Rating: 
Summary: Porno or poor movie, absolutely unique among movies
Review: 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!
Rating: 
Summary: Much Ado About Nothing
Review: Bob Guccione's "Caligula" is an attempt for a pornographer to make a movie that serves to promote his magazine. The movie is an attempt to reconstruct the life of the troubled, inbred young Roman Emperor Caligula. Bob Guccione, creator of Penthouse magazine, and the film's producer, uses the film to illustrate the decadance of ancient-Rome. This is very fertile ground for a pornographer. While the acting of Malcom McDowell is outstanding, the film is hard to watch because sex is at every turn throughout the film. This seriously detracts from the plot. However, anyone who appreciates on screen X-rated sex will welcome this. To be honest, the Imperial Bordello scene toward the end of the film is incredibly kinky and arousing. One of the major flaws in the film is the accuracy of Caligula's insanity. While many of the outragoeus actions portrayed by McDowell did happen, many did not. The ancient Roman historian Suetonius is our chief source on Caligula. The record on Caligula left by Suetonius in his "Lives of the Twelve Caesars," does not provide nearly the amount of insane actions surmised by Guccione's film account. Beware, the film is seriously dated, and wreaks of a 1970's porno advertisement.
Rating: 
Summary: Just imagine if Cecil B. DeMille had no censors to offend!
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: A Movie with an Attitude!!
Review: There was no movie before or after that will come close to Caligula. This movie has balls! It went were no other movie has dared to go before..It tells the story of the emperor Caligula with all its depraved details,with an excellent tongue-in-cheek performance by the great and still largely underrated Malcolm Mc Dowell. Caligula was not only a genuine and very dangerous psycho! but a lunatic with a lot of power and a libido to match, and Malcolm Mc Dowell portrays this beautifully. Yet what makes Caligula a one off cinematic occurance is the sheer nerve of producer and Penthouse maestro Bob Guccione, by including hardcore porn in the film, as the legend goes after the mainstream actors and technicians went to bed!!And this combination adds a unique flavor to the film, it shows the decadence and depravity of romans, without being disgusting just maybe shocking and real: in your face, porn.
Many people have attacked the film as a piece of garbage,and the film became infamous for the wrong reasons, for I believe the filming, acting (Mc Dowell, O'Toole andf Mirren) and direction are above average. Watch Caligula as a unique experience in cinema, and even if you think it is a bad film, it is one of these films that are so bad they're actually good..very good in fact.
but a Warning!!!! the DVD quality is very poor, similar if not worse than the VHS version..yet included is the making of documentary which is as interesting to watch as the film itself!
go on indulge yourself in a bit of roman decadence, in the safety of your own home!!
Rating:
Summary: Why????
Review: Much has been made of this film becouse of it's graphic violence and sex, however when just taken on it's own merits it's hard to watch. The movie is about Caligula (Malcolm McDowell) a cruel and ruthless Roman leader of 37AD. His sickness and cruelty is well known. THe movie is done by Penthouse founder Bob Guccione who in his own right is a very smart man but I think forgot what he was doing. Peter O'Toole, Helen Mirren, and Sir John Gielgud are all in this film but it is well known that all were very upset with the finished product. Mirren, a well known stage actor, plays Caligula's wife, a women who has gotten around. O' Toole is Tiberius the Cesar before Caligula. And Gielgud is Nerva. All the actors in this film are giving very bad, and somtimes stupid, dilouge to recite, but being so good the actors even pull of that demanding of a feat. At time's O' Toole is slightly over the top but considering the material he was giving he may have thought that it was worth overacting. Gielgud, however, seems to take his role very seriously and pulls off the role with a real flair, it has been said he was the most upset with the film becouse after it was shot Guccione went back and added some very hard sex scenes. Gielgud demanded his name be pulled from the film and to this day I have not seen one cover, credit, or list that mentions him as Sir. I originally saw this on cable TV and thought it was an interesting, if not uneven, film. So I thought that if I rented the Un-cut version I may find it more lucid, however it seemed more uneven than ever. If you are woundering if there is really any hardcore sex in the film or not I am here to tell you that there is. There are very graphic moments in the film. There is somthing to be said for the acting however and all of those involved have said that they thought they were making somthing different than what they saw at the screening. I have to belive them becouse the acting is at times very good. The movie however can't be saved by the good acting. The directing is really very bad and the film is very badly paced. When all is said and done it is a real shame that this movie is in the same light as Ben-Hur and Sparticus, when the film has no real right to be mentioned in such high company.I would like to this film forgoten about and left to rot on the shelves where it belongs. It does nothing to help the actors image and nothing to help the film industry. Sir John Gielgud and Peter O'Toole would bouce back with Arthur and My Favorite Year respectivly but Malcolm McDowell never recovered. He made a very good film in Time After Time but other than that his career never came around agian. In the end Caligula is a bad film with some real controversy to make people want to see it. I rented it to "see what all the fuss was about." After all is said and done and the movie is just asked to stand on it's own it fails. Good acting cannot save bad fimlmaking.....
Rating:
Summary: The Guiltiest Of Movie Pleasures
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Umm... OK.
Review: Some epics are famous for their content. Braveheart, for instance, revitalized interest in William Wallace and might be credited with drumming up support for the Scottish National Party and the new Scottish Parliament. Others are famous for their quirks; Spartacus director Stanley Kubrick employed the "Hollywood Ten" blacklist, a group of people accused of communist activities by the McCarthy witchunt. Still others, like Lawrence of Arabia, are so unique in their locations, subject matter, and cinematographic pioneering that they top the list of influences of every major movie director - and a lot of the minor directors, too. Caligula, on the other hand, is famous for being the most expensive pornography film ever created. I'm not going to bother summarizing plot, as there really isn't any to speak of. Obstinately, it's a historical epic about Emperor Caligula, the ruler that was responsible for such excellent history-class tibits as naming his horse a Senator and marching the Roman Garrison into the ocean because he'd declared war on Neptune, drowning them by the thousands. And you thought our presidents were bad! The movie, from a script by Gore Vidal (that he attempted to disown), details Caligula's personal insanity, including his incestuous relationships with his sister and the forces that plot against him, both real and imaginary. Say what you will about the film, it is still a $15 million porno flick, with better actors than usual. If you're going to take the plunge to buy it, then get the blue-packaged Unrated version. Not only does it have the extra hardcore, but it is the only one with 5.1 sound and the interview segment with Gore Vidal himself. The DVD is OK; the title screens are well-done, but the video transfer looks almost like a VHS tape, fuzzy and full of dust. Sound, at least on the Unrated version, is decent, making full use of all channels, but it is pretty obvious that the soundtrack wasn't remastered for the DVD release. If you're feeling particularly masochistic, there's no reason to add this title to your collection, other than just to have it there. Fans should pay the extra for the Unrated version, but anyone who hasn't seen it will probably want to make the trip to their local video store first.
Rating:
Summary: groundbreaking experiment in historical realism
Review: i had heard the legend of this movie long before i saw it and i really didn't expect much more than sensationalism. having studied a great deal about the early roman empire, i knew the story of caligula very well. my surprise at watching this movie was the accuracy of this depiction of the mad emperor to the ancient latin source material. they could have toned down the graphic sexual content to earn an R rating and possibly draw a larger mainstream audience. would this have made for a better movie? not sure myself. is it pornography? if the graphic portrayal of human sexuality is the definition of pornography then yes it is in part pornography. if you are looking for subtlety in a roman emperial story check out i claudius. if you want the truth, and you can handle the truth then you should buy or rent this one today. probably not a family night movie, but certainly a memorable one.
Rating:
Summary: Does it Even count as porn?
Review: It's hard to even call this film a porno. While it does include lots of nudity, as well as graphic sex scenes, it is driven by the plot rather than the sex, as well as having real acting talent. While I wouldn't recommend this to anyone (it still can be very offensive to many people), I will still say that it is a must see for anyone with a heavy interest in Roman life and it's decadence.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting experiment in film that ultimately fails
Review: I wish I liked Caligula. It could have been so much: with talented actors, beautiful extras, a no-holds-barred approach shared by an intellectual screenwriter and an uninhibited director, it sounds like a blueprint for an brutally honest and emotionally strenuous film. And maybe it was at the time, but as one of the millions of movie viewers who don't remember the 70's, who never had limits on the amount of sex and violence presented as entertainment (except, for better or worse, our parents), Caligula is not very shocking at all. It's terrible to admit being desensitized, but anyone who has ever watched both a porn movie and a single episode of any network cop drama can handle this. It is important to watch the "Making of Caligula" feature with the DVD, as it explains everything that went into making the film. In many ways, this short film is more interesting than the movie itself. It's kind of sad, really, to see how Gore Vidal thought the movie would change the history of cinema and how much research and effort and money went into creating a Rome that ultimately looks like a porno movie but acts like a morality epic. If anything, it's evidence of the efforts in the 1970's to bring porn into mainstream cinema, of the time right before AIDS was discovered. It belongs on a shelf next to "Deep Throat." Caligula is a reasonably good movie about how excess brings the death of morality. But so many other movies have been made which better explore this theme in equally provocative ways. ...
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