The Octavian of this movie looks like the Caligula of the other about-romans movie that Burton acted in: "The Sacred Rob".
Quite unfair to portrait the great Octavianus , Caesar Augustus like his filthy and looney greatgrandson. And what a language mistake exists in the English language for naming with "greats" and "grands" the descendants of somebody. What if a descendant is worthless?!
@Harlequinnbabe It is an unfortunate choice. Propbably for 2 reasons. 1: Time (they had to cut a lot to fit all this into 1 movie whereas they had originally planned 2. And 2: They aren't important to history. Ceasarian was Ceasar's only living child and Octavian's only opposition. And was thus ordered killed by Octavian. Antony's 3 children by Cleopatra were not his only children, he had others, and were not killed but taken back to Octavia and raised by her along with his other children.
@tophat95 Don't worry, it never happened. Sisogenes was a Greek astronomer about whom little is know except that he had helped Julius Caesar reform the Roman calendar, which gave us leap years. There is no record of his being sent as an envoy to Rome, and besides, Octavian, later to become Caesar Augustus, unlike the way he is depicted in this partly fictionalized version of history, was actually a brave and sensible man who wouldn't have done anything so undiplomatic.
rufio was very loyal to anthony and he spoke with logic and truth it makes no sense that men who have been trained to fight on land all their lives now have to board a ship and fight for the first time its rediculous like rufio said they would be tired,defeated and puking while the enemy take advantage and attack them. cleopatra seems to have lost her logic, the fire i love about her, she completely destroy two great men with her greed for power, fame, conquest.
I quite like Octavian ^_^. He may be the villain in this case, but thinking of it, it was justified for him to declare war. Anthony is being unfaithful to Rome, handing out chunks of the Roman Empire to his Egyptian lover who he dumped Octavian's sister for. I don't blame him for throwing a spear (such an accurate shot too =O)
Roddy McDowall was terrific. I wish he had been allowed to play Octavian closer to the truth ... perhaps the most competent, utterly ruthless and successful figure in history. Octavian, later Augustus, was personally "the new world order" of his day.
Roman politics were a depraved blight on the world and I can't believe people today can still defend it and take them seriously. Now, as then, you can never underestimate human intelligence.
@TheGreatAlexandros No he wasnt. he was nothing but a good politician. He always had someone else fight his battles for him because he didnt understand battle and the only reason why he became emporer is because his uncle Julius Ceasar(the greatest) left him as his heir. Why Julius left everything to him was somewhat unexpected. You would have thought he would have left everthing to his son with Cleopatra or his loyal cousin Marc Antony
@TheGreatAlexandros No he wasnt. He was nothing but a good politcian that was thought to do sexual favors to his uncle in order to become his heir. This is where Julius made a critical error in his legacy He should have known that Octavian would not allow his son with cleopatra to live should he raise to power. he should have left his son with cleopatra as his heir with his Loyal Cousin Marc Antony as his protector until his son is of age to take control
Cleopatra did have the survival of her country to look after, but she was bit of an idiot + too power hungry. Half the time she's using Egypt's alliance and other treaties back and forth, and she often toys with Rome & acts as though Rome is lucky to have her as an ally and how they need her to survive.....if it weren't for Caesar and M.A being seduced by her, Rome could've easily invaded Egypt altogether (which is what happened at the end)....she played too many games and lost everything.
It's easy to consider Cleopatra evil, but she had a country to literally run and had to learn survival early. But, she could have ahd Antony as a lover and she as far as I know was just as manipulative with Antony as Octavian was.
She should have NEVER ordered him to divorce Octavia and it's no wonder people didn't take her side, they were fighting for the rights of her son, not themselves. A lot of foreign kings backstabbed her because she took their kingdoms.
Cleopatra was too hungry for power. She should have kissed Rome's ass and never parted Mark Antony from his people. She gambled trying to get everything but ended up with nothing. Nothing for her kingdom, her son, her who dynasty.
Do not confuse Hollywood dramatic license with true history. Even here it shows and admits several times that Mark Antony was no Julius Caesar. Do not forget that Octavius Caesar had unbounded hunger for power or is that OK for a man? Cleopatra VII was the last of the inheritance of Alexander the Great and Rome was at the time still considered an upstart. We have the advantage of hindsight.
i know right lol just becausen he was in love with her doesn't mean he has to do everything she says lol and plus didn't men back then have power over women?
this was not Cleopatra's doing. It is Anthony's hubris and confusion alone. Its a wonderful acting job but the movie says several times Anthony is no Caesar.
@yosefbenyosef but he could totally stand up and be his own man of course this movie has great acting because it's a classic but he doesn't have to be a caesar but he can still be a man
Very little is known about Sosigenes of Alexandria, except that he was an astronomer and mathematician who advised Julius Caesar on calendar reform (i.e. the Julian calender). It`s stretching credulity a little far to suggest that Sosigenes was killed in this way. No one even knows when, where, or how he died. Anything for good theatre I suppose. :-)
Hard to believe Antony who was a seasoned soldier was as stupid as this film makes him out to be. Sailing into the center of the Roman fleet was asking to be flanked and overwhelmed.
@twinkleyell Lol yeah, well he did help create one of the best empires the world has ever seen but at the cost of many cultures. Oh and he branded Cleopatra a whore later in history but I do not believe that for a minute, but whatever.
@Clempath which is kinda ironic to say because he spent his life trying to destroy antony's and cleopatra's reputation and make himself look noble and good, but people remember antony and cleo as victim's and him as the imperialistic sociopath that he was.
@LaSerpentaCanta This is true... most Roman emperors were remembered that way though... with a few exceptions, most notably Hadrian. I do think he tried to do good for his people but like I said before, at what cost?
Poor Sosigenes D: . I liked him best.
HerrDoktorel 1 month ago
Nevermind what people say, I believe Octavian is the best character from the movie, Roddy McDowall does an amazing portrayal <3
WayfarerGirl 2 months ago
octavian what an asshole ughh he should have cut his own throat
MegaGiovanna1991 5 months ago
That killin' roman needs his dic chopped off. and all of them like him to THESE DAYS!
Licmycat 10 months ago
The Octavian of this movie looks like the Caligula of the other about-romans movie that Burton acted in: "The Sacred Rob".
Quite unfair to portrait the great Octavianus , Caesar Augustus like his filthy and looney greatgrandson. And what a language mistake exists in the English language for naming with "greats" and "grands" the descendants of somebody. What if a descendant is worthless?!
powerdriller10 10 months ago
Cleopatra tuvo un hijo Cesarin y con Antony tuvo también hijos y dónde están en la peli??? Esto es muy raro!!!
gringischilensis 11 months ago
...let him debate the wiadom of his choices...wet or dry...!
51jvenecia 11 months ago
antony and cleopatra were supposed to have 2 sons and a daughter together, why dont they have them in the movies!?
Harlequinnbabe 11 months ago 4
@Harlequinnbabe It is an unfortunate choice. Propbably for 2 reasons. 1: Time (they had to cut a lot to fit all this into 1 movie whereas they had originally planned 2. And 2: They aren't important to history. Ceasarian was Ceasar's only living child and Octavian's only opposition. And was thus ordered killed by Octavian. Antony's 3 children by Cleopatra were not his only children, he had others, and were not killed but taken back to Octavia and raised by her along with his other children.
phoenix1985 6 months ago
Martin Landau is a great actor! Love his part. Rufiooooooooo!!!!
jenean94 11 months ago
Comment removed
jenean94 11 months ago
NOW I KNOW WHERE THEY GOT ROULETTE FROM
motorman1017 11 months ago
@motorman1017 maybe shows that she has been going in the sun alot for war preparations
malaikarocks 11 months ago
In the other parts of the movie, Cleo looks porcelain skinned..but at 2:57 she looks tan
Mittenzzs 11 months ago
I agree with Clempath
Mittenzzs 11 months ago
maybe anthony should stop drinking!!!!!!
kathypell 1 year ago
Nooooooooooo! That old man was so NIIICCEEEE! I hate Octavian.
tophat95 1 year ago
@tophat95 Don't worry, it never happened. Sisogenes was a Greek astronomer about whom little is know except that he had helped Julius Caesar reform the Roman calendar, which gave us leap years. There is no record of his being sent as an envoy to Rome, and besides, Octavian, later to become Caesar Augustus, unlike the way he is depicted in this partly fictionalized version of history, was actually a brave and sensible man who wouldn't have done anything so undiplomatic.
Hendrikdevuile 1 year ago 2
@Hendrikdevuile Oh phew!!!!
Mittenzzs 11 months ago
Cleopatra and Antony should've referred to the exploits of great naval commanders like Themistocles to help them in naval combat.
HistoryLover1550 1 year ago
rufio was very loyal to anthony and he spoke with logic and truth it makes no sense that men who have been trained to fight on land all their lives now have to board a ship and fight for the first time its rediculous like rufio said they would be tired,defeated and puking while the enemy take advantage and attack them. cleopatra seems to have lost her logic, the fire i love about her, she completely destroy two great men with her greed for power, fame, conquest.
Mandinko23 1 year ago
The unfolding of this saga is told so much better in the TV show ROME.
gregoriodavila 1 year ago
@gregoriodavila I LOVED that show!
HistoryLover1550 1 year ago
I quite like Octavian ^_^. He may be the villain in this case, but thinking of it, it was justified for him to declare war. Anthony is being unfaithful to Rome, handing out chunks of the Roman Empire to his Egyptian lover who he dumped Octavian's sister for. I don't blame him for throwing a spear (such an accurate shot too =O)
KimiJaciKai 1 year ago 2
@KimiJaciKai You got a point there, personally I didn't like it that he threw the spear at Sisogenes.
HistoryLover1550 1 year ago
Roddy McDowall was terrific. I wish he had been allowed to play Octavian closer to the truth ... perhaps the most competent, utterly ruthless and successful figure in history. Octavian, later Augustus, was personally "the new world order" of his day.
deriter64 1 year ago 2
Cleopatra had the nicest dresses :D
twinkleyell 1 year ago 4
@ShowYourWorking I don't think they did!
Elizabeththegreatest 1 year ago
Octavian is actually a bastard.
happiihoneii 1 year ago 7
@happiihoneii all he cared about was being in love with agrippa.
honeybee7700 11 months ago
octavious:"and her egyptian whore",
how dare you she's a nice lady
cristinaa22pl 1 year ago 4
Roman politics were a depraved blight on the world and I can't believe people today can still defend it and take them seriously. Now, as then, you can never underestimate human intelligence.
zenman5910 1 year ago
Thats not cool what they did to the old man. :(
Beatleschick1 1 year ago 2
@Beatleschick1
I agree. I liked his character. Very sad and unfair to kill an unarmed man like that. :(
stealth4386 1 year ago
Comment removed
Destoryer86 1 year ago
Ah yeah. Augustus Caesar is the best Caesar.
TheGreatAlexandros 1 year ago
@TheGreatAlexandros No he wasnt. he was nothing but a good politician. He always had someone else fight his battles for him because he didnt understand battle and the only reason why he became emporer is because his uncle Julius Ceasar(the greatest) left him as his heir. Why Julius left everything to him was somewhat unexpected. You would have thought he would have left everthing to his son with Cleopatra or his loyal cousin Marc Antony
Destoryer86 1 year ago
@TheGreatAlexandros No he wasnt. He was nothing but a good politcian that was thought to do sexual favors to his uncle in order to become his heir. This is where Julius made a critical error in his legacy He should have known that Octavian would not allow his son with cleopatra to live should he raise to power. he should have left his son with cleopatra as his heir with his Loyal Cousin Marc Antony as his protector until his son is of age to take control
Destoryer86 1 year ago
antony was better when not a drunk. lol
Rico8458 1 year ago
ok that's it! Can I kill Octavian!!??
xKindodragoNx 1 year ago 8
What was that spear Octavian carried out the with the senate..?
LastShinobi01 2 years ago
spear that the senate uses to inform the people that Rome goes to war. "golden spear of war"
shabfarhadi 1 year ago
@shabfarhadi you know your history!!!!
paigewright31 1 year ago
"Let the Enemy hear the Voice of Antonies Legions". What a Classic. RIP Richard Burton. What an amazing Actor.
starquant 2 years ago 7
I love Ruffio in this- he's Antony's best friend, confessor, protector...and conscience.. he eventually will die because of it-
piscean60 2 years ago 2
it makes it look like men are so easy to control, antony is whipped
TheHuan2000 2 years ago
Cleopatra did have the survival of her country to look after, but she was bit of an idiot + too power hungry. Half the time she's using Egypt's alliance and other treaties back and forth, and she often toys with Rome & acts as though Rome is lucky to have her as an ally and how they need her to survive.....if it weren't for Caesar and M.A being seduced by her, Rome could've easily invaded Egypt altogether (which is what happened at the end)....she played too many games and lost everything.
70marco80 2 years ago 5
Octavian is a damn good shot!
MacJaxonManOfAction 2 years ago
It's easy to consider Cleopatra evil, but she had a country to literally run and had to learn survival early. But, she could have ahd Antony as a lover and she as far as I know was just as manipulative with Antony as Octavian was.
She should have NEVER ordered him to divorce Octavia and it's no wonder people didn't take her side, they were fighting for the rights of her son, not themselves. A lot of foreign kings backstabbed her because she took their kingdoms.
TheNuharoo 2 years ago 4
but yet still she could have stayed in bed with Rome if she were more savvy. she could have made herself more subservient.
archvedek 2 years ago
Cleopatra was too hungry for power. She should have kissed Rome's ass and never parted Mark Antony from his people. She gambled trying to get everything but ended up with nothing. Nothing for her kingdom, her son, her who dynasty.
archvedek 2 years ago 2
Do not confuse Hollywood dramatic license with true history. Even here it shows and admits several times that Mark Antony was no Julius Caesar. Do not forget that Octavius Caesar had unbounded hunger for power or is that OK for a man? Cleopatra VII was the last of the inheritance of Alexander the Great and Rome was at the time still considered an upstart. We have the advantage of hindsight.
yosefbenyosef 2 years ago 2
the black people really got the most humiliating roles
Abridgedfan134 2 years ago
antony i think was better when he wasn't taking cleopatra's comands
lilly032 2 years ago 36
yeah he is such a whimp!
imeldaDuke 2 years ago
i know right lol just becausen he was in love with her doesn't mean he has to do everything she says lol and plus didn't men back then have power over women?
lilly032 2 years ago
@lilly032
this was not Cleopatra's doing. It is Anthony's hubris and confusion alone. Its a wonderful acting job but the movie says several times Anthony is no Caesar.
yosefbenyosef 1 year ago 3
@yosefbenyosef but he could totally stand up and be his own man of course this movie has great acting because it's a classic but he doesn't have to be a caesar but he can still be a man
lilly032 1 year ago
Very little is known about Sosigenes of Alexandria, except that he was an astronomer and mathematician who advised Julius Caesar on calendar reform (i.e. the Julian calender). It`s stretching credulity a little far to suggest that Sosigenes was killed in this way. No one even knows when, where, or how he died. Anything for good theatre I suppose. :-)
alanth252 2 years ago
Hard to believe Antony who was a seasoned soldier was as stupid as this film makes him out to be. Sailing into the center of the Roman fleet was asking to be flanked and overwhelmed.
bookkeeper57 2 years ago
Octavian is an asshole.
Clempath 2 years ago 71
he is acting how needs to to get power
DonutMouse 2 years ago
@Clempath i hate him :@ -- he was such a brat !!
twinkleyell 1 year ago
@twinkleyell Lol yeah, well he did help create one of the best empires the world has ever seen but at the cost of many cultures. Oh and he branded Cleopatra a whore later in history but I do not believe that for a minute, but whatever.
Clempath 1 year ago
@Clempath which is kinda ironic to say because he spent his life trying to destroy antony's and cleopatra's reputation and make himself look noble and good, but people remember antony and cleo as victim's and him as the imperialistic sociopath that he was.
LaSerpentaCanta 1 year ago 8
@LaSerpentaCanta This is true... most Roman emperors were remembered that way though... with a few exceptions, most notably Hadrian. I do think he tried to do good for his people but like I said before, at what cost?
Clempath 1 year ago
@Clempath Ikr, I never really liked him!
HistoryLover1550 1 year ago
@Clempath Octavian was being clever
51jvenecia 11 months ago
once again very helpfull
DARAOLIVO 2 years ago