Caligula (DVD)

A review of the Imperial Edition DVD set, currently selling on amazon for £12. This is an infamous biopic of the Roman Emperor Caligula, shot in 1976 but not released until 1980. It was written by Gore Vidal (although he had his name removed from the film) and directed by Tinto Brass, an Italian soft-core porn director. Bob Guccione, boss of Penthouse magazine, who financed the film, added hardcore porn sequences, shot on the film's sets, without telling the mainstream cast members. Which is how Sir John Gielgud ended up in a porno flick. I'm astonished to see this turn up uncut. 'Arthouse porno' films have been getting through the BBFC lately, but ...  Read the complete review

Caligula -------- The following opinion is for the Region 1 156 minute Uncut version of the picture AND NO OTHER! Roman historian Suetonius writes that Caligula lived twenty-nine years and ruled three years, ten months and eight days. This time period has spawned one of the most memorable hours on British television and one of the most depraved films ever to appear on mainstream cinema screens. Tiberius's reign is coming to an end, the man has deserted Rome for the island of Capri, where he is celebrating the end of his life, riddled with 'orrible diseases, indulging in every possible (and impossible) vice. Caligula (Malcolm McDowell) ...  Read the complete review

This film has been endlessly panned by critics, and it has a troubled history of censorship, re-editing and disagreement among those responsible for the final product. I believe I have seen three seperate cuts of this piece, beginning in my viewing the cut that was on limited release on the edge of London's porn district, Soho, in 1980. This was not the hardcore version, but it came as close as the censors would have allowed in those days. Then there was the television version, which is arguably the most comprehendible version, as the sexual content is so watered down it does not detract from the story. In this instance it works well as historical ...  Read the complete review

Tinto Brass' Caligula really is one of the biggest, most epic messes ever put to film. Intended as an epic depiction of his life, instead, it's just an incredibly orgiastic film that's got plenty of gratuitous sex and violence, none too surprising considering it was edited by a man that worked for Hustler magazine! I feel bad for fine actors like Malcolm McDowell, Peter O' Toole and Helen Mirren for having their careers ever so slightly tarnished with this dross. It's a 157-minute mess of a film that neither justifies its length with convincing narrative or even anything that might mildly be construed as sexy. It's possible a man's worst nightmare - something ...  Read the complete review

Caligula is now nearly 30 years old. I remember seeing it for the first time on video when I was in my teens and it was purely for titilation purposes. That was back in the day when anything that maybe contained a bit of nudity was really enough to keep you interested. I had no idea back then about the controversial story behind the making of this film. It has a very well known cast - Malcolm McDowell, Peter O' Toole, Helen Mirren to name but a few. However these people were all told that the nudity etc in the film was all going to be done quite tastefully despite the fact that it was being made by Penthouse films and was being directed by the controversially sexual ...  Read the complete review