Cheap Caligula (Unrated Version) (DVD) (Malcolm McDowell, Helen Mirren, Peter O'Toole) (Tinto Brass, Bob Guccione) Price

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Customer Reviews of Caligula (Unrated Version)

Porno or poor movie, absolutely unique among movies
This movie is a masterpiece in that it accomplishes what it set out to do: to depict decadent, pagan Rome circa 37 AD. I cringed throughout the FIRST VIEWING, unsure what to expect, fearing revulsion in each scene. The SECOND VIEWING was better, I knew what to expect: a simple plot about unchecked power with gratuitous violence and sex. Guccione may have overstated the sex and violence but that is what you get from pagan cultures. The THIRD VIEWING reveals the movie as art: as pornographic and dangerous as ancient Rome at its worst with interesting props and sets. Maybe Guccione wanted to contrast sexual cultures of ancient Rome with his magazine culture of today: to prove that he himself and/or current exploitation of women isn't so bad after all--only sexually explicit. Generally, sex of any kind still has a bad reputation. This movie only needs be a reasonably accurate historical account (ostensibly derived from museum artifacts commonly found around the world) to maintain historical relevance. Many will hate this sort of reality, but not every movie has to "sublimate" reality according to family movie standards to please puritanical hypocrites. Face it: only a world as lost as Caligula's could crucify Christ. (Notice how persecution against the spiritually pure was greatest then?) Yes (?) Nevertheless, this movie entertains by being so over-the-top that exquisite sound and editing are not necessary. Again, this was the real Rome. Finally, if you are an adult who desires full knowledge of the depth of human depravity, then Vidal, Guccione, et al. should be praised for accomplishing such an important (by virtue of its controversy) historical film. I recommend this film to everyone to either love or hate. I love it!

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Just imagine if Cecil B. DeMille had no censors to offend!
As much as I like to consider myself uninhibited and not offended too easily, I will admit that some things are enough to shock me & make me question my threshold of offense. If a movie like CALIGULA doesn't do this for anyone, then you are probably a very disturbed individual indeed. I figured that if a movie like CALIGULA could even be released in legitimate theaters, it cannot be all that shocking, but in its unrated, unedited form, it truly is one of the (and maybe THE) most provocative motion pictures ever made! Is it great filmmaking? Hardly. But is it an excellent example of what movies can do without a whole lot of censorial albatrosses around the makers' necks? Absolutely!

I'm pretty sure that in Cecil B. DeMille's time, a movie about Caligula could not be made because it would have featured unthinkable images and plot themes that Hollywood would not touch with a ten-foot pole. While I'm certainly no fan of adult magazines like PENTHOUSE, I applaud Bob Guccione for taking one of the biggest risks in the history of mankind in making this film. By far his biggest coup was getting such respected actors to appear in a film like CALIGULA.

The only actor that comes to my mind that could play Caligula is Malcolm McDowell, for he has made his career out of playing unusual & utterly disagreeable characters. To me, McDowell IS CALIGULA, both the character & the movie! He owns this production thru & thru, and if someone must walk away with something to like about this movie, it is his performance. Lines like "If only all Rome had just one neck" or "Let them hate me, so long as they fear me" would sound corny coming from your typical DeMille characters. But McDowell makes you believe them, and the image of his bloodied corpse at the end of the film will stick with you!

The Caesars were very much off the beam as Peter O'Toole's character of Tiberius show. Granted, this isn't the best work of O'Toole's long, illustrious career (LAWRENCE OF ARABIA or the movie he did after this, MY FAVORITE YEAR, will take that honor), but his practically crazed performance rivals that of his lead role in THE RULING CLASS for its sheer madness. At the beginning of the film, it would seem as if Tiberius is even more depraved than Caligula, yet it hints at how Caligula himself will be as soon as he gets a taste of power.

Helen Mirren didn't have a whole lot to do in this film, and while she has certainly made her share of borderline-offensive films (THE COOK, THE THIEF, HIS WIFE & HER LOVER), Mirren seemed a little lost and maybe even aghast at the goings-on in CALIGULA. Her character of Caesonia, one of the biggest prostitutes in the Roman empire, seems like an ill fit for Mirren. John Gielgud is also given the shaft with a role that lasts a very short time & was probably done during a break in one of his plays. I'm sure Gielgud didn't have any problem appearing in a movie like this, seeing as how he was an avowed homosexual.

The story behind the making of CALIGULA is too long & storied to get into here, but needless to say when it was released, opinions could not be more polarized. You either liked it or thought it was the most disgusting, repulsive film you ever saw in your life. Apparently, both sides wanted to see for themselves, for CALIGULA did do somewhat well at the box office, just barely making back its extravagant production costs. Naturally, it received an X rating, meaning only a few theaters were willing to show the film. But Bob Guccione wanted the film to be a success, so he willingly edited the film down to get an R rating, and thus open up more theaters to play CALIGULA. That's what makes me actually admire Guccione: he wanted to break down barriers, but at the same time he knew he would encounter his share of opposition.

I strongly caution people of weak stomachs or high morals to not watch this film, but if you do, be sure to be dazzled and offended at the same time. CALIGULA is certainly a film you won't see on television, even late at night when the kids are safely asleep. But if you happen to find it in its uncut form (you may have to look hard, for the stores in my town only carry the edited version) & are willing to take a chance on some pure, unadulterated filmmaking, CALIGULA is the film that remains at the top of that list.

Enter the world of Pagan Rome & CALIGULA at your own risk. Don't say I didn't warn you!

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The Guiltiest Of Movie Pleasures
I feel slightly embarrassed to tell people how much I love this film, you should see the looks I get! But this film is the guiltiest pleasure there is. Is it porn? No, it isn't. When you have that urge to view porn, Caligula is not the first film you rent......too much plot. It has many hardcore sex scenes, but this was all part of an enormous failed experiment: To bring porn scenes to legitimate film. It didn't work, this film is a disaster. But because of this, the film is very entertaining. The first time you see it you won't believe what you're watching. You'll be asking yourself, "How?", "Why?", etc. Regardless if you love it or hate it, you'll sit through the entire two and and half hours of it just out of morbid curiosity and bewilderment. The same impulse that makes you slow down as you drive past an accident on the highway. I'm not quite sure what Gore Vidal was thinking here; Wouldn't you think that if you got Bob Guccione and Tinto Brass involved in your film that it would be overflowing with sleaze? Gore can't be that dumb! In the documentary it's hilarious to watch him talk about the historical and philosophical importance of the movie. I bet he feels like a total schmuck and totally ashamed now when he thinks back on that. I'd love to ask him about it. The film tries to be accurate and take itself seriously as a drama, but lets cut through ... here; Guccione was merely using this as a way to push his sleaze into the mainstream and become an "innovative genius" in the public's eye. The sex scenes are very sleazy and disgusting because they're usually sandwiched between(or during) scenes of graphic violence, making them devoid of any kind of erotic value. I love showing or lending this movie to unsuspecting friends, coworkers, family, just to get their reaction. There will never be another movie like Caligula....ever. See it once and remember it for the rest of your days. A warning though: Don't watch on a first date, she won't be impressed.