHARD -- it is the perfect antidote to restore passion for the Bard). But I digress. I want to issue a warning to all who might assume this DVD would be superior to its VHS counterpart. In this instance, tape was simply transferred unto disk with no remastering or enhancements, and there are no extra features. The visual and audio quality is appalling. I regret buying this DVD when I already owned the VHS (..like I said, I love Timothy Dalton...) The only advantage is being able to skip the boring parts to get to the monologues. But that isn't saying much.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not Great, But At Least They Use Shakespearean Dialogue...,
By Natalia (Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Plays of William Shakespeare, Vol. 1 - Antony and Cleopatra (DVD)
I bought this not expecting anything wonderful, based on other reviews, but it's my favorite Shakespeare play so I figured I'd give it a shot. I won't say this production is HORRIBLE, but it's quite mediocre. I think it would actually be a good learning tool in classrooms since it's not glitzed up (much like BBC productions), and is true to the Shakespearean dialogue. I always enjoy watching Timothy Dalton - he is the one bright spot in this production. Redgrave is highly unconvincing as Cleopatra, however.As a side note, if you want to watch Timothy Dalton in the role of Julius Caesar, the made-for-tv movie "Cleopatra" (1999) with Billy Zane playing Mark Antony is a much better viewing experience, albeit less historically accurate (or, well, based on Shakespeare), but enjoyable nevertheless.
1.0 out of 5 stars
Ready for my Closeup, Mr. Shakespeare,
By Buce (Palookaville) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Plays of William Shakespeare, Vol. 1 - Antony and Cleopatra (DVD)
Search Amazon DVD & VHS for "Antony and Cleopatra," and you come up with two titles: the 1975 Paul Scofield production, listed as out of stock, and the dreadfully misconceived 1981 number by Lawrence Carra (I pass in silenceover the "Cleopatras" of Elizabeth Taylor and Claudet Colbert). It is a pity because it means that Amazon is not offering the 1981 version by Jonathan Miller for BBC, and so you miss the chance to see my own favorite Cleopatra, Jane LaPotaire. The puzzle is that I know it is out in DVD - I have a copy - and Amazon does seem to be offering a couple of boxed sets comprising other entries from the same series.LaPotaire certainly puts her own stamp on this role, and it certainly won't be for everyone. If your idea of Cleopatra is along the lines of Tuesday Weld or Teri Garr, you won't be happy with this (we will not speak about Elizabeth Taylor a second time). But for my money, Lapotaire has the one essential requisite of a great Cleopatra: she's long in the tooth. No doubt she was dazzling in her day and she's not quite over the hill yet, but it has been a long time since the first Caesar swaggered through her bedchamber and this old queen is beginning to think about stretch marks. She's in love with Antony but more than that, she is love with herself and in love with love and she knows that this is her last big spin. She whines and she wheedles. She puts on all of her fading but still considerable charm. But then, when it comes time to die, it is she, the Egyptian, who knows how to "do it after the high Roman fashion, /And make death proud to take us." Opposite LaPotaire, Colin Blakely's Antony is a creature of appetitites, a bit clueless in the way men are clueless, and not quite certain that he is as, ahem, manly as his distinguished predecessor (one way that you know that Cleopatra has still got it is that Antony goes so squiggly giggly in her presence). It's easy to see his magnetism and his capacity for reckless bravery; you don't doubt that he "didst drink /The stale of horses, and the gilded puddle /Which beasts would cough at." But in the end, you can't quite believe that he could ever get to the top of the greasy pole. This is, after all, a contender who botches his own suicide. Jonathan Miller's production is eccentric in a way that one comes to expect from Jonathan Miller. The faux Renaissance style carries a certain kind of conviction but it does sacrifice the spaciousness that is so distinctive a feature of the play. The cast is a mixed bag, but good enough not to bog down the principals. Is LaPotaire the greates Cleopatra ever? Oh, I doubt that. There have been hundreds - three by Helen Mirren alone, and I'd give more than a nickel to see any one of those three. I believe there is even a Judith Dench; if I live long enough, maybe I will live to see a Cleopatra from Kevin Kline. But for the moment LaPotaire is my Cleopatra, and I hope Amazon finds a way to show her to the world. Meanwhile, steer clear of Lawrence Carra; it's a mess.
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