Caligula (Three-Disc Imperial Edition)
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Movie Reviews of Caligula (Three-Disc Imperial Edition)
Movie Review: Shock and Awe
Summary: 4 Stars
If you thought HBO's depiction of ancient Rome was graphic and brutal Rome - The Complete First Two Seasons, then you obviously haven't seen Caligula.
Caligula leaves nothing for the imagination unless you're talking about some continuity issues and plot holes. Oh, the imagination fixes those just fine. But the scenes of love, incest, orgy, torture, rape, murder...they're there in all their glory...and I mean ALL their glory.
While the HBO series chronicled events in Rome circa 50 BC, Caligula is an adaptation of events circa 40 AD. The story is a bit discombobulated at times, but easy enough to follow.
Caligula (or, if you'd prefer, Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus) rises to power as Rome's third emperor. Writer/Producer and uncredited Director Bob Guccione Penthouse , not surprisingly, picked up on the writings that Caligula was an insane sex pervert and a cruel tyrant. Other historical writings that Caligula led Rome to major territorial expansion and architectural advancement were not included in this movie. No...that would have brought the...umm...mood down.
Helen Mirren stars as Caligula's queen. She's good at playing queen's, no? Coincidentally she won the 2007 Oscar and Globe for Best Actress by playing a queen The Queen . I can't imagine why the Academy passed her by in 1979's Caligula. There's plenty of other award winning talent in Caligula: You've got Malcolm McDowell A Clockwork Orange (Two-Disc Special Edition) , Peter O'Toole Lawrence of Arabia (Single Disc Edition) , and Sir John Gielgud Arthur just to name a few...well...that's actually all of the A-list.
But the surprising thing is that Caligula even had an A-list when the movie was less about acting and more about shock and awe. Sure, the good actors gave great performances. McDowell's Caligula is unforgettable; the surprising thing is that Guccione got this cast to even be in a movie that with any other actors you might have had to purchase this film in a dark DVD store on the corner of 38th Street and 8th Avenue in NYC.
The movie runs for 2 hours and 36 minutes. And if that ain't enough, you should go with the 2007 Imperial Edition Caligula (Three-Disc Imperial Edition) . The three disker gives you 2 extra disks of bonus stuff. According to Image Entertainment's July 2007 press release, The 3 Disk Imperial Edition of Caligula comes with two versions: the important one being the unrated, uncensored theatrical version in a newly mastered high def transfer from recently uncovered negative vault materials. And that's good because the previous release looked and sounded like an old 8mm home movie capture. The other version is an alternate pre-release cut of the film.
Amongst other bonuses on the three disker, the Image press release touts "hundreds of revealing photographs from the set never seen by the public". But I have to say, it can't get that much more revealing than what's already in the movie itself. So this single disk version was (way) more than enough.
So there you have it. Caligula, the cult classic, gets re-released on DVD. And if you're in The Caligula Cult, it's your best day ever.
Movie Review: Shock and Awe
Summary: 4 Stars
If you thought HBO's depiction of ancient Rome was graphic and brutal Rome - The Complete First Two Seasons, then you obviously haven't seen Caligula.
Caligula leaves nothing for the imagination unless you're talking about some continuity issues and plot holes. Oh, the imagination fixes those just fine. But the scenes of love, incest, orgy, torture, rape, murder...they're there in all their glory...and I mean ALL their glory.
While the HBO series chronicled events in Rome circa 50 BC, Caligula is an adaptation of events circa 40 AD. The story is a bit discombobulated at times, but easy enough to follow.
Caligula (or, if you'd prefer, Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus) rises to power as Rome's third emperor. Writer/Producer and uncredited Director Bob Guccione Penthouse , not surprisingly, picked up on the writings that Caligula was an insane sex pervert and a cruel tyrant. Other historical writings that Caligula led Rome to major territorial expansion and architectural advancement were not included in this movie. No...that would have brought the...umm...mood down.
Helen Mirren stars as Caligula's queen. She's good at playing queen's, no? Coincidentally she won the 2007 Oscar and Globe for Best Actress by playing a queen The Queen . I can't imagine why the Academy passed her by in 1979's Caligula. There's plenty of other award winning talent in Caligula: You've got Malcolm McDowell A Clockwork Orange (Two-Disc Special Edition) , Peter O'Toole Lawrence of Arabia (Single Disc Edition) , and Sir John Gielgud Arthur just to name a few...well...that's actually all of the A-list.
But the surprising thing is that Caligula even had an A-list when the movie was less about acting and more about shock and awe. Sure, the good actors gave great performances. McDowell's Caligula is unforgettable; the surprising thing is that Guccione got this cast to even be in a movie that with any other actors you might have had to purchase this film in a dark DVD store on the corner of 38th Street and 8th Avenue in NYC.
The movie runs for 2 hours and 36 minutes. And if that ain't enough, the 2007 Imperial Edition gives you 2 extra disks of bonus stuff. According to Image Entertainment's July 2007 press release, The 3 disk Imperial Edition of Caligula comes with two versions: the important one being the unrated, uncensored theatrical version in a newly mastered high def transfer from recently uncovered negative vault materials. And that's good because the previous release looked and sounded like an old 8mm home movie capture. The other version is an alternate pre-release cut of the film.
Amongst other bonuses, the Image press release touts "hundreds of revealing photographs from the set never seen by the public". But I have to say, it can't get that much more revealing than what's already in the movie itself.
So there you have it. Caligula, the cult classic, gets re-released on DVD. And if you're in The Caligula Cult, it's your best day ever.
Movie Review: Three discs - Not four!
Summary: 5 Stars
If you go to the Image entertainment web site, and look at the actual box art of the Imperial edition (very top of box) you will see that this is definetly coming out as a three disc edition - apparently the fourth disc was to be a complete soundtrack of the film but got pulled due to legal reasons.Lets hope that amazon take this into account and reduce the price of the box set accordingly.Great film by the way - hope this really is the 210 version as it can finally set the record straight as to all the rumours of what was cut out.Would be nice if the long version was also cleaned up and doesn't come out later on remastered as another cash in scheme for the dvd releasing company.Movie Review: DVD details
Summary: 3 Stars
On their website, Image Entertainment oddly lists the DVD as having 3 discs, even though the cover says 4.
Image Entertainment includes the following information about the DVD:
Two revealing new full-length audio commentaries with stars Malcolm McDowell and Helen Mirren
Comprehensive new video interviews with director Tinto Brass and actors John Steiner and Lori Wagner
New high-definition transfer of the unrated, uncensored feature film
Alternate pre-release version of the film with never-before-seen footage
Startling audio commentary with on-set writer Ernest Volkman
"The Making of Caligula" documentary (two versions) featuring interviews with Malcolm McDowell, Helen Mirren, Gore Vidal and many more
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, press kit notes, cast and crew bios and filmographies and more!
Eye-catching embossed collectible packaging with new liner notes booklet
AND MORE!
[...]
Movie Review: the complete caligula is here.
Summary: 5 Stars
this is the definite caligula dvd edition. 156' + previously unseen extras are here in this 3 dvd box set.
This set is worth of it's extras even if u have the movie.
Here the movie presented uncut and the set includes two documentairies and commentairies by malcom mc dowel and helen mirren.
It also has trailers and never before seen photo gallery but most important it has an alternate pre-release version of the film which includes never before seen footage and this alone is enough to purchace this dvd set.
there is a 210' version of the film which is not included here and this is the only thing is missing here except if the pre-release version is this 210' version so this will be perfect.
All an all this is a set NOT TO MISS and don't forget that caligula IS NOT A PORN FILM despite it's porn scenes. It's A GREAT HISTORICALLY ACCURATE MOVIE.