Review of Caligula (1979) by Mark L — 05 Mar 2008
Disappointing. I saw the unrated version. Malcolm McDowell captured the cruelty and decadence very well. However, you can see why Gore Vidal distanced himself from the screenplay (the movie says it's "based on a screenplay by Gore Vidal").
Given the cast, it really should have been better. Caligula needed less porn and more depth. The movie has a bit of an identity crisis. Remove the good cast (those who had speaking parts), cheapen the sets and add a pizza delivery guy, you get a typical porn movie.
If you take out about 45 minutes of sex scenes (there will still be plenty to see) and replace it with literate material, you might get a four or five star movie.
This review of Caligula (1979) was written by Mark L on 05 Mar 2008.
Caligula has generally received mixed reviews.
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