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Caligula: The Ultimate Cut

Play trailer Poster for Caligula: The Ultimate Cut Released Aug 16, 2024 2h 52m History Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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66% Tomatometer 41 Reviews Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
Now, 43 years after the 1980 release of historical epic CALIGULA, producer and reconstructionist Thomas Negovan has realized the creators' original vision with CALIGULA: THE ULTIMATE CUT, a version comprised of entirely never-before-seen footage shot in 1976. Shadowed by the murder of his entire family, the young, wary Caligula (Malcolm McDowell) eliminates his devious adoptive grandfather (Peter O'Toole) and seizes control of the declining Roman Empire, descending into a spiral of depravity, destruction, and madness. A treatise on the corrupting influence of power, this extensive reconstruction of the notorious 1980 spectacle, CALIGULA: THE ULTIMATE CUT restores the complete performances of McDowell and Helen Mirren, as the promiscuous 'Caesonia', from an unprecedented amount of never before seen footage. Sumptuous set designs by two-time Oscar winner Danilo Donati.
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Caligula: The Ultimate Cut

Caligula: The Ultimate Cut

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Critics Consensus

Restoring the originally intended Caligula at long last, this new cut doesn't elevate the notorious epic to greatness but goes a long way towards vindicating its artistic vision.

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Critics Reviews

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Kyle Smith Wall Street Journal Caligula is still far from great, but it has risen to the level of an enjoyable, intermittently campy soap about ruthlessness, with one or two affecting moments. Oct 17, 2024 Full Review Richard Whittaker Austin Chronicle Everything is better, like Brass’ decision to cast the greatest British actors of the era as the imperial family. Rated: 4/5 Aug 22, 2024 Full Review Peter Sobczynski RogerEbert.com While “Caligula: The Ultimate Cut” is a marked improvement over the previous incarnation, it still has several fundamental problems so baked in that no revision can overcome them. Rated: 2.5/4 Aug 16, 2024 Full Review Anna Hoang Boston Hassle With its grand embellishment of hubris and autocratic fate, Caligula deserves glory on the big screen, especially with an audience who might come in with a sneaking knowledge of its history or are willing to give it another chance. Rated: 4/5 Jul 13, 2025 Full Review Maitland McDonagh MaitlandOnMovies (Substack) [O]utrageous, transgressive and by most people’s standards pretty raunchy. But in every single version I’ve seen, it’s also a film about the dead weight of the past, the way in which the current generation has to cope with the legacy of what came before Jan 20, 2025 Full Review Carmen Paddock TAKE ONE Magazine CALIGULA: THE ULTIMATE CUT revels in the moral rot and innate violence of unchecked power. If Brass and Vidal were unhappy with the first version for taming their extreme impulses, this should rectify their concerns. Jan 6, 2025 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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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 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 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 out of 5 stars 09/01/25 Full Review Todd B A movie about culture. 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 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 out of 5 stars 08/20/25 Full Review Read all reviews
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Movie Info

Synopsis Now, 43 years after the 1980 release of historical epic CALIGULA, producer and reconstructionist Thomas Negovan has realized the creators' original vision with CALIGULA: THE ULTIMATE CUT, a version comprised of entirely never-before-seen footage shot in 1976. Shadowed by the murder of his entire family, the young, wary Caligula (Malcolm McDowell) eliminates his devious adoptive grandfather (Peter O'Toole) and seizes control of the declining Roman Empire, descending into a spiral of depravity, destruction, and madness. A treatise on the corrupting influence of power, this extensive reconstruction of the notorious 1980 spectacle, CALIGULA: THE ULTIMATE CUT restores the complete performances of McDowell and Helen Mirren, as the promiscuous 'Caesonia', from an unprecedented amount of never before seen footage. Sumptuous set designs by two-time Oscar winner Danilo Donati.
Director
Tinto Brass
Screenwriter
Gore Vidal
Distributor
Drafthouse Films
Production Co
Penthouse Films International
Genre
History, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 16, 2024, Limited
Runtime
2h 52m
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