Caligula

1979 [ITALIAN]

Action / Drama / History

78
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 38% · 33 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 38% · 10K ratings
IMDb Rating 5.3/10 10 41256 41.3K

rape rome, italy assassination roman empire historical figure ancient rome

Plot summary

After the death of the paranoid emperor Tiberius, Caligula, his heir, seizes power and plunges the empire into a bloody spiral of madness and depravity.

Director

Tinto Brass Photo
Tinto Brass

Top cast

Helen Mirren Photo
Helen Mirren as Caesonia
Donatella Damiani Photo
Donatella Damiani as Breastfeeding nurse
Teresa Ann Savoy Photo
Teresa Ann Savoy as Drusilla
Veriano Ginesi Photo
Veriano Ginesi as Wedding Guest
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
1.24 GB
1280*650
Italian 2.0
NR
Subtitles it  
23.976 fps
2 hr 36 min
Seeds 29
2.33 GB
1920*976
Italian 2.0
NR
Subtitles it  
23.976 fps
2 hr 36 min
Seeds 100

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by verrucktcarlos 6 / 10

Not bad at all

This movie gets way too much hate. It is not even close to being one of the worst movies I've seen.Malcolm Mcdowell is fantastic as always. It is worth seeing just for his performance alone.I was also really impressed by the costumes, I thought they were gorgeous. My favorite was the one Caligula wears near the end which is a gorgeous metallic green. You can tell the effort put behind not only the wardrobe but the hairstyles and the sets, they are some of the best aspects of the film. The costume designer Danilo Donati actually won some Oscars because of his work in other films.Now, everybody who dislikes the film do so because of the very explicit porn. I agree most of the time is excessive and goes on for way too long, I think because of the nature of the story and character a certain amount of explicitness works, but for the most part I find it too be too much and too long.If you take away the porn, this movie would be far better received. There's an actual story and it has great performances for the most part.It is not perfect however, I do feel the movie stayed one note from beginning to end, doesnt feel like a 3 act story but it was worth it in the end. I am really looking forward to watching the new version that premiered at Cannes this year, hoping it becomes available to the general public very soon.
Reviewed by IamKno 5 / 10

Thought provoking if you have an open mind and can look past what's winking at you.

This is the sort of film that I would have enjoyed stumbling upon as a 15 year old switching through late night BBC 2 and channel 4 at 3am in the morning.I think I watched the 'Uncut version' of this film. I found it somewhat hard to follow or to understand every motive or decision other that the overlying top most story.It was just wild decisions of mad man in my opinion. However, now reading details about the film, there would have been cuts and edits here and there that broke up the flow.It did provoke some thoughts about what it might have been like to live in those times. How life had little value and could be taken away for very minor issues.It also highlighted how certain types of entertainment media still existed, it just wasn't in the mainstream. As humans, we haven't progressed as much as we would like to think.I have access to the Ultimate Cut version and watched about 5 mins of it so far. This version has 20 mins more in the run time, missing scenes and some rearranged, different angles and different audio/script.In those 5 mins, I was able to get a better understanding of the story compared to the uncut version. It even briefly explained initial history of the making of the film. What I will do is probably revisit it in a month.It was interesting to see Dame Helen Mirren in her physical prime. I've only ever seen her acting over the age of 45.The film is gory in a low tech way. I don't think I know anyone that I could recommend this to.
Reviewed by ccmiller1492 4 / 10

Fellini it ain't...

"Caligula" shares many of the same attributes as the 1970 "Fellini Satyricon" with bizarre sights, freakishness, and depictions of sexual excesses all set in the "glory" of ancient Rome. But Fellini it ain't... First of all it is not as entertaining. Far too much screen time is devoted to bug-eyed, rubber-faced McDowell in the titular role. His performance is far too fey and campy to be convincing. The portrayals by Jay Robinson in "The Robe" (1953) and David Cain-Haughton in "Emperor Caligula" (1983) are far more persuasive and believable, with the latter being the most nuanced. Relief could have been judiciously provided by developing the surrounding characters more fully. As it is, they are little more than cyphers. One example is the role of Macro, played by Guido Mannari who has tremendous screen presence in an important role, but is mostly left in the background. The only positive features to credit are the adroit use of some Prokofiev and Stravinsky themes in the music score and the inclusion of some of the distasteful but nevertheless accurate actions of the despot. These two factors are far less than what is needed to relieve the prevailing tedium, however.
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