Caligula: The Ultimate Cut

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Brian N Two stars is a step up from my zero stars for the original version. Kudos to the team that went through 90 hours of footage to assemble this film. It is much more coherent and the performances seem more noteworthy, especially McDowell and Mirren. Still, the movie is overlong and some.if the soft core porn becomes a distraction. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 09/18/24 Full Review Stephen W I actually quite like the original cut though it clearly is a complete mess. This version is better and more coherent and looks stunning but of course it still lacks a basic ingredient which is intelligence. The parallels of Ancient Rome and modern life are so clear that you would have thought the restorers would have exploited this. Still Malcolm McDowell is superb and Helen Mirren has more to do. Still a mess but a more coherent one. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 08/28/25 Full Review Jacob B When I saw the restored version of “Heavens Gate” on the Criterion Collections Blu Ray issue, I saw a truly great film emerge from the butcher job the studio had given it when it was release theatrically. “Caligula” always seemed to me to be a similar film that might, underneath the gross pornography and obscene violence, be a great film that maybe, like “Heavens Gate”, could be pieced together and restored and a great film would emerge. It took 45 years, but someone finally attempted just that! This is not just a simple “Directors Cut”, this is a new movie built entirely from rediscovered pieces of unused film. This edit is brilliantly pieced together in high definition, splashes of CGI augment the background sets, the pornography is taken out, scenes are restored and reordered as closely to Gore Vidals script as was possible and any scene from the theatrical cut is reconstructed with alternate takes. The grandiose sets are finally able to be seen clearly as are the performance of Helen Mirren (her character is given much more screen time) and Malcom McDowell (his performance is finally able to be seen as one of his better ones) and Peter OToole (his performance actually chills one’s bones now) and Sir John Gielgud. However, there is still a problem that this new, brilliant edit can’t fix…..this is just not a great film. No matter how impressive the reconstruction is, it can’t hide the fact that there is no forward momentum and no urgency in the story telling. The story just sits there and even when it sluggishly moves it moves like a fractured tableaux—a large story with pieces still missing. And while it’s frustrating to not see a great film emerge from the wreckage that Penthouse caused, and however frustrating it may be to think what might have been had Vidals vision been filmed, it’s nice to finally have a beautifully restored print of what could’ve been a great film…if only……. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 09/07/25 Full Review Todd B A movie about culture. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 12/28/24 Full Review Pete S Simply dreadful. Nothing more to say other than don’t waste your time. Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/04/25 Full Review Mifhbw H A much more coherent film than the original. This version does vindicate what the notorious Caligula film could’ve been like back in the late 1970s. While not truly perfect, Caligula the Ultimate Cut is an enjoyable what could’ve of been that gives a better showcase of the brilliant performance of Malcolm McDowell as the villainous, sex crazed Caligula. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/20/25 Full Review Read all reviews

Caligula: The Ultimate Cut

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