Caligula: The Ultimate Cut (1979)

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 incorporating 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.

This really feels like the film that was originally promised by Bob Guccione back in the late 70’s, when he referred to it as a “package of excellence”. Caligula is the transgressive erotic masterpiece it always could have been.

Cinapse

A surprisingly spellbinding reimagining of one of cinema’s most infamous disasters, Caligula – The Ultimate Cut is a stunning achievement.

Morbidly Beautiful