Caligula (3-Disc Special Edition) with Malcolm McDowell: DVD Cover
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Caligula (3-Disc Special Edition)
a.k.a. Caligula Director: Tinto Brass, Bob Guccione, Giancarlo Lui Cast: Malcolm McDowell, Teresa Ann Savoy, Helen Mirren, Peter O'Toole

DVD - 3 Disc Set - Wide Screen Learn more

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  • DVD Release Date: 10/02/2007
  • Original Release: 1979
  • Rating: Not Rated
  • Sales Rank: 1,679

Viewer Rating: (9 ratings)

Detailed Rating: "Discussions" See All

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DVD - Wide Screen$19.99
DVD - Wide Screen$17.99
Blu-ray - Wide Screen / DTS$23.99
 
  • Overview
  • Editorial Reviews
  • Scenes
  • Customer Reviews
  • Cast & Crew
  • Full Product Details

Scenes

Features

New high-definition transfer of the unrated, uncensored feature film; Alternate pre-release version of the film, never seen before; Revealing new full-length audio commentaries with stars Malcolm McDowell and Helen Mirren; Candid new video interview features with director Tinto Brass and actors John Steiner and Lori Wagner; Startling audio commentary with on-set writer Ernest Volkman; "The Making of Caligula" documentary (two versions); Hours of deleted and alternate scenes and behind-the-scenes footage; Hundreds of astonishing, never-before-seen photographs from the set; Theatrical trailers; DVD-ROM extras including Gore Vidal's original screenplay, three Penthouse magazine features, an interview with Bob Guccione and more; Collectible packaging with new liner notes booklet

Full Product Details

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Caligula: Feature Film
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 Eara [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]
Disc #2 -- Caligula: Alternate Version
1. Main Title [3:12]
2. Tiberius Caesar [12:22]
3. A True Moralist [11:00]
4. Nerva's Escape [5:52]
5. The Ring [8:09]
6. A New Era [7:11]
7. The Arrest of Macro [8:18]
8. Caligula & Drusilla [3:25]
9. Choosing a Wife [7:49]
10. Fate of a Traitor [2:27]
11. A Wedding Gift [7:29]
12. Comfort From the Storm [3:35]
13. Treason [14:40]
14. An Honest Man [4:19]
15. Newborn [10:45]
16. Roaming the Streets [9:12]
17. God on Earth [3:35]
18. The Imperial Brothel [10:54]
19. Caligula the Conqueror [10:43]
20. Assassination [5:55]
21. End Credits [1:51]

Scene Index

Editorial Reviews

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, All Movie Guide

Customer Reviews

Caligulaby Anonymous

Reader Rating:
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September 01, 2009: Not for the faint of heart or prudish.

This review was written about the DVD Wide Screen edition.

Caligula: The Imperial Edition (Blu-ray)by Alric

Reader Rating:
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January 15, 2009: It's hard to view this film divorced from its controversy. To see spliced-in pornographic acts performed in a film so sumptuously photographed blurs our aesthetics; or it did mine, anyway. Still, it is never boring. Along with the nearly constant atrocities stemming from a complete abuse of power, it has stunning visuals going for it. After watching "Caligula: The Imperial Edition")[Blu-ray], and feting on all the extras, I've concluded that, despite its many flaws, it is indeed a good film. By all accounts, it should have been a GREAT film, but as often is the case with ambitious visions, conflicts led to too many unsatisfactory compromises. Regardless, it has its merits.

To sum it up, Malcolm McDowell plays Caligula as cruel, irreverent, and mirthfully insane. John Gielgud plays with erect Shakespearean dignity Tiberius' only friend, the wise Nerva, contemptuous of the inevitable scenario of Rome's further decline at Caligula's ascendancy. Peter O'Toole portrays Tiberius as sardonically embittered by the trappings of power, his face scabby and scalp clumpy from the ravages of syphilis. Once Tiberius dies -- all of the actors with major theater credentials exit relatively early -- Caligula has the playground of Rome all to himself.

I never saw the remastered DVD Special Edition released a couple of years ago, so I'm unable to compare this Blu-ray to it. But I can state with certainty that it's far superior to the initial DVD issued back in the 1990s. Art director and costume designer Danilo Donati gave cinematographer Silvano Ippoliti a lively palette and grand designs to work with, and it's illuminated here. The age of the print is apparent at times, but the hi-def transfer revives the lost vibrancy of the draped luxury and pillared architecture. And aside from the brighter picture, there's a cornucopia tucked away in the special features.

The extras include two versions of "The Making of Caligula"; interviews (about 30 minutes each) with director Tinto Brass, actor John Steiner (who portrayed Longinus), and Penthouse pet Lori Wagner (who in hindsight realizes she was in way over her head); three audio commentaries (McDowell, Helen Mirren, and on-set writer Ernest Volkman); an alternate pre-release version of the film; and the usual odds and ends (deleted scenes, theatrical trailers, and so on). This edition comes with a 15-page booklet detailing the film's troubled production, in which the essayist R. J. Buffalo concludes passionately that a full restoration to its original vision is in order. It's a hell-freezes-over probability. From the bonus features, it's obvious that two immutable creative forces were in direct conflict. Gore Vidal, who wrote the original screenplay, eventually disavowed the film when director Brass altered how Caligula himself was presented. It must have come down to an interpretation of the script, because Vidal's earlier version is included in the extras, and a lot of the dialogue was retained, some of it word for word. So on the one hand, you have Brass wanting a sexually explicit romp; on the other you have Vidal's depiction of Caligula as derisive of the ruling class, and abuses power as mockery. So the result is schizophrenic montage. In my judgment, Vidal's vision edges out ahead slightly, as by the time you get to all that explicit sex, they're not festivities you'd want to be invited to. So the question remains, to whose vision should a final edit be...

This review was written about the Blu-ray Wide Screen / DTS edition.


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