Mark, thank you so much. The reason we didn’t use the bit with Caligula whispering to Nerva and then drowning him is that it was important that he not be a murderer until he gets the ring. The scene, now, ends with Caligula looking small and alone in a vast chamber- it’s a decision devoted to the larger, cohesive narrative over exciting bits. Every moment, now, is there for a specific reason that pointedly furthers our understanding of the characters. Thank you again! 🙏🏻
So... Basically, you wanted him to be like Gollum, but not so like Gollum that you'd get sued by the Tolkien estate? Sorry, I'm being mean. Need some coffee, I think 😂
That seems like a bit of a stretch since Nerva was already a dead man at that point. The way I always interpreted that scene was that Nerva dies before he can give Galigula the answers he wants, and that angers Caligula who then shoves the corpse under the water.
I always imagined that Caligula was a continuation of A Clockwork Orange where Alex DeLarge is imaging himself as Caligula while reading in the prison library.
I also read that John Gielgud came back to London from Cinecitta and was asked by his friends what he'd been up to, and he said, quite cheerfully, I've just finished my first "porno"!
My guess would be true. Stories from that era about O'Toole , Burton, Richardson et all are great and makes you wonder how any of them lived to the ages they did . The one I like about O'Toole is this one czcams.com/video/R_CoggWEjeM/video.htmlfeature=shared
John Hurt did the definitive version of Caligula in the wonderful production of I Claudius based on Robert Graves the books I Claudius and Claudius the God with a young Derek Jacobi in the lead. Still a marvelous teleplay.
I love the insanity of the long version of Caligula and always thought the sex added to the sickness and madness. I always thought that without those elements the movie fell flat. I haven't seen the Ultimate cut yet though.
I think if I’d seen it at the time the sex scenes would be tacky. In retrospect it’s actually more interesting as a time capsule and for the lengths a studio would do to do something different and shocking. It’s Caligula, why shouldn’t it be shocking?
Yeah, I felt almost physically sick after watching the film one time years ago. And I'm a ex-film student who has watched all sorts or weird and wild stuff. It's the sort of film that makes you feel unclean after watching it and makes you want to take a shower!! And yet... I'm tempted by this version now... 😄
a.i. voices? Peter sellers used to do impersonations and did dubbing. There is a Humphrey Bogart movie where he did half of the dialogue and you can't tell. If this is embracing a.i. over humans, it doesn't understand art is human. This embracing of the bots is going to change people. everyone thinks it's harmless, bu t soon they will prefer it to the human. I already see comments complaining about people's voices on youtube... never used to. Pooele will crave entertainment with no soul soon.
@@MicahMicahel I had the pleasure seeing the Ultimate cut a few days ago in theaters. The use of ai voices he must be refiring to is not the process of creating new dialog but, a process that can isolate dialog from one person and remove background noise This will give you audio tracks for remixing and adjusting volume as if you had an original recording where each actor had their own mic. There are scenes in here that they adjusted the actor's volume so you can hear what they are saying over the back ground noise and other cast. This version was fantastic and they did a good job making it an authentic recreation.
If there is one review that demonstrates why Mr K is such a great critic and an even lovelier human being it is this one. And how Mr M just lets him talk. Love you both ❤❤
Before this the on;y thing I knew about Caligula was an old joke about John Gielgud saying "There was no reference to sex and violence in the original paycheck"!
At around that time of the release, a Not the Nine O'clock News' item was:- 'Sir John Gielgud has been defending his appearance in the film 'Caligula' and claims there was no mention, whatsoever, of sex and brutality when he read the original pay check' !
I've always been fascinated by the film ever since I saw it on C4 20 years ago. With an intro by one Mark Kermode if I recall. I saw Ken Russell's The Devils as part of the same season which stayed with me too.
@@michellel-jones4649Maybe the nuns banging the crucifix or giving handjobs to the church taper candles or exposing The Church for tomfoolery or Mizz Redgrave licking Christ. But I know what you mean (not sarcasm).
That was a considerably altered toned down version. Without the sex, it was actually even more sordid and depraved. Grim film! I felt quite nauseated at the end of the three hours. Any alternate version of a film made up almost entirely of alternate takes is guaranteed to be interesting - a 'parallel universe' version!
At around 2:50, a comment was made about the music. The original cuts of CALIGULA used two pieces of classical music somewhat prominently. The first - and what we hear in this trailer - comes from Sergei Prokofiev's ballet of Romeo & Juliet, specifically the dance of the Montigues and the Capulets. Also heard in the film are excerpts from Aram Khachaturian's ballet, Spartacus. (There's a pretty bad disco version of it produced around the same time as the film.) It will be interesting to see if any of the original music makes it to the new cut.
I was allowed to watch icladivs at a fairly young age (about 11 I think when the folks got it on vhs!) I still find it hard to imagine any other actors playing those roles, especially John Hurt. I think I could exclude Biggins as Nero, but even that is tricky!
For comparison check out the clips of the Charles Laughton "I Claudius" in which Caligula was played by Emlyn Williams. There are stand-alone clips on here plus the fascinating BBC documentary "The Epic that Never Was".
I actually stopped going to college classes at night because I Claudius was on PBS. It was either one insanely boring teacher talking about american history from 1890 or I Claudius. One funny thing I always remember is on the show Frasier he takes his group of bar pals to his house, and they have nothing to do, so he says "I have all 13 episodes of I Claudius!" and they all just groaned.
Caligula NEVER was a catastrophic or even a bad film. I find the new music quite good; but I miss Khachatourian and Prokofiev, too. Great new scenes with Helen Mirren, for the sake of this “ultimate” version. Nothing against Guccione’s sex additions.
A friend of mine asked his boss about _Caligula_ when it was first showing in the US: "is it as bad as they say it is?" Replied his boss: "it's worse!"
While incredibly admirable, I feel Kermode's "all movies are redeemable" beliefs would be tested in one afternoon with the RLM crew for a "best of the worst." Milwaukee can break any man.
RLM should make a 'Best of the Worst' episode where they have to watch 4 different versions of 'Caligula' and determine which is 'Best'. I think such a video would indirectly document, in one sitting, a nervous breakdown by either Mike or Rich. :)
I remember hearing Mr. K talk about this film on Mark Radcliffe's old 1FM show, but for some reason I thought he was saying "Killer Giller"... back in those pre/early internet days it took at least a couple of years before I realised what the film was really called 😂
As a person who saw the original release at the Prince Charles cinema, and subsequently the Hard Core version. I am very interested in how this version, seeing which I am seeing tomorrow, changes the film.
7:22 I'm glad you set the record straight on the historical Caligula here, thanks. I too have seen many versions of the movie from mild to OMG and I'm now curious to see the movie finally edited so it makes some narrative sense and jetisons the unnecessary errr..enhancements...made by Guccione.
I saw the film in a movie theatre when it came out. Some of the violence is downright brutal and bloody. It's not for everyone. I remember two women getting up and leaving because of the nudity and sex.
Před 28 dny+2
Me and a pal went to see this in the local fleapit when it first came out in Newcastle. *WHO* thought it was cool to let two fifteen year old girls into the cinema to see this!!!!? Baffles me to this day!
As Mark points out, the new version is a completely new experience. The ultimate 'fan-edit'. Finally, we have a clear narrative and dramatic tension. Probably the best representation of the Pagan aspects of Rome (myth and magic) this side of the HBO Rome series.
I am seeing this in about 6 hours time. I remember the 2000 film4 cut, I had taped it and watched it many times as a teenager (as I did with all the films in the good Doctor's extreme strand), it was something my friends and I would quote to each other in school. Very excited.
This is a case when the legend behind a film is honestly more fascinating than the film itself. It’s apparently the only film that Roger Bert ever walked out of.
Director's cut is great. A wonder to behold. In terms that theres nothing quite like it. My fave scene involves a giant decapitation machine the size of a football pitch.
Because there is more footage out there a fan editor will doubtlessly put back some moments and take more out. I would love Mark to do a series exploring fan edits. There are some amazing ones out there.
I'd love him to look into projects butchered by the Weinstein brothers like The Crow: City of Angels, Hellraiser: Bloodline and Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers.
What pisses me off is that in the wake of these announcements, I've come to realize the previous versions have all gone OOP...which I never thought was gonna happen. It's always had multi-version editions available openly for decades. I saw a single-disc edition for $40 in a store that had it. I never wanted it and now can't find it! Feckin' insane.
I saw this with three friends when it came out at the ABC in Harrow in 1981. We were 15/16 at the time, so maybe it was just an age thing, but we still talk about it to this day. I’m not sure we would if it was this cut. i also remember that although Mcdowell and Mirren very publicly disowned it, Geilgud and O’Toole thought the whole situation was hilarious. Re. gore Vidal , i just saw an interview with Malcolm Mcdowell where he talks about this new cut, he said that the Gore Vidal script was terrible and made no sense, so it’s hard to say if much of it was ever used.
I trust that that Mark has read, “Ultimate Porno: the Making of a Sex Colossal” (the funniest book ever). When the Cohen brothers were talking about “Hail Caesar” (pre-production) I was praying they were doing a film based on this memoir of filming “Caligula”.
lol... I went to see that film... my mate and I sneaked into the cinema to see it when it first came out. We had no idea what we were about to watch and for sure, it made an impression. In addition, it was a monster when it came to time... 3 hours long of madness. For sure, little Alex was the star of that show going way over the top but having said that, the whole film was way over the top. I remember well people being buried up to their necks and then a mad head cutting contraption with massive blades 5 inches off the floor came slicing the heads off. Mad film but in a funny way, entertaining.
The historical record is that for the fact he was a pretty decent emperor up until an episode of illness resulting in high fever and a 3 day coma(possibly malaria of some other mosquitoe born illness) then the craziness ensues.
People forget about Malcolm McDowell’s performance in swat cats. You know he was that he was the villainous Matt Katw and I think that performance even though that wouldn’t be taken as like something in his career highlights I really found it is fascinating that it was a story about a man who was trapped, and had to become something else in order to take on the world, and that part of his Caligula performance was encapsulated in madkat
Caligula is in my mind a fab movie , big name actors , big lavish sets , extravagant over the top performances , it looks great , ive only seen the edited version with soft core scenes which i watched on the Electric Blue label released in the 80s , then an american uncut version just after the millenium on Penthouse dvd , then the Arrow UK ( ?) dvd version called The Imperial Edition , possibly a 3 disc set lasting 156mins with all the hardcore intact ( or so I thought ) , looking forward to this new version 😊♥️🥵
The 2.5 hour “Imperial Edition” was a vast improvement of the original 100 min theatrical cut, which never should have been released to begin with. However, this new 3 hr version should be the clincher that enhances Caligula’s status to even higher echelons within the cinematic canon.
The only record of Caligula's reign comes from a few paragraphs historian Suetonius wrote about the Caesars in 121 AD. One of the stories he described was the wedding scene, that's probably why it was included in the new version.
It’s true that most of what we know about Caligula was written by Suetonius, but he wrote more than just a few paragraphs. Seneca, Cassius Dio, and Philo also wrote information about him which has survived. Suetonius makes for a very interesting read because he seemed to like telling all the juicy gossip which may, or may not, have been truth. This certainly informs the popular modern view of what Caligula was like. Whether or not it was all true is another matter - certainly the fragments about him we have from other sources tend not to show him in a good light either. But it sure makes for a more interesting film.
@@GrilloTheFlightless yeh great read. Most of what was written about him is either lost or incomplete, Perhaps Philo & Seneca the younger are some of the very few 1st hand accounts that survived. Must have been a scary time to be influential.
The question people were asking was is this account of Caligula's life or context accurate. If so the sex, violence might be necessary to convey the reality, if not it was just put in to make $$$ or shock!
I've always loved Caligula in all its versions, although the Channel 4 one was at that point the best, I really want to see this but have yet to see anything about a UK release.
It was a Felliniesque extravaganza of sex and violence when it was first released. An all-star, glamorous, nasty guilty pleasure with blood, guts, big dicks and penthouse pets. I'll be checking out this new AI version. You can be sure Gore Vidal would still detest it, but I hear the limited edition should contain a CD of the needle-drop, classical-disco, original soundtrack LP. I sure hope that's true.
I saw one of the cuts once, and from the get-go, I totally tuned with McDowell's performance and what he was trying to do and the film that he hoped he was in. This epic disaster deserves a "The Disaster Artist" treatment even more so than "The Room" itself, an iconic example of producer/studio interference in an otherwise potentially really interesting and daring film.
The trailer failed to credit 'Dobbin' the horse, who is sharing a bed with Caligula and another man ('though facing the other way and trying to look coy)! And remember - this is just the trailer!! (TBH, I laughed out loud when I saw that two-or three-second long excerpt; it looked like some sort of 1970s TV spoof.)
Subtle is that in the U.K. and I suppose Europe my friend was able to see it at the age of 15. I was stunned to hear when he returned that there was no real R or X rating to movies in the U.K, in 79, because it was not released in Canada.
@@MrEchoes1962 that is completely incorrect. You should give the Ultimate Cut a chance, it might surprise you how much magic Malcolm creates in the new version.
i have just watched the new version having seen the older 2hr 37 min version and all i can say is what a difference.... its like watching a completely different version i agree nervas death should have been kept in and the end where we get a full face of caligulas face after being killed.... at points in the fist hour you can see the scenes that was added and can see the actors looking at the director looking for a cut specially the actor playing macro the lift scene i swear i can see macdowel smile while toole was descending
I watched the original in Paris when it first came out. It was in English with subtitles in French. The French audience found some of the subtitles highly amusing as they'd been, shall we say, sanitised.
One of my all time favorite movies, cant wait to see it projected in this new cut! I liked the movie I named my son after it !! (well middle name, im not that cruel)
Unfortunately, I've never seen any cut of this film, but am tempted now its being re-released. It must have been controversial for the director to disown it twice! 😮😅
This makes me want to see this version but I wonder if the scene with the machine that cuts the heads off is still in this one, because I can't unsee that.. do not want to see it again.
Mark, thank you so much. The reason we didn’t use the bit with Caligula whispering to Nerva and then drowning him is that it was important that he not be a murderer until he gets the ring. The scene, now, ends with Caligula looking small and alone in a vast chamber- it’s a decision devoted to the larger, cohesive narrative over exciting bits. Every moment, now, is there for a specific reason that pointedly furthers our understanding of the characters. Thank you again! 🙏🏻
So... Basically, you wanted him to be like Gollum, but not so like Gollum that you'd get sued by the Tolkien estate?
Sorry, I'm being mean. Need some coffee, I think 😂
Hi, Do you know when or where the the film will be available to watch online? Thanks
“From the horse’s mouth” as they say?!
That seems like a bit of a stretch since Nerva was already a dead man at that point.
The way I always interpreted that scene was that Nerva dies before he can give Galigula the answers he wants, and that angers Caligula who then shoves the corpse under the water.
I took a girlfriend to see this when first released. She was not impressed.
I always imagined that Caligula was a continuation of A Clockwork Orange where Alex DeLarge is imaging himself as Caligula while reading in the prison library.
@@CakeFarts1993 Good point.
That would have made it better!
Caligula makes Game of Thrones look like The Muppets Show 😂
Nope But make a remake and it would
Not sure of the veracity of this comment but after the initial release Peter O’Toole said, “I heard I’m in a dirty movie. Am I any good?”
with a name like Peter O'Toole you'd hope so
I also read that John Gielgud came back to London from Cinecitta and was asked by his friends what he'd been up to, and he said, quite cheerfully, I've just finished my first "porno"!
My guess would be true. Stories from that era about O'Toole , Burton, Richardson et all are great and makes you wonder how any of them lived to the ages they did .
The one I like about O'Toole is this one
czcams.com/video/R_CoggWEjeM/video.htmlfeature=shared
If it's not true, it should be. That sounds like something O'Toole would have said in his cups with Richard Burton & Richard Harris.
@@MercyMercyM3 The commentary with Malcolm McDowell is hilarious on the Blu-ray, first 2 minutes in he’s saying something like “my God, here we go”
John Hurt did the definitive version of Caligula in the wonderful production of I Claudius based on Robert Graves the books I Claudius and Claudius the God with a young Derek Jacobi in the lead. Still a marvelous teleplay.
I love the insanity of the long version of Caligula and always thought the sex added to the sickness and madness. I always thought that without those elements the movie fell flat. I haven't seen the Ultimate cut yet though.
I think if I’d seen it at the time the sex scenes would be tacky. In retrospect it’s actually more interesting as a time capsule and for the lengths a studio would do to do something different and shocking. It’s Caligula, why shouldn’t it be shocking?
This film is saved by the sheer top quality cast as in Malcolm McDowell fresh from Alex in Clockwork Orange. He is just very watchable.
Hardly 'fresh from...', he made about 5 films in-between.
I never thought anyone would persuade me to watch Caligula again, but you've almost done it Mark 😮
Yeah, I felt almost physically sick after watching the film one time years ago. And I'm a ex-film student who has watched all sorts or weird and wild stuff. It's the sort of film that makes you feel unclean after watching it and makes you want to take a shower!! And yet... I'm tempted by this version now... 😄
a.i. voices? Peter sellers used to do impersonations and did dubbing. There is a Humphrey Bogart movie where he did half of the dialogue and you can't tell. If this is embracing a.i. over humans, it doesn't understand art is human. This embracing of the bots is going to change people. everyone thinks it's harmless, bu t soon they will prefer it to the human.
I already see comments complaining about people's voices on youtube... never used to.
Pooele will crave entertainment with no soul soon.
@@MicahMicahel I had the pleasure seeing the Ultimate cut a few days ago in theaters. The use of ai voices he must be refiring to is not the process of creating new dialog but, a process that can isolate dialog from one person and remove background noise This will give you audio tracks for remixing and adjusting volume as if you had an original recording where each actor had their own mic. There are scenes in here that they adjusted the actor's volume so you can hear what they are saying over the back ground noise and other cast. This version was fantastic and they did a good job making it an authentic recreation.
If there is one review that demonstrates why Mr K is such a great critic and an even lovelier human being it is this one. And how Mr M just lets him talk. Love you both ❤❤
Before this the on;y thing I knew about Caligula was an old joke about John Gielgud saying "There was no reference to sex and violence in the original paycheck"!
I think that was originally a joke on "Not the Nine o'Clock News" when the film came out.
I plan on watching this film for the very first time this week. *Have a feeling I'm going to love it*
Saw this at the BFI in January and the atmosphere was phenomenal. It's fabulous.
At around that time of the release, a Not the Nine O'clock News' item was:-
'Sir John Gielgud has been defending his appearance in the film 'Caligula' and claims there was no mention, whatsoever, of sex and brutality when he read the original pay check' !
I remember it well!
Having seen the previous cuts, the film leaves a residue on the viewer that sticks, despite its misfires, like all great films. An operatic SALO
Love all the cuts of Caligula I've seen, can't wait to see this one.
@@DiamandaHagan Seeing it tomorrow; should be very interesting to see the cut that was always meant to be
HAIL HAGAN!!
I never got to see any of the previous versions, but I want to watch this one.
Dont bother it's lefty sanatised bollox, watch the shock of the Guccioni version it is far superior.
The longest edit without the Guccione additions is very much worth a watch.
I've always been fascinated by the film ever since I saw it on C4 20 years ago. With an intro by one Mark Kermode if I recall. I saw Ken Russell's The Devils as part of the same season which stayed with me too.
Was that only 20 years ago? I think maybe 30
@@mathuxley7264 I was at uni so very late 90s or very early 00s.
It was part of the film four / C4 CENSORED season that also had zombie flesh eaters, bad lieutenant etc - 1999
I saw some of The Devils. I’m not sure why it was considered shocking.
@@michellel-jones4649Maybe the nuns banging the crucifix or giving handjobs to the church taper candles or exposing The Church for tomfoolery or Mizz Redgrave licking Christ. But I know what you mean (not sarcasm).
Just adore Kermode’s passion ❤❤
i saw Caligula at age 15 on late night channel 4 back in the 90s .. eye opener lol
That was a considerably altered toned down version. Without the sex, it was actually even more sordid and depraved. Grim film! I felt quite nauseated at the end of the three hours. Any alternate version of a film made up almost entirely of alternate takes is guaranteed to be interesting - a 'parallel universe' version!
The music is Romeo and Juliet by Serge Prokofiev - not just some music from a tv show.
He didn't say that
At around 2:50, a comment was made about the music. The original cuts of CALIGULA used two pieces of classical music somewhat prominently. The first - and what we hear in this trailer - comes from Sergei Prokofiev's ballet of Romeo & Juliet, specifically the dance of the Montigues and the Capulets. Also heard in the film are excerpts from Aram Khachaturian's ballet, Spartacus. (There's a pretty bad disco version of it produced around the same time as the film.) It will be interesting to see if any of the original music makes it to the new cut.
The Ultimate Cut is a completely new soundtrack by Troy Sterling Nies, it’s brilliant!
Malcolm Mc Dowell was perfect as Caligula in this, as was John Hurt as Caligula in the TV series I Claudius.
I was allowed to watch icladivs at a fairly young age (about 11 I think when the folks got it on vhs!)
I still find it hard to imagine any other actors playing those roles, especially John Hurt. I think I could exclude Biggins as Nero, but even that is tricky!
@@vickiep4217 I think Malcolm put some of Johns version into the role, the mocking fake reverence for tradition and stern morals etc.
John Simm played Caligula in a 2004 movie about Nero. He's only in it for 9 minutes, but his portrayal of Caligula is the best part of the movie
For comparison check out the clips of the Charles Laughton "I Claudius" in which Caligula was played by Emlyn Williams. There are stand-alone clips on here plus the fascinating BBC documentary "The Epic that Never Was".
I actually stopped going to college classes at night because I Claudius was on PBS. It was either one insanely boring teacher talking about american history from 1890 or I Claudius. One funny thing I always remember is on the show Frasier he takes his group of bar pals to his house, and they have nothing to do, so he says "I have all 13 episodes of I Claudius!" and they all just groaned.
Caligula NEVER was a catastrophic or even a bad film. I find the new music quite good; but I miss Khachatourian and Prokofiev, too. Great new scenes with Helen Mirren, for the sake of this “ultimate” version. Nothing against Guccione’s sex additions.
A friend of mine asked his boss about _Caligula_ when it was first showing in the US: "is it as bad as they say it is?" Replied his boss: "it's worse!"
While incredibly admirable, I feel Kermode's "all movies are redeemable" beliefs would be tested in one afternoon with the RLM crew for a "best of the worst." Milwaukee can break any man.
Kermode needs to sit through Robot In The Family
Red Letter Media even broke Patton Oswalt during Plinketto #8, a man who adores watching B movies!
RLM should make a 'Best of the Worst' episode where they have to watch 4 different versions of 'Caligula' and determine which is 'Best'. I think such a video would indirectly document, in one sitting, a nervous breakdown by either Mike or Rich. :)
MAKE. THIS. HAPPEN!!! 😂
Oh HELL yes!! This is the team up the world needs and deserves. 😁 👍 👍 👍
I loved "I, Claudius" too! :D
Fascninating story, so happy footage was archived so there could be a chance at something like this
I'm interested because it's the only McDowell film from his golden period that I haven't seen.
I mean he's the best part of the movie, his performance is intense af
He's at his brilliant cheekiest mischievous self lol.
King Midas' girlfriend would have a golden period once every month or so.
The man who introduced me to Caligula on Channel 4 back in 99
Ch 4 used to put a triangle on the corner of the screen indicating that it was for adults
Sadly that Film4 cut is not available in this or will be available as a box set.
Oooh was that a Gang of Four T-shirt 😊
Waiting patiently for Mark's review of Borderlands.
I must admit I've not seen the previous versions of the film - but i saw this version this week ....
My word it was fantastic!!!!!
The music used in the trailer and film is actually Prokofiev, Dance of the Knights from Romeo and Juliet.
Thanks! Now I will be get the 4K Ultimate Cut as soon as it's released! 👍
Ahem, "that music" is not from a television program, it is from the ballet Romeo and Juliet by Sergei Prokofiev ("The Montagues and Capulets").
I thought it was the Dance of the Knights? (Same ballet) Off to check and listen to it as I haven't heard it for ages 😂
@@Spike-hl2mw it’s the theme from The Apprentice is the point
@@vickiep4217 It is "Dance of the knights".
Nerd!
I saw The Smiths walk onto it at Salford Polytechnic/Festival of the 10th summer 1986.
Not going to lie, as a kid, my friends and I scorched earth to find the original.
Not going to lie? Lol
@@napndash wouldn't you be interested in a Roman gladiator porn movie starring the guy from A Clockwork orange and Obi Wan?
Now all you have to do is google it
I remember hearing Mr. K talk about this film on Mark Radcliffe's old 1FM show, but for some reason I thought he was saying "Killer Giller"... back in those pre/early internet days it took at least a couple of years before I realised what the film was really called 😂
As a person who saw the original release at the Prince Charles cinema, and subsequently the Hard Core version. I am very interested in how this version, seeing which I am seeing tomorrow, changes the film.
Mcdowell plays a sociopath so well 😂
Too well😂
7:22 I'm glad you set the record straight on the historical Caligula here, thanks. I too have seen many versions of the movie from mild to OMG and I'm now curious to see the movie finally edited so it makes some narrative sense and jetisons the unnecessary errr..enhancements...made by Guccione.
Went to see it at the GFT yesterday. An excellent piece of work. Negovan should be congratulated.
🙏🏻❤❤❤
This was a great bit of cinema history and I thank you for that. I knew it was controversial but I learned a lot from was you said. You made my day.
I saw the film in a movie theatre when it came out. Some of the violence is downright brutal and bloody. It's not for everyone. I remember two women getting up and leaving because of the nudity and sex.
Me and a pal went to see this in the local fleapit when it first came out in Newcastle. *WHO* thought it was cool to let two fifteen year old girls into the cinema to see this!!!!? Baffles me to this day!
Peter's wig and syphilis rot. Top notch.
Syphilis did not exist in Europe until it was introduced in the 16th century from the Americas.
As Mark points out, the new version is a completely new experience. The ultimate 'fan-edit'. Finally, we have a clear narrative and dramatic tension. Probably the best representation of the Pagan aspects of Rome (myth and magic) this side of the HBO Rome series.
After seeing the Caligula clip I think I now understand the reference where the pilots wife wakes up with a horse in Airplane!
Yes it was a fake rumour about him, that he had sex with his horse. He was pretty depraved but that was not real lol.
I so can't wait to see the ultimate cut. ❤😊
I am seeing this in about 6 hours time. I remember the 2000 film4 cut, I had taped it and watched it many times as a teenager (as I did with all the films in the good Doctor's extreme strand), it was something my friends and I would quote to each other in school. Very excited.
I think I saw it on Film4 too, it made me feel sick lol
Always the sign of a great film!
This is a case when the legend behind a film is honestly more fascinating than the film itself. It’s apparently the only film that Roger Bert ever walked out of.
Director's cut is great. A wonder to behold. In terms that theres nothing quite like it. My fave scene involves a giant decapitation machine the size of a football pitch.
Because there is more footage out there a fan editor will doubtlessly put back some moments and take more out. I would love Mark to do a series exploring fan edits. There are some amazing ones out there.
I'd love him to look into projects butchered by the Weinstein brothers like The Crow: City of Angels, Hellraiser: Bloodline and Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers.
Music: Romeo and Juliet ballet by Sergei Prokofiev
that music is from the ballet Romeo and Juliet..
What pisses me off is that in the wake of these announcements, I've come to realize the previous versions have all gone OOP...which I never thought was gonna happen. It's always had multi-version editions available openly for decades. I saw a single-disc edition for $40 in a store that had it. I never wanted it and now can't find it! Feckin' insane.
Its a shame because ive never heard of this film and Malcolm Mccdowell's casting of Caligula is absolutely brilliant.
the music may be used in some tv show, but it's mainly Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet
Amazing movie might get the studio canal version in 4K soon
"Salon Kitty" crikey that's the first time I've heard a reference to that film since .... the 70s 😁
I had Salon Kitty on DVD because it was rumoured to be quite shocking.
I saw this with three friends when it came out at the ABC in Harrow in 1981. We were 15/16 at the time, so maybe it was just an age thing, but we still talk about it to this day. I’m not sure we would if it was this cut. i also remember that although Mcdowell and Mirren very publicly disowned it, Geilgud and O’Toole thought the whole situation was hilarious. Re. gore Vidal , i just saw an interview with Malcolm Mcdowell where he talks about this new cut, he said that the Gore Vidal script was terrible and made no sense, so it’s hard to say if much of it was ever used.
I trust that that Mark has read, “Ultimate Porno: the Making of a Sex Colossal” (the funniest book ever). When the Cohen brothers were talking about “Hail Caesar” (pre-production) I was praying they were doing a film based on this memoir of filming “Caligula”.
"You amacheur!"..."Amateur [slap]!"
lol... I went to see that film... my mate and I sneaked into the cinema to see it when it first came out. We had no idea what we were about to watch and for sure, it made an impression. In addition, it was a monster when it came to time... 3 hours long of madness. For sure, little Alex was the star of that show going way over the top but having said that, the whole film was way over the top. I remember well people being buried up to their necks and then a mad head cutting contraption with massive blades 5 inches off the floor came slicing the heads off. Mad film but in a funny way, entertaining.
The historical record is that for the fact he was a pretty decent emperor up until an episode of illness resulting in high fever and a 3 day coma(possibly malaria of some other mosquitoe born illness) then the craziness ensues.
People forget about Malcolm McDowell’s performance in swat cats. You know he was that he was the villainous Matt Katw and I think that performance even though that wouldn’t be taken as like something in his career highlights I really found it is fascinating that it was a story about a man who was trapped, and had to become something else in order to take on the world, and that part of his Caligula performance was encapsulated in madkat
Caligula is in my mind a fab movie , big name actors , big lavish sets , extravagant over the top performances , it looks great , ive only seen the edited version with soft core scenes which i watched on the Electric Blue label released in the 80s , then an american uncut version just after the millenium on Penthouse dvd , then the Arrow UK ( ?) dvd version called The Imperial Edition , possibly a 3 disc set lasting 156mins with all the hardcore intact ( or so I thought ) , looking forward to this new version 😊♥️🥵
The 2.5 hour “Imperial Edition” was a vast improvement of the original 100 min theatrical cut, which never should have been released to begin with. However, this new 3 hr version should be the clincher that enhances Caligula’s status to even higher echelons within the cinematic canon.
❤🎉❤🎉❤🎉
I remember seeing the movie (X, I think) years ago on VHS and the thing I remember the most is the sadistic violence, not the sex.
The only record of Caligula's reign comes from a few paragraphs historian Suetonius wrote about the Caesars in 121 AD. One of the stories he described was the wedding scene, that's probably why it was included in the new version.
It’s true that most of what we know about Caligula was written by Suetonius, but he wrote more than just a few paragraphs. Seneca, Cassius Dio, and Philo also wrote information about him which has survived.
Suetonius makes for a very interesting read because he seemed to like telling all the juicy gossip which may, or may not, have been truth. This certainly informs the popular modern view of what Caligula was like. Whether or not it was all true is another matter - certainly the fragments about him we have from other sources tend not to show him in a good light either. But it sure makes for a more interesting film.
@@GrilloTheFlightless yeh great read. Most of what was written about him is either lost or incomplete, Perhaps Philo & Seneca the younger are some of the very few 1st hand accounts that survived. Must have been a scary time to be influential.
caligula whispering to him as the guy commits suicide in his bath is brilliant, "what is it like dying?"
It’s a shame because this was supposed to be the movie to launch Malcolm McDowell to stardom.
Malcolm McDowell is to british film acting what Francis Bacon was to british painting.
The question people were asking was is this account of Caligula's life or context accurate. If so the sex, violence might be necessary to convey the reality, if not it was just put in to make $$$ or shock!
Despite what anyone says Caligula was clearly intended to be a pornographic exploitation film, though there are elements which are excellent.
The new version is still VERY sexual. It just has a plot now.
Caligula...it makes the Day the Clown Cried look like Citizen Kane
The Guccione scenes should be apart of the extras .
I remember waiting in line with my navy buddies in DC to see this. It was a big line
"A Moral Holocaust" would be a great title for a Mary Whitehouse biography ✂🙈
Movie 43 with a narrative.
PERFECTION!!!!!! ❤
A MASTERPICE ❤️ 😍 💖 ❣️ 💕
I've always loved Caligula in all its versions, although the Channel 4 one was at that point the best, I really want to see this but have yet to see anything about a UK release.
'Preciate it, I want to see it now
"Tried to RUB it from their memories." Interesting choice of words.
@@CianODonnell Glad I'm not the only one who smirked at that line
It was a Felliniesque extravaganza of sex and violence when it was first released. An all-star, glamorous, nasty guilty pleasure with blood, guts, big dicks and penthouse pets. I'll be checking out this new AI version. You can be sure Gore Vidal would still detest it, but I hear the limited edition should contain a CD of the needle-drop, classical-disco, original soundtrack LP. I sure hope that's true.
I saw one of the cuts once, and from the get-go, I totally tuned with McDowell's performance and what he was trying to do and the film that he hoped he was in. This epic disaster deserves a "The Disaster Artist" treatment even more so than "The Room" itself, an iconic example of producer/studio interference in an otherwise potentially really interesting and daring film.
The trailer failed to credit 'Dobbin' the horse, who is sharing a bed with Caligula and another man ('though facing the other way and trying to look coy)! And remember - this is just the trailer!! (TBH, I laughed out loud when I saw that two-or three-second long excerpt; it looked like some sort of 1970s TV spoof.)
The horse’s name was actually Davide, and he is finally listed in the movie’s end credits! 🐴
@@thomasnegovanonline Neigh! Many thanks! 😃
Subtle is that in the U.K. and I suppose Europe my friend was able to see it at the age of 15. I was stunned to hear when he returned that there was no real R or X rating to movies in the U.K, in 79, because it was not released in Canada.
When will it be released? I’ve never seen the original so I’m watching for the first time with no expectation.
It’s in theaters now!!!
I think it's available for rental as well
Behind the scenes story was far better than the movie itself.
Most if not all of the footage is included in the Imperial edition as deleted scenes.
There was well over 90 hours of footage, no one’s seen it before this release.
@@thomasnegovanonline But most of that is most likely rubbish outtakes etc.
@@MrEchoes1962 that is completely incorrect. You should give the Ultimate Cut a chance, it might surprise you how much magic Malcolm creates in the new version.
Is there a dvd release of this version??
Yes, I've been seeing ads for it on social media.
I went to see this film at the cinema when it came out ...I fell asleep and started snoring . 😂
i have just watched the new version having seen the older 2hr 37 min version and all i can say is what a difference.... its like watching a completely different version i agree nervas death should have been kept in and the end where we get a full face of caligulas face after being killed.... at points in the fist hour you can see the scenes that was added and can see the actors looking at the director looking for a cut specially the actor playing macro the lift scene i swear i can see macdowel smile while toole was descending
He's coming back Boston !
I watched the original in Paris when it first came out. It was in English with subtitles in French. The French audience found some of the subtitles highly amusing as they'd been, shall we say, sanitised.
One of my all time favorite movies, cant wait to see it projected in this new cut! I liked the movie I named my son after it !! (well middle name, im not that cruel)
So your son has in his name ‘Caligula?’
@TheManInTheLongBlackCoat yes he does and I have the classic movie Caligula coin tattooed too
Unfortunately, I've never seen any cut of this film, but am tempted now its being re-released. It must have been controversial for the director to disown it twice! 😮😅
Does anyone know who is doing the voice-over for the original trailer shown at @1:53? IS it Avery Brooks?
This makes me want to see this version but I wonder if the scene with the machine that cuts the heads off is still in this one, because I can't unsee that.. do not want to see it again.
Yep.
I saw the movie at the Prince Charles in 1980, I think. It was my fave scene.😉✌️
@@razzle1964 UGH. It's so gross I can't bear it.
@@SuperNevile oh now I'm not sure whether to risk it..
Love the Gang of Four shirt…what are we talking about? Gladiator? 🤔
Wonder if Snyder should have a go at an edit, then release an additional directors cut