Caligula (1979) (The Imperial Edition)

[Mykol Gantt]

Looks like Amazon only has this available from third party sellers. Is this OOP?

[Banned User]

Arrow has a region free release you can order from http://www.amazon.co.uk/Caligula-Blu...0372436&sr=8-2

Arrow does make some great packaging, but you would have to research how good the transfer is.
The movie itself is the most deprived train wreck imaginable. How they fooled Peter O'toole and Malcolm McDowell to be in it is beyond me.

[Hatter]

Originally Posted by Banned User

Arrow has a region free release you can order from http://www.amazon.co.uk/Caligula-Blu...0372436&sr=8-2

Arrow does make some great packaging, but you would have to research how good the transfer is.
The movie itself is the most deprived train wreck imaginable. How they fooled Peter O'toole and Malcolm McDowell to be in it is beyond me.

There's really no need. The film according to the blu-ray review was shot in a very muddy and soft style. They gave the imperial transfer a pretty bad grade so I can't imagine the blu edition transfer being any different.

However do note that all the audio commentary tracks included with the imperial edition are not included with this release. In addition, only the uncut version of the film is included. The imperial included the uncut, alternate uncut minus guccione footage and a third cut version.

The cover art seems better I guess. At least it better tells you what your in for than the imperial cover art.

[animefan77]

Now I kinda regret not buying it when it was $14 at amazon. (damn amazon for charging tax now in my state - I might have bought it if I had free shipping w/ no tax)
I really do want to hear the commentary but I didn't want to spend more than $12 on this. Now I'm really not going to buy it with increased price. I guess it's my loss. Hopefully I could rent it from somewhere since I do want to hear the commentary.

[KrugStillo]

The quality of this disc is no where near as bad as people make it out to be. When I worked for a small theater in Chicago we had a print of the XXX rated version so we ran it and as far as I'm concerned it looks better on blu than it did on the big screen. I made a short film about showing it to my friend for the first time and you can actually see a few shots projected onto the screen. Judge for yourself, obviously it's filmed with a DV camera so you won't get the full experience but you can tell it doesn't look any better than the blu.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0M8K66b66us

The blu-ray looks as good as this film can look considering the source prints available.

[Hatter]

Originally Posted by KrugStillo

The quality of this disc is no where near as bad as people make it out to be. When I worked for a small theater in Chicago we had a print of the XXX rated version so we ran it and as far as I'm concerned it looks better on blu than it did on the big screen. I made a short film about showing it to my friend for the first time and you can actually see a few shots projected onto the screen. Judge for yourself, obviously it's filmed with a DV camera so you won't get the full experience but you can tell it doesn't look any better than the blu.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0M8K66b66us

The blu-ray looks as good as this film can look considering the source prints available.

That was hilarious.

[haphilli]

Originally Posted by Banned User

The movie itself is the most deprived train wreck imaginable. How they fooled Peter O'toole and Malcolm McDowell to be in it is beyond me.

I believe the film that they were pitched was completely different than what was created in post production. Some of the actors disowned the film after they found out.

I had to watch this film in my censorship class in school....what an awkward day that was.

[Reduman]

Originally Posted by haphilli

I believe the film that they were pitched was completely different than what was created in post production. Some of the actors disowned the film after they found out.

I had to watch this film in my censorship class in school....what an awkward day that was.

I bought the 4-disc UK 'Imperial Edition' DVD of Caligula recently, because I was really interested in the history of the film's production. I had never seen it before. Yes, it is shocking, even disgusting, in parts. Bob Guccione's attempt to marry pornography with drama simply does not work. Bad directing, a partially turgid script and even worse editing makes a car crash mess of what could have been a rather good film. On the other hand, parts of the film do merit credit, particularly the movie's sumptuous sets and costume design. Production quality does stand out, though. Some of the acting is good, particularly McDowell's portrayal of the protagonist. The classical actors (in the form of Peter O'Toole and John Gielgud) also do a good job. They are mercifully killed off before the films descends into chaos and complete perversion. If you object to extreme violence and hardcore sex scenes in a movie, avoid, it simple as that. If you consider yourself broad-minded enough to view it, do so. This is never a film you're going to love watching, unless you've got some deep-seated seriously unresolved issues.
There is a lot of inaccurate information circulating about this movie. What is true is that various people have very different takes on it, some of the principals siding with Tinto Brass, others with Bob Guccione etc. It is not quite true that the (mainly British) lead actors did not know what they were letting themselves in for. The commentaries are clear on that point. They may not have known that the extra hardcore scenes would be edited in after principal photography had ended, though rumours apparently did circulate. It was the legal battles before, during and after the movie's production, which made many previously associated with it disown it. For information on this and other topics my recommendation would be to listen to the three highly informative audio commentries on Disc 2 of the above DVD version. They are well worth the purchase price alone, should film history and controversy interest you. Malcolm McDowell is hilarious as he recalls various filming anecdotes, mimicking John Gielgud and Peter O'Toole. Helen Mirren is also a hoot, but appears to have forgotten some details a fellow commentator seems determined to remind her of... The Ernst Volkman (I think that's his name) phone-in interview/commentary (ca. 1 hour 30 mins) concentrates on Bob Guccione and his role in the film, legal battles and how the Penthouse "making of Caligula" article he was commissioned to write by Bob Guccione was eventually changed beyond recognition. Unfortunately, I do not think the commentaries are on the (UK) blu-ray version for whatever reason, but are apparently present on the US version.
It is very easy to dismiss this film out of hand because of some of its content - and I can fully undertand why someone would wish to do so. Personally I found the history of the film and what Gore Vidal (initially) wanted to achieve fascinating. However, Tinto Brass and Bob Guccione/Giancarlo Lui wanted very different things from the film and that's when the gloves (and all the clothes ..) came off ...

[The Duke]

Originally Posted by Banned User

The movie itself is the most deprived train wreck imaginable. How they fooled Peter O'toole and Malcolm McDowell to be in it is beyond me.

I've walked out on 2 movies in the theater in my life - Forrest Gump, for being too boring, and Caligua, for being too gross. I'm very open minded and I have porn, but Caligua was . . . well, depraved train wreck is a pretty good description. That wedding night was did it for me, after what he did to the groom and then what was thrown to the dog to eat I said "that's it, I'm outta here!".

[OrlandoEastwood]

Originally Posted by Banned User

How they fooled Peter O'toole and Malcolm McDowell to be in it is beyond me.

The film was hijacked by it's producer, Bob Guccione of Penthouse. After the film was shot, he added all the hardcore to scenes to the film. That's essentially why Tinto Brass and everyone else disowned the film. Malcolm said something around the lines that he equaled this to the equivalent of being raped. The erotic footage that Brass shot of Malcolm and the sister character was tastefully shot. It wasn't down and dirty and all that. But the added of the hardcore footage on the boat of senator's wives and various other scenes is where it took the turn for the worst.

[Cortese]

I ordered the UK version, the PQ is supposed to be a nice improvement.

[AlexSing]

Originally Posted by Cortese

I ordered the UK version, the PQ is supposed to be a nice improvement.

I assume that has none of the hardcore in it though?

I'm just asking for, er, research purposes....

[sbeck201]

Originally Posted by AlexSing

I assume that has none of the hardcore in it though?

I'm just asking for, er, research purposes....

The UK version is the full unrated release, just use the FF button (or pause).

[swifty7]

I can't believe that somebody compared Caligula to Manos hand of fate. Ignore the naye sayers and judge the movie for yourselves. I don't know about anybody else but I liked Caligula very much.

[sfmarine]

The UK cover art is insane haha.

[DetroitSquirreL]

Well, after reading this thread I jumped and bought the UK version!

[Cortese]

Originally Posted by AlexSing

I assume that has none of the hardcore in it though?

I'm just asking for, er, research purposes....

Well, I thought the movie was hardcore enough!

Forgot this thread so it was a little late response

[#Darren]

This film is a depressing waste of great talent :-(

[billyearle]

Originally Posted by Cortese

I ordered the UK version, the PQ is supposed to be a nice improvement.

Over the US blu-ray, or over the DVD? It's surprising I can't find on the internet anywhere a comparison of bluray editions. I have the regular US "imperial edition" blu-ray, which looks fine considering the source, but would double dip if there is any version with slightly better PQ or especially interesting exclusive extras.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by billyearle

Over the US blu-ray, or over the DVD? It's surprising I can't find on the internet anywhere a comparison of bluray editions. I have the regular US "imperial edition" blu-ray, which looks fine considering the source, but would double dip if there is any version with slightly better PQ or especially interesting exclusive extras.

Yeah, I would also like to hear some factual information comparing the US "Imperial" blu-ray to the UK Arrow "Blu" edition. I understand the the Arrow doesn't have the commentaries, correct? That alone makes it very unappealing to me, as I have read many great things about the commentaries.

I'm very interested in the extras, also - and I can't tell exactly if the US Imperial edition contains all the available extras. For instance, on this review of the UK DVD, here:

http://www.cineoutsider.com/reviews/...l_edition.html

It lists an extra called:

North American Bonus Footage (31:34)

The North American Bonus Footage is listed as separate from "Deleted & Alternate Scenes (48:08)" and "Behind the Scenes (79:37)", which both seem to be available on the US DVD and Blu-ray sets. The "North American Bonus Footage" apparently has the original audio, yet I can't find that extra listed anywhere for the US Imperial Edition blu-ray set or DVD set. Was this only available on the UK DVD and Blu-ray set?

That region 2 DVD that the above link reviews also lists the commentaries, and the Arrow Blu-ray doesn't have the commentaries, right? So it looks like some extras are missing from the blu-ray maybe? Can anyone chime in?

EDIT: From what I can tell by what I've been able to find out, both the US Imperial DVD and Blu-ray releases have the "Deleted and alternate Scenes" and "Behind the Scenes Footage", but missing the "North American Bonus Footage" found on the UK DVD and Blu-ray set. Can anyone confirm this? How can it be called "North American Bonus Footage" if it doesn't even appear on the US sets?