Caligula, the man, was the third Roman Emperor and ruled from 37 to 41. He has been described through history as an insane, perverse tyrant who was respected by his people and feared by the Roman Senate. Stories of Caligula focus on his sexual and violent appetite that includes indulging sexually with other men’s wives, incest with his sisters and murdering for amusement. In the end, the Emperor himself was murdered by officers within the Praetorian Guard, who were probably hired by the Roman Senate. The history of Caligula is without question a twisted time period yet an intriguing one as well.

Caligula, the movie, has a history just as crazy, full of sex, money and greed. It’s one of those movies you either are fascinated by or just plain hate. I’ve always personally found it to be a horrible movie. It’s a movie that doesn’t know what it wants to be. At times it’s a bold honest look into the days of Pagan Rome with all its ugliness and brutality. At other times, it makes attempts to be a full blown (pun intended) porno. It’s such a bizarre movie with incredible set pieces, a bloated unlimited budget, well respected names behind the scenes and Oscar award winning actors side by side with Penthouse Pets.

With that said, the Three-Disc Imperial Edition has just been released full of every possible bonus featured you could hope in retelling the process of this controversial film. I’ll admit I couldn’t imagine why they were releasing this movie again this time in a three-disc version.

I watched it back in 1999 when it was released celebrating its 20th anniversary. Back then, I was fascinated by the fact that actors I respected like Peter O’Toole and Malcolm McDowell were in a movie produced by the man behind Penthouse Magazine. How was that possible? How were they duped into participating in a pornographic film like this?

With that in mind, this was a film I wanted to see. So I rented it and to make a long story short, I hated it. This wasn’t porn? This wasn’t even a good gore movie. It was just a convoluted story loosely based on history that was full of graphic violence that ruined any enjoyment I might have had with the sexual acts. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of graphic shots of orgies showing hand-jobs, cunnilingus, fellatio, sodomy, you name it this movie has it all. Yet the graphic description of violence ruins any possibility of being titillated by these scenes. It’s disappointing actually. The only scene that does achieve that is the famous lesbian scene between Penthouse Pets, Anneka and Lori, but even that scene doesn’t make it worth your time to sit through this movie.

What does make it worth your time are the new bonus features that are part of this Imperial Edition. I never ever thought I would recommend anything to do with Caligula, yet, after watching the documentaries and listening to the commentaries I can’t help but find the whole story of the movie very fascination. I’m still not convinced it’s a great movie but I am also now aware that I have never seen the movie that the director (Tinto Brass) or the original writer (Gore Vidal) had intended.

What saves this edition and what makes it worth your time, is the honesty that has gone in to producing this edition. Everyone from the actors, a Penthouse Pet to the director is very honest about their experience and most of it isn’t good. Of course what’s missing is a new interview with the man that was responsible for Caligula in the first place, the founder of Penthouse, Bob Guiccone. It would have been nice to get his perspective on the film now almost 30 years later. Of course, he appears in documentary footage back in the late 70’s, but it would have been interesting to see if he has changed his story in time.

This addition as I said has every bonus feature they were able to unearth. It includes a new high-definition transfer of the unrated, uncensored film and an alternate pre-release version that appears to be a bit closer to Brass’s ideas of pre-Penthouse Pet added scenes. There are deleted and alternate scenes as well as behind the scenes footage from the Penthouse vaults. Although none of what you would think or hope. The footage is raw but not in the good naughty way. I guess I expected a healthy collection of porn and sadly that’s not what we get.

Arguably the best of the bonus features are the commentaries. I was quite surprised that both Malcolm McDowell and Helen Mirren participated in full-length audio commentaries. Yes, that Helen Mirren that just won an Oscar for The Queen. She is not only in this film and in various degrees of undress, but recently took the time to sit through this film and give her thoughts on her experience.

Both audio commentaries are hosted or moderated by film writers who helps them to keep their commentaries focused. I really can’t say enough about how great these commentaries are and really make it worth sitting through more than once. Both actors are very honest about their experiences with the movie and offer a wealth of personal nuggets about the film. McDowell talks about (surprisingly) how much Sir John Gielgud loved the film and claimed to have seen it three times and even paid for it. Helen Mirren talks about the corruption on the Italian side of the production that would hire extras only if they would sleep with them.

There is one more audio commentary where we do get some insight from the Penthouse side, with a commentary from the on-set Penthouse writer Ernest Volkman. He provides some little anecdotes as well but I only skimmed through this one (I just couldn’t sit through the movie for a complete third time). His thoughts of the film and that period are a bit more kind but does acknowledge how he never expected the film would ever see the light of day. This much to do with the many legal issues that were mounting at a daily basis and to the nature of the picture. His commentary is also moderated (although appears to be from a very long phone conversation) is equally full of great stories.

The new video interviews with director Tinto Brass and actors John Steiner and Penthouse Pet Lori Wagner are very candid and frank about their experience. Tinto’s story is about losing control of his art. Steiner is a broader story of a once working actor changing with the times to now make a living as Real Estate agent. Wagner’s story is about a little girl losing her dreams of being a star, manipulation and of course growing up and becoming comfortable in her own skin. All interviews are well produced and full of the trials and tribulations of the business and are wonderfully real and honest.

So even if you are unfamiliar with this movie, or even if you aren’t a fan of this movie, this new Three-Disc Imperial Edition is worth sitting through for anyone that is interested in the sordid tales of the movie business. This is a no holds barred insight into the seedy side of the entertainment world.

Perhaps Helen Mirren said it best when asked about the movie during the filming in that it “has an irresistible mixture of art and genitals” and making it was “like being on an acid Trip” all kinds of sums it all up.

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