"Caligula"

I haven't seen this film, but by the reviews, I probably shouldn't. In truth, it probably doesn't belong in a thread in 'The Arts' section of any forum, but maybe the 'Complete Garbage' section.

Here's what Rodger Ebert wrote about it:

“Caligula” is sickening, utterly worthless, shameful trash. If it is not the worst film I have ever seen, that makes it all the more shameful: People with talent allowed themselves to participate in this travesty. Disgusted and unspeakably depressed, I walked out of the film after two hours of its 170-minute length. That was on Saturday night, as a line of hundreds of people stretched down Lincoln Ave., waiting to pay $7.50 apiece to become eyewitnesses to shame.
I wanted to tell them … what did I want to tell them? What I’m telling you now. That this film is not only garbage on an artistic level, but that it is also garbage on the crude and base level where it no doubt hopes to find its audience. “Caligula” is not good art, It is not good cinema, and it is not good porn.

Has anybody on TWC seen this film? If so, was it that bad? Last line was offensive and out of line, so I removed it myself. Sorry about that.

Never seen it, I heared it's a glorified porno

They got funding from the owner of Penthouse, Robert guccione, who gave it on the proviso it would feature far more sex and nudity etc than the original idea had. When the time came to edit it Guccione threw in more sex, harder core sex scenes and removed most of the intelligible narrative of Vidal. It ended up a porn movie, basically. It pretty much ruined Malcolm Mcdowell's promising career but Helen Mirren managed to claw back from it.

I've seen it, it ain't very good.

Originally Posted by Markas

They got funding from the owner of Penthouse, Robert guccione, who gave it on the proviso it would feature far more sex and nudity etc than the original idea had. When the time came to edit it Guccione threw in more sex, harder core sex scenes and removed most of the intelligible narrative of Vidal. It ended up a porn movie, basically. It pretty much ruined Malcolm Mcdowell's promising career but Helen Mirren managed to claw back from it.

I've seen it, it ain't very good.

So, it could have been an intelligent and darkly fascinating movie, but the Penthouse person steered in in a completely wrong direction? Thanks for letting me know. Still, I'm never going to watch it.

Frankly you shouldn't let other people make your decisions for you on what you do and not like.

Originally Posted by MrMofo

Frankly you shouldn't let other people make your decisions for you on what you do and not like.

I have moral objections to watching pornography; I never have and probably never shall. It's my personal code of morality. I won't tell you that it's wrong for you to watch pornography, and in return I would appreciate if you would not make fun of me for refusing to do so. That is why I'll never watch Caligula.

If you already know you'll never watch it because of your morals, why ask about it in the first place?

Originally Posted by Cornelius Plautus

I have moral objections to watching pornography; I never have and probably never shall. It's my personal code of morality. I won't tell you that it's wrong for you to watch pornography, and in return I would appreciate if you would not make fun of me for refusing to do so. That is why I'll never watch Caligula.

I didn't make fun of you. I said that you should make decisions for yourself. In this case i'm referring to all movies, books, and works of art, not your personal moral code. I can't count how many times a critic or a friend has told me not to view or read something, and then i've greatly enjoyed it.

Of course it could apply to your moral code as well; go look at the healthcare thread. But in this instance it was not.

Curiosity about its bad rep i would presume.

Originally Posted by saxdude

Curiosity about its bad rep i would presume.

Well sure but you can read about that everywhere and he's obviously done research already. It's a bit like asking what Rocky is like but refusing to watch any movie with Sylvester Stallone.

Also, see this line at the end:

If it wasn't, then how evil and/or thick-headed are you?

He's already preemptively judging people that may have liked/enjoyed it for whatever reason. So my guess is he's a good old fashioned moral crusader, who says he won't tell you that it's wrong to watch pornography, but calls anyone who likes Caligula "evil and/or thick-headed".

Originally Posted by Rapax

Well sure but you can read about that everywhere and he's obviously done research already. It's a bit like asking what Rocky is like but refusing to watch any movie with Sylvester Stallone.

Also, see this line at the end:

He's already preemptively judging people that may have liked/enjoyed it for whatever reason. So my guess is he's a good old fashioned moral crusader, who says he won't tell you that it's wrong to watch pornography, but calls anyone who likes Caligula "evil and/or thick-headed".

I just wanted other people's opinions on it. I don't like it, but I was hoping to get some insight as to why it was so scandalous -apart from the obvious- and I received information for which I was hoping in Markas' post. Also, that last part was in bad taste, so I removed it. Sorry if anybody found that offensive.

or he has no issues with sex being in a movie, but instead has issues with sex being exploited to sell the movie.

I told myself when I was 17 that I would watch it when I turned 18. It's been two years since then and I have completely forgotten about this movie and that promise.

I have seen it. It was garbage. It only became well-known because it was produced by Bob Guccione of Penthouse Magazine fame and had some big-name actors in it like Malcolm McDowell, Peter O'Toole, and John Gielgud, all of whom were probably embarrassed afterward. It's a pointless mix of sex and violence. The huge budget could have been better used making a movie about Caligula that was more geared toward historical accuracy and less toward sensationalism.

I bought it.

I just love malcom mcdowell, he's just so awesome, he even makes this bag of crap watchable.

It ruined McDowell's career pretty much, for which this movie shall always burn in hell.

I've seen it, and it's a drag to finish. The sex scenes don't make sense and are out of place, the decors are simply hideous and the narrative is all jumbled up.

The first time I watched it was with my then swedish girlfriend, let's just say there was a happy ending , so perhaps I'm overly biased due to what I associate with that movie.

Seen it and love it.
McDowell's career didn't end with the movie believe it or not, he still gets good roles in a good movies. He mainly gets to play the bad guy but you can really blame Clockwork Orange for that.
But he was the best part in this movie. At the time he was great at playing the young and innocent looking psycho and did a good job here.
And oddly enough only Peter O'Toole regretted making the movie.
McDowell, Mirren and Gielgud didn't regret and would do it again if given the chance.

Perverts.

Is there any explicit scenes with Helen Mirren?