Julius Caesar Movie
Storyline
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Feared by enemies. Betrayed by friends.
The story of the rise and fall of the Roman Emperor Gaius Julius Caesar, born July 13, 100 B.C., and starting his career as a young Roman with visions of greatness for the Eternal City. When Sulla conquers Rome with his troops, Caesar is one of the very few to stand up against the despotic dictator. This impresses Pompeius, Sulla's general, and he protects the young man, who is a nephew of Marius, a well known veteran, against the wrath of Sulla. After Sulla's death, Caesar returns from exile and starts his political career. Caesar's daughter Julia marries general and senator Pompeius, and Caesar takes Pompeius' troops in order to simply safeguard the borders to Gaul, but instead conquers the whole country. His final victory takes place at the fortress of Alesia, where the Germanic troops under Vercingetorix capitulate. Back in Rome, Ceasar is not trusted anymore, since the troops are loyal to him alone and it is feared by Pompeius and Cato that he will use the troops to conquer Rome and declare himself King, including the establishing of a inheritbale right to the throne. Instead, Caesar does none of that and sets off to Egypt in order to ensure a constant delivery of agricultural goods to the Roman Empire. After a glorious return to Rome, his former friends Pompeius and Cato are dead, their deaths blamed on Caesar, and his personal life is in ruins since he could not resist the temptation of beautiful Egyptian empress Cleopatra. Being inveigled and aided by a group of rebellious and untrusting senators around Cassius, his nephew Brutus finally kills Julius Caesar at March 15, 44. B.C. (the Ides of March) at the age of 55, starting an era of civil wars.
| Jeremy Sisto | Gaius Julius Caesar |
| Richard Harris | Lucius Cornelius Sulla |
| Christopher Walken | Marcus Portius Cato |
| Valeria Golino | Calpurnia |
| Chris Noth | Pompey |
| Heino Ferch | Vercingetorix |
| Pamela Bowen | Aurelia |
| Tobias Moretti | Caius Cassius |
| Samuela Sardo | Cleopatra |
| Daniela Piazza | Cornelia |
| Nicole Grimaudo | Julia |
| Sean Pertwee | Labienus |
| Ian Duncan | Marcus Brutus |
| Kate Steavenson-Payne | Portia |
| Paolo Briguglia | Marcus Portius |
| Uli Edel |
6.60 out of 10 (959 votes)
Visitor Reviews
The story of the politician, general and private man, Julius Caesar.
posted on 26 Jan 2009Julius Caesar is another mini series by the DeAngelis Group. Like some of their other Producions one sees a few well know actors, such as Richard Harris and Christopher Walken , as well as some local actors of Germany and Italy(Heino Ferch, Tobias Moretti).The picture itself, even not indepth to the real Caesar story, gives an nice picture of the times of the roman empire. Nice acting, as well as a well combined cast, give a nice viewing pleasure.Jeremy Sisto gives a new angel to a few on Caesar,Chris Noth (Sex & the City) gives a very good performance and Harris plays a Sulla, which you enjoy dying.All in all, the about 3 hour mini series is a nice evening view for the family, bringing love, war/action as well as history into your living room.
History
posted on 21 Dec 2008My comments are mainly about the already existing comments which are nonsensical. Firstly, someone writes that it is a goof that Caesar claims to be a descendant of Venus, and that Venus is the Greek name, whereas the roman is Aphrodite. THAT is not the case: Venus is the roman name, and Aphrodite the Greek. Anyone with the slightest knowledge of mythology can tell you that.One should not write what one does not know about.Secondly, there is a grave error in the summary: Brutus is NOT the nephew of Caesar but of Cato. Caesar had a very famous grand nephew named Gaius Octavian, aka Emperor Augustus, who is not depicted in the film but mentioned in the end credits.I think it is OK for TV movie, but like most Roman films the "liberties" with historical facts annoys me. Still, it is far more correct than most of its ilk. A bit rushed at times, but fairly entertaining if you're into roman history.
Performance
posted on 17 Dec 2008I thought Jeremy Sisto did a wonderful performance. Outstanding. I honestly sat and thought and wondered if someone could do a better job on this piece then him. I would have to say the directors did a very nice job in choosing him. I really wish he would be in more movies.. lately I haven't seen him in much. I haven't seen this movie on DVD either. Maybe I haven't been looking well enough. I watched it on TV about a year ago, I believe. It was honestly a stunning performance, and so powerful. It reminded me of Joan of Arc, and Shakespeare In Love. But for anyone who hasn't seen it - go and see it. It's a master piece.
Its OK.......
posted on 11 Dec 2008The movie, Julius Caesar. Well, talks about Caesar. I really liked the movie but there are some flaws. One is that some of the actors are not good such as Christopher Walken as Cato and Cassius. Brutus was not good as well. But I did like Christopher Noth and Jermy Sisto. But in my opinion, Heino Ferch is the best as Vercingetorix. The Second Flaw is that there is no Crassus! Where in the world is Crassus? The third flaw is that the battles weren't done neatly. Like some horsemen rout the entire Celtic army and many battles were left out such as Gergivia? I don't know how to write it. But I did really like the music, and I think I learned quite a few stuff from the movie. So, in all. Its 7 out of 10.
Good and spectacular version on Caesar life with excellent performances and sensational scenarios
posted on 13 Nov 2008This vivid storytelling about the Caesar life is one of the greatest stories ever told.This Roman story told in impact form on a great scale with several spectacular scenes, though is a fairly standard for epic TV.Lavishly TV miniseries from Sulla government until death Caesar.It concerns about his infamous existence, feats,political greed,corruption,tragedies,wars and lovers.One of the last television's most prestigious production with electrifying performances,this is definitely the best TV version available about the famous historic character developed of the following way : The tyrant Sulla(Richard Harris) defeated to Marius and conquers Rome ,Julius Caesar(100-44 BC),as nephew of Marius,is condemned to death,but helped by Pompeius(Chris North)flees towards Orient where is kidnapped by pirates asking a ransom.When is freed,he returns to Rome where is married with Calpurnia(Valeria Golino) and begins the political career.Meanwhile,his daughter Julia marries with Pompeius and Caesar asks him his army to fight against the barbarians.But Caesar conquers whole the Gaul.The final defeat takes place at Alesia where Vercingetorix(Heino Ferch) is definitely vanquished and coerced to handcuffed parade through the Rome streets.Julius Caesar is appointed as Consul for life and crossed the river Rubicon.Pompeius and Cato(Christopher Walken) fear that Caesar will use the troops for ruling the empire and declare himself king and they flee to Greece and are defeated in Farsalia.Pompeyo escapes to Alejandria, Egypt where is beheaded by Tolomeo and Potino. Of course also is developed the usual version of the Egyptian temptress'lust for Caesar,young royal,Cleopatra(Samuela Sardo)wants to rule Egypt and she seduces the conqueror to gain the kingdom and he helps her gain control of Egypt.Later they return to Rome,but the thing don't turn out so well.An old man prevents him on the Ides of March.Caesar is murdered by his nephew Brutus(Ian Duncan) and Cassius(Tobias Moretti) and senators,starting the second triumvirate by Marc Anthony,Lepido and Octavius Augustus .The son of Caesar and Cleopatra -Caesarion- was assassinated by order of Augustus.This stylish,visually stunning epic-scale Roman biography contains,drama,action,romance and overwhelming battles including the computer generator soldiers,though the crowd is most part by ordering ,in spite of it, still looks great.The movie displays a few top American stars in main characters somewhat at variance with an array of notable British acting talents.There are memorable performances from leading roles and the movie's wealth of expert personages-drawing extends rightly to the minor roles,one of which is played by Richard Harris,he seems terrific in his last performance.Harris whose memory the movie is dedicated but he died during the filming.Directed with imagination by Uli Edel,the picture proved that the public would go for epic series if the impact was strong and the performance attractive enough.Lovers of Sword and sandals genre and good acting will find much that is rewarding. Anothers versions about Caesar life are : The classical by Josep'h L. Mankiewicz(1953) with Brando and James Mason and by Sturat Burge(1970) with Charlton Heston and Jason Robards.
Flawed, but oddly compelling
posted on 09 Nov 2008I enjoyed this miniseries. I have some objections though. There are several factual errors, like Pompey did not crush the slave rebellion (Crassus and Cicero did), there was no law against armies south of the Rubicon - Caesar just transgressed his jurisdiction to do so. Important characters and events like Catilina's revolt, Crassus, Octavian, the war in Spain, etc. are totally left out. The characters are very shallow. Caesar himself is to sympathetic - he was a shrewd and ruthless politician.
Chris Noth only decent American
posted on 18 Oct 2008Look, I hate to sound nasty, but this production was not good. The acting was crappy. Really execrable in cases. The dialogue was so awful. Historical accuracy -- not that I expect perfection, but what is the point of doing history if they make half of it up? And look, Jeremy Sisto, I despised him. What is up with him throwing away his lines, like the words or decisions are being forced out of him against his will? I see what he's trying to do, but not only does it seem inapproriate for the character, he does it really badly. He's playing the most dynamic leader of the mightiest empire in history. I saw very little of any charisma or take-charge personality that would inspire devotion in his legions. Sean Pertwee standing beside him makes him look like a muppet.And Christopher Walken. Shuffling around the Senate looking like he's really constipated. And it made no sense that for most of the movie, he looked like an ineffectual, finicky somewhat poofter-type person, but when he goes to war he grows long hair and a beard and is suddenly virile and studly. Plus I thought his acting was bad. Except when he fell on his sword. I wish some other characters had done the same. All right -- maybe it's just that as an American, I was embarrassed that our actors are so inferior. Apollonius was excellent. Richard Harris was really good even though he was obviously so unwell. Vercingetorix -- sorry I spelled that wrong? -- liked him a a lot, though I must note that it looked like he got his trousers at a flea-market in Santa Cruz. Was Marc Antony American? Because I did think he was good. Oh, and Chris Noth -- he was not awful. He was pretty okay. Certainly looked the part.I'm sure no one cares, but if anyone liked Sean Pertwee in Cadfael, this is the role most similar to Hugh Beringar. In fact I thought his expressions looked like Hugh Beringar all grown up.
Well made but inaccurate
posted on 18 Oct 2008Julius Caesar is a slightly better than average TV movie. But I would not recommend it for history buffs as it dose take quite a few liberty's with its historical accuracy . For example all the costumes are very inaccurate from the army uniforms to the senators robes. Especially in the case of Cato. Cato was said to have lead a rather Spartan life style and never wore the robes of the senator plus Cato was younger than Caesar so why get Christopher Walken to play him. Also the character of Vercingetorix is seen being killed in his jail cell. This never happened as he was ritually garroted in public. Also I think Sulla died of a flesh eating disease, similar to syphilis. Plus Marcus Licinius Crassus, Caesars Mentor and Sponsor is not even mentioned. I'm a bit of a roman history buff and have read a number of books on the Caesar. But I must say I half expected the mini series to be ten time worse. What saves Julius Caesar is the fact that it is well acted by most of the cast and is the first movie that I have seen that try's and tackle the early life of Caesar. It dose this quite well. Although it tended to jump forward years and miss out some major events in Caesars life. In short it was a bit rushed, but you can't have it all. Special effects and the battles are bloodless but well handled Getting back to the cast. Jeremy Sisto is a very good Caesar, unfortunately he doesn't age well. Richard Harris in his last role adds weight to the small role of Sulla. Chris North is good but under used as Pompey, Samuela Sardo is way to sexy to be a realistic Cleopatra but as eye candy, she's great. Valeria Golino really isn't given enough to do as Calpurnia, but is always a pleasure to watch and Christopher Walken is good but miss cast. The plain fact is that you can't fit Julius Caesars life into 3hours. I think they would have done better to make a 10 hour mini series in the same vain as H B O's ROME. But don't be put off by my small moans. I love epic movies and these type of mini series and I hope that they continue to make them. Julius Caesar was on the whole a reasonable attempted and I do not regret watching it. I just wish they hadn't have rushed it.
Half-way good
posted on 16 Oct 2008I was riveted to my seat during the first night's showing of Caesar on TNT.
I had not known much about the young Caesar so that was an interesting discovery. I thought Jeremy Sisto did a great job with what he had to work with. I was thoroughly disappointed with the second night's showing. It seems like it was rushed through just to get the movie out in the allotted timeframe. I wanted more information about Caesar's time in Gaul, when he marched back to Rome, when he went after Cato and Pompey, when he was in Egypt, when he was back in Rome. They instead focused on his imminent assassination and skimmed over the rest. I found myself wondering why Caesar was so great because he sure was not presented as such in this production. What exactly did he accomplish for Rome besides bringing in more wealth from his conquests? I suppose a look in the history books would answer the question, but I was hoping to find my answer in the 3 plus hours of "Caesar."I was especially disappointed with the battle between the Romans and the Gauls. It seemed like the Gauls had the advantage and all of a sudden they retreated when Caesar showed up with his horses. Why? I think the battle scene footage was horribly shot. Then there appeared to be an absence of bodies lying around in the aftermath. I find it hard to believe somebody would come in and clean up the field so quickly. You would have found it surprising there ever was a battle the way it was portrayed on film. Also, where did the Gauls who had been surrounded for months get all those healthy looking horses? If they were starving, wouldn't the horses be the first to go instead of the women and children? Did they save all of their food to feed the horses? It looked like every single man coming out of that fortress had his own horse.
All in all, I only recommend this movie for when you have nothing better to watch.
All hail Julius Caesar!
posted on 08 Jul 2008Oh my gosh. I love this movie. We watched most of it in one of my classes and I fell in love with Jeremy Sisto. He has the best voice ever! The acting was great. This was one of Richard Harris' finest performances, and just at the end of his life! I loved how in depth the movie went into the character of Caesar. It showed more about his personal life and family. It helped me realize that he wasn't some distant political ruler. He really cared for his wife and daughter. I didn't get to finish it but hopefully I'll be able to buy it and watch the rest, even though I already know how the story of Julius Caesar ends. This is definitely a movie I would watch multiple times, even if it was just for Jeremy Sisto!
Republic and political friendship go south
posted on 08 Jul 2008As a sucker for history-based spectacle, I disagree with 'real channel-switcher'...the miniseries is a reminder that there is a fascinating story to learn more about: in this case, how friends and allies, Pompey and Caeser (if indeed they were) could become deadly adversaries. And the image of a great republic becoming a dictatorship is relevant at all times, not just now. It has a great cast: was that Allan Richman as Julia's tutor? the always interesting Chris Walken, Chris Noth, Richard Harris. It's true that the role of Caeser really called for more than good looks.
a wasted opportunity
posted on 15 May 2008being a history buff, i was eagerly looking forward to julius caesar. an 'epic' 3 hour tv movie about the legendary general. the movie started promisingly enough with richard harris giving a barnstorming performance as salla. one had the idea that this may indeed be epic. alas it was neither epic, nor indeed any good. there didnt appear to be any coherency in the plot, which showed at times that vast amounts may have been edited out. jeremy sisko, who looks like peter weller, was totally miscast as caesar. too serious and moody. didnt give out any vibrancy as one of historys great figures. at times it did have the feel of a tv movie, with closed sets, even in the outdoor scenes. the costumes were impeccably clean (including the peasants) with hardy fighting roman soldiers showing off their pasty pink legs. the battles, though impressive, were totally wasted because there didnt appear to be any sense of action. just men fighting, and then fighting some more. christopher walkens character started out looking old, and became younger looking as the film progressed, with no idea of how he turned from a senator to fighting soldier overnight. and in this day and age, it again seems like a shame that in movieland, ancient egyptians are really europeans with black eyeliner. with the odd black slave thrown in to give it 'authenticity'. in a word (or two), a wasted opportunity.
Another dreadful, costume-epic mini-series with hackneyed acting from TV actors on hiatus.
posted on 26 Mar 2008Another in the recent run of ancient TV epics cast with second-rate TV performers wanting to expand their range. In this case Jeremy Sisto does an impression of Julius Caesar and this whole TNT epic becomes a bland, big-budget soap opera. The endless commercials don't help either; nor do the brief appearances by old pros like Walken and Harris, who can do this kind of thing in their sleep. Perhaps worth renting on video, so the commercial interruptions don't make a bad thing unbearable.
a fine study in character
posted on 10 Mar 2008made for TV movies are generally looked down upon, and rightly so, many of them are not as finely crafted as this one. I was quite pleasantly surprised by this film, it has a few inaccuracies, such as the non-existent Crasus who was a part of the triumvirate, however, other than this, i found it quite delightful. Sulla was perhaps one of the best villains i have ever seen, and Julius Caesar was not just the caricature he was a living breathing human. Jeremy Sisto seems to have something, though i confess i am not sure what it was. there was a great deal of vibrance and energy in the project. kudos to the fantastic director and the way he pulled together a string of events to create such a lavish and lovable movie. this sounds silly but i did cry at the end, it was so sad to see Caesar with all his good intentions killed in cold blood. if only they had added the final speech by Antony....
A great Caesar!
posted on 20 Jan 2008I watched this on two separate occasions, since I missed the first part of the first showing. I thought it was very good, very nicely done. We hadn't been watching long when I made the comment to my husband, "Man, this guy is a perfect Caesar!" So I found it interesting that the previous reviewer had the exact opposite opinion. I think it probably depends on your own preconceived notions of the real Julius Caesar, but I felt he was portrayed with a good mix of heroism and sometimes all too fallible humanity.
Fine acting, terrible concept
posted on 28 Sep 2007This movie had so many flaws it would be difficult to name them all. Most obvious is the lack of any interesting story line. The movie was about as boring as Caesar's commentaries- no frills at all. I appreciate them trying to tell the story before the civil war, but they ignored all the interesting bits. The sex, the adventure, etc. I thought Jeremy Sisto did a fine job, but why in the world would you cast a thirty year old to portray someone who died at 56? Then there are the historical inaccuracies. These are to be expected, but some, such as the fact that his daughter is ten when he would only be 18, serve no purpose. They should have adapted Colleen McCullough's novel instead.
Good character study, if a bit too short
posted on 20 Jul 2007It's very hard to compress the career of Julius Caesar into 3 hours of television, but this production accomplished the task admirably. Jeremy Sisto did a fine job conveying both the strengths and weaknesses in Caesar's character, and the supporting cast (especially Chris Noth) did an excellent job acting as complements and foils to Caesar.I would say that adding an additional hour or two to the aired miniseries (which was 4 hours long with commercials, split into two parts) could have immensely improved the overall quality of the production, but it is already a very good historical character study as it is. If you can get your hands on it at a video store, it is well worth the time.
About the Roman military uniforms
posted on 16 Jul 2007There is a problem with the Roman army's uniforms: in this movie (like in many others about the Roman Empire), the Roman soldiers are not properly equipped; I mean especially the helmets: they have Imperial Italic helmets, but these helmets appeared 40 years after Caesar's death, during the reign of Augustus! In this period (82 – 44 BC), the Roman army used Montefortino and Coolus A-B helmets. Also, in the movie there are some Praetorian soldiers, but these troops were created by Augustus. There are many books and data bases about the Roman army! The Montefortino helmets are much simplier than the helmets used in the movie; so, I think it's easier to "produce" such helmets. If a movie cannot show me the real uniforms, how could it show me the real facts?!
They came to praise Caesar, then bury him...
posted on 04 Jul 2007I'm a big fan of Roman history. I'm also a big fan of Richard Harris, Christopher Walken, Chris Noth, and any number of the interesting actors in this production. But that fandom was not enough to make me really love this uneven, choppy, and incredibly inaccurate portrayal of Julian Rome. Was this *supposed* to be "Julius Caesar, the Good Parts Version* (*with just enough bad left in to make him seem human and not perfect)" ?It felt like the writers desperately wanted to make Caesar a good guy and not deserving of the murder plot ultimately hatched against him on the Ides of March. Don't get me wrong -- Julius Caesar had many good points and did a lot for history. But he was also a womanizer, despotic at times, and many other sins too numerable to mention in this review, any of which make more sense as to why the Senate would want to murder him than the reasons shown in this miniseries.That is the worst crime in this series, I fear -- it makes no sense as to why so many would hate him enough to murder him. What they showed was he was doing many *good* things for Rome, with a few mistakes (like his affair and child with Cleopatra) thrown in to make him look a bit more human.Anyway. I enjoyed parts of this mini-series. Ultimately, I was disappointed on both a historical level and a dramatic level. The second part felt extremely choppy, and the last 45 minutes were extremely rushed -- they HAD to get Caesar to the Senate so they could stab him, after all, of course they had to rush. IMHO, better to have taken an extra hour or two to tell the tale properly than to try to fit it into the time they allowed.Hmmm...and thinking on it, this miniseries was decidedly written by someone who adored Caesar, and preferred to praise him, not to bury him.
Let's make Conn Iggulden's books into a film...
posted on 03 Mar 2009I am reading Conn Iggulden's books at the moment. and although he changed a little bit of the real story in favor of the book, the books are close to the real live of Caesar.The movie is bad cause it does not do justice to the man Caesar was...The acting was not good, only Richard Harris was really good as Sulla, he will be missed...I really hope that a man like for instance Peter Jackson is willing to pick up the story of Conn Iggulden's Caesar. It has CLASSIC written all over it...But this movie...I'm sorry..