Caligula may very well be the most controversial film in history. Only one movie dares to show the perversion behind Imperial Rome, and that movie is "Caligula," the epic story of Rome's mad emperor. All the details of his cruel, bizarre reign are revealed right here: his unholy sexual passion for his sister, his marriage to Rome's most infamous prostitute, his fiendishly inventive means of disposing of those who would oppose him, and more. The combined talents of cinematic giants Malcolm McDowell, Peter O'Toole, John Gielgud and Shakespearean actress Helen Mirren, along with an acclaimed international cast and a bevy of beautiful Penthouse Pets, make this unique historical drama a masterwork of the screen. Not for the squeamish, not for the prudish, "Caligula" will shock and arouse you as it reveals the deviance and decadence beneath the surface of the grandeur that once was Rome.
Remember the dumbstruck, jaw-dropped expressions on "Springtime for Hitler's" shocked opening-night audience in Mel Brooks's original film of The Producers? That will no doubt be your face through much of the two-and-a-half-hour running time of this infamous 1979 pornographic epic that was a (Penthouse) pet project of publisher Bob Guccione. That's not necessarily a bad thing. But don't take our word for it. Listen to Helen Mirren--yes, the Oscar-winning Queen herself--who stars as Caesonia, Caligula's third wife and "the most promiscuous woman in Rome" (and in this film's salacious vision of Pagan Rome, that is saying something). In her very gracious, thoughtful and candid audio commentary that alone is worth the price of this set, she remarks, "I think it's a movie that is unlike any other, which is difficult to achieve." And for those of a more prurient bent, she adds, "It has an awful lot of bottoms." Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange) gives a brave and fearless performance as Caligula, the hated and feared emperor corrupted by absolute power and no doubt voted Most Likely to Be Assassinated. The film unflinchingly charts his plummet into madness and the brutality of his reign in scenes of hardcore sex and violence that cannot be described here ("I can't watch," Mirren cries to her interviewers over one scene in which unfortunate characters are beheaded by a blade-spinning combine. "I can't even listen to it").

Caligula is also a career curiosity for author Gore Vidal, who wrote the original screenplay, but later demanded his name be removed from the credits, and venerable actors Peter O'Toole, appearing briefly as the syphilitic Emperor Tiberius Caesar, and John Gielgud as Nerva, a Senator who'd rather take his own life than "live with this reptile." This controversial film's tortured history is untangled in a very helpful booklet that is packaged along with this set's three discs. One is hard-pressed to think of a more reviled film graced with such a gala presentation, but Caligula's defenders and the curious will be amply rewarded with both the original uncut theatrical version of the film and a re-edited alternate version. Supplementary material includes an hour of deleted footage, a pretentious "making of" documentary made during the film's production and a new interview with director Tinto Brass, whose softcore tendencies clashed with Guccioni's more extreme vision (Brass did not have final cut, allowing Guccione to insert more explicit footage into the film). McDowell contributes his own lively audio commentary. "God help us," he groans as the film begins, but by its bloody conclusion, he proclaims he has "no regrets at all" about making the film. Caligula, Mirren maintains, is "an irresistible mix of art and genitals." And you've got to hand it to Guccione. Especially in these politically correct times, it is still strong and scandalous stuff. --Donald Liebenson

Customer Rating:
Summary: One Major Inaccuracy
Comment: You are probably tired of comments on this movie. It is basically a Penthouse porno hiding behind an older version of the same movie. Since I am used to hard core, I didn't flinch during most of the sex scenes.

However, I was not happy with on major historical inaccuracy of the flick. Claudius, the successor to Caligual was portrayed and a slobbering idiot with an almost mentally retarded character. This was a tremendous injustice. Claudius was, according to the historians, a very timid soul with a severe speech impediment. He was embarassed to speak in public and held most of his council with (I think) one of his female cousins). Ironically, Claudius was quite intelligent and, over the period of his reign, turned out to be one of the most effective of the Caesars. Two of his most deirable traits were an incorruptable nature, a sense of fairness and beneath it all, a kind and generous disposition. It might be challenged as a historical fact, but I think he suffered from epilepsy.

If you are interested in an accurate portrayal of Claudius, check out the PBS/BBC series "I Claudius" which aired many years ago. I think it's available on Netflix, and, used to be listed in the Acorn catalog. There are several hours of programming, and sometimes it drags. If my memory serves me correctly, Patrick Stewart played the commander of the Guards and did (as usual) a fantastic job of acting.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Fellini is better
Comment: The only thing worth seeing in this crappy ,booooooring! porn movie are the costumes designed by the great Danilo Donati. And even he was sleep walking thru this dreck as he had already done Fellini's "Satyricon" and just fell back on that concept.
So get "Satyricon" instead. It's really about the same thing (Is "Caligula" about anything really?), is more historically convincing (tho' hardly accurate), in Italian (a great help in creating a cultural reference), and just a better ride into the Ancient Western World. "Satyricon" too has no discernable plot, but then it comes from fragments of an ancient story....part of its charm.

Yep...forget this mess, and buy "Satyricon".

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Before "Rome", before "Gladiator", there was "Caligula"...
Comment: This has to be one of the most unusual films ever made. From Penthouse magazine's Bob Guccione and Director Tinto Brass, "Caligula" is basically a high production porn film... with lasvish sets and costumes, this film is somewhat shocking and even a little disturbing. With nearly two and a half hours of male and female nudity, and serveral hardcore sex scenes thrown in, this is a somewhat creepy film. This is not a bad films, it just is not a great films. "Caligula" is the kind of movie you need see at least once...

It is kind of hard for me to understand how such great actors such as, Peter O'Toole, Sir John Gielgud and the ever so sexy and desirable Helen Mirren, along with Malcolm McDowell ever said yes to being in this film. They do however give good performances...

A couple lessons of history: 1. Tiberius (Peter O'Toole) "fishes" were in reality little boys he called "his minnows", not the men and women in the swim scene.

2. Caligula committed incest with three of his sisters, not just Drusilla (Teresa Ann Savoy).

But, hey... it's only a movie right?

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Customer Rating:
Summary: WHAT THE HELL DID YOU EXPECT?
Comment: Okay, so this movie has Helen Helen Mirren, John Gielgud, Peter O'Toole, and Malcom MacDowell...but were you expecting a classic screen version of Gore Vidal's literate account of the corrupting influence of power, performed by the brillance of English theatre talent. Are you on drugs?! Penthouse Magazine is the producer of this thing. In any case, apart from the porno scene additions, this movie does have legs, if you can commit yourself to believing that it's somewhat Fellini-esque in its portrayal of Imperial Rome. The performances are, uniformly, well-done by all the principles (At least took the whole thing seriously.) and the art direction is impressive. And this is the unrated version, so go crazy! As for the much talked about lesbian scene, well, it has been better done elsewhere. (Not that I would know anything about that.)

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Customer Rating:
Summary: dvd review
Comment: I am a true history buff. After watching the story of Caligula on the History Channel, I decided to buy the movie. I was truly disappointed. The story line was weak and riddled with strong vulgar sex scenes that were unnecessary as to WHO or WHAT Caligula was or was about. Although Caligula was sexually perverted, the movie never went into great detail as to WHY he was that way. If it had explained the young Caligula in greater depth instead of concentrating on his sexual deviances, then maybe the movie would have made more sense as to why he was he was weird.
Therefore, this was just another senseless porno that was based on a true story.

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