Caligula

UPC: 014381416022

Studio: Image

MPAA Rating: NR   Contains:[Graphic Violence, Nudity, Strong Sexual Content, Rape & Sexual Abuse, Not For Children, Adult Language]

Summary: This lavish big-budget epic was the pinnacle of a uniquely Italian subgenre, the historical hardcore gore/porn extravaganza. The star-studded cast, perhaps lured by the high-profile involvement of producer Bob Guccione and screenwriter Gore Vidal, includes such luminaries as John Gielgud, Peter O'Toole, and Helen Mirren. Director Tinto Brass, whose similar treatment of Nazi Germany in Salon Kitty won him the job, did his best with the mammoth enterprise, but numerous production problems and re-edits took their toll on the finished product. When Caligula works best, it works because of Malcolm McDowell, whose crazed portrayal of the title Emperor is the embodiment of villainous corruption. McDowell raises his performance level to match the gaudy spectacle around him, which led to charges of overacting, but there are moments when he is absolutely riveting. Some of the cast doesn't fare as well, as O'Toole makes a particularly unsubtle Tiberius. The sex is graphic and steamy, particularly a feverish lesbian interlude between Penthouse Pets Lori Wagner and Marjorie Thorsen (using the pseudonym "Anneka di Lorenzo"), and the various carnival freaks used as atmosphere imbue the film with a grotesque, Fellini-like opulence. There are many memorable scenes and a magnificent score by Paul Clemente, but the heady brew of historical epic, hardcore sex, and gory violence proved overwhelming to many viewers. Still, Gore Vidal's script is surprisingly accurate, and manages to be entertainingly vulgar while bringing a rather loathsome slice of human history to vivid life, warts and all. The more explicit scenes were directed by Bob Guccione and Giancarlo Lui, causing both Vidal and Brass to remove their names from the credits. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

Category: Epic

Caligula

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 10/02/2007

Audio: DD5.0 Dolby Digital 5.0, DDM2.0 Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono

Runtime: 156 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Chapters: Disc #1 -- Caligula [The Unrated Edition]
1. Caligula & Drusilla [3:34]
2. Main Title [2:12]
3. Tiberius Caesar [10:35]
4. A True Moralist [12:55]
5. Nerva's Escape [7:44]
6. The Ring [6:15]
7. A New Era [7:16]
8. The Arrest of Macro [10:16]
9. Choosing a Wife [5:58]
10. Fate of a Traitor [2:27]
11. A Wedding Gift [7:29]
12. Comfort From the Storm [7:05]
13. Treason [13:09]
14. An Honest Man [5:50]
15. Newborn [10:45]
16. Roaming the Streets [9:13]
17. God on Earth [3:34]
18. The Imperial Brothel [11:02]
19. Caligula the Conqueror [10:40]
20. Assassination [6:18]
21. End Credits [1:28]

Donald Guarisco

Caligula could very well be the most difficult big-budget film ever made; "difficult" in the sense that despite possessing grand production values and a-list lead actors, it works hard to alienate the audience by burying them in a stream of unsympathetic characters, grotesque violence, and explicit sex. This would be a tough agenda to follow even if Caligula was a tight, confident piece of work. Unfortunately, it is not. The film was reedited several times by different editors before release (portions were also reshot or expanded) and the result is a jumbled mess where scenes appear out of logical order (note the continuity problems), other moments are clumsily redubbed to fit the new chronology and the pace lags throughout. Thus, Caligula is unlikely to hold the attention of a mainstream audience. However, devotees of the bizarre might find Caligula worth checking out, simply because of its sheer outrageousness. No film has ever tried to combine historical drama with such extreme content and the end result is perversely fascinating in segments. More importantly, Malcolm McDowell gives a gutsy, all-stops-out performance in the title role, creating a character that is riveting despite his thoroughly unsympathetic nature and holding the production together through sheer force-of-will. Caligula is guaranteed to alienate a large segment of the viewing public but a select few will be fascinated by its lavishly perverse style and the bombast of McDowell's performance. ~ Donald Guarisco, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Osiride Pevarello  Actor 
Guido Mannari  Actor 
Lori Wagner  Actor 
Anneka Di Lorenzo  Actor 
Mirella D'Angelo  Actor 
Tinto Brass  Director 
Paul Clemente  Composer (Music Score) 
Bob Guccione  Director 
Bob Guccione  Producer 
Franco Rossellini  Producer 
Gore Vidal  Screenwriter 
Giancarlo Lui  Director 
Malcolm McDowell  Actor 
Teresa Ann Savoy  Actor 
Helen Mirren  Actor 
Peter O'Toole  Actor 
John Gielgud  Actor 
John Steiner  Actor 
Paolo Bonacelli  Actor 
Giancarlo Badessi  Actor 
Adriana Asti  Actor 
Leopoldo Trieste  Actor 

Country: Italy,USA