I remember some here discussing the DVD, "Caligula"

[CatWoman]

and there are so many versions of it out there.

Which is the best version?

I've been reading about Roman Emperors, and those guys were ALL vicious, cruel and horney.

[Squeech]

1. No

Some of them were decent. Claudius, who was Caligula's successor, was an intelligent (if cranky) administrator. There was a run of good guys in the 2nd century, culminating in Marcus Aurelius, who was pretty much the embodiment of Plato's philosopher-king.

And Caligula was significantly out of his gourd, possibly madder than George III, certainly more obviously fucked up than George 43.

[RandomKoolzip]

2. DON'T WATCH IT, CATWOMAN!!

It's AWFUL. It's ten times the snuff extravaganza that "Passion of da Christ" was, with the added attraction of some violent misogyny thrown in.

Avoid this movie unless you want your day ruined.

[CatWoman]

6. Passion of the Christ?????

:puke:

[ProfessorGAC]

15. Listen To RKZ On This One

I saw it in the theater when all the buzz was about it. It's dreadful. There are quasi-porn elements that are taken much further than needed to drive the story, mostly to be gratuitous sex scenes that got it the X rating they wanted.

Those parts are mostly tedious and dull. The story is ok, but the pacing is glacial. There's about a 45 minute story packed into a 130 minute movie.

RKZ is completely right. Avoid this piece of junk.
The Professor

[catmandu57]

3. Have you watched I Claudius?

That gave a pretty good account of the Roman emperors, even though it's fiction.

[CatWoman]

7. But Squeech says Cladius wasn't an asshole

I want to learn about the assholes!!!

[ragin_acadian]

19. if you want to read about the assholes, read John Julius Norwich's

"A Short History of Byzantium" - there was a byzantine emperor, i can't quite remember the name, but his mother spooned his eyes out and cut off his nose so she could exile him and ascend the throne - it's a pretty good read, despite being historical - and relevant because some consider the byzantine empire to BE the roman empire.

[bobthedrummer]

4. I can't remember the title but the series with John Hurt as Caligula

is better than the one with Malcom McDowell-there really are lots to pick and choose from.
OTOH the one with Malcom McDowell in is far more graphic.
:dilemma:

[CatWoman]

8. graphic in which way?

blood and gore graphic?

[bobthedrummer]

10. Sex and violence.

It's got some lovely orgies and get your FREAK out moments.
But I don't get into that, I always take the high road...
:P
on edit: there are some very bloody scenes though too.

[Bridget Burke]

11. John Hurt played Caligula in "I Claudius"

The BBC series was based on Robert Graves' novels "I Claudius" & "Claudius the God." Graves had a fine classical education & based the novels on old sources--principally Suetonius. Not to say that some of the old sources didn't shade the truth. And the depiction of the Empress Livia was supposedly influenced by the poet Laura Riding, mistress, muse & torturer of the poet.

It's an excellent series with a fine script & the very best of British actors.

[bobthedrummer]

12. Thanks, Hurt was pretty young when he did it-the acting was quality

all the way.

[CanuckAmok]

14. It is excellent... but the production values are shameful!

Poor quality video (but the best available at the time), and shoddy sets.

I'm glas they didn't cut corners on the casting, though... it is an amazing production in that sense.

[Freebird12004]

5. I wasn't aware there was more than one version.

[CatWoman]

9. I did a search on both Amazon and Ebay

and several versions popped up.

[CanuckAmok]

13. Caligula versions with McDowall:

What happened is this:

the movie was financed by Bob Guccioni (Penthouse magazine), who is a huge enthusiast about the Roman Empire (surprised?). He wanted to produce a truly accurate depiction of Caligula's life and death.

He also wanted to market it as a sex film.

So... he shot a "legitimate" version of the movie, with all the high-profile actors who were in it, with some of the milder sex scenes. Then, once all the "legitimate" actors were wrapped, he shot the hardcore sex elements, the big orgy scenes, etc, and cut them together.

So the major actors weren't completely aware that they were going to appear in an X-rated movie (although I find this doubtful), but in the end, two distinctly different versions were cut following the theatrical release; one with the hardcore sex and more violence, and another one which was milder and earned an "R" rating. The "R" version is the one that most Video stores carried. It was the only way for Guccioni to see any gross at all from the production (it reportedly quadrupled in budget during production and was managed extremely poorly). The "X" version is also available, but not everywhere.

You should see it, if just for the camp value... it's pretty entertaining.

[Freebird12004]

16. Wow ... see what happens when ya put the whole world on ignore

for a while :think: but with the help of DU I'll be back in the loop in no time.

[DS1]

17. Well there's that one part where both newlyweds

woman and man get themselves fisted on an altar

[CatWoman]

18. now, that's just fucking disgusting

:puke:

[MrSlayer]

22. "I hope you appreciate the steps I've taken to make your marriage holy."

Only Proculus gets fisted, Livia gets taken the old fashioned way.

[LiviaOlivia]

20. HBO's 'Rome' to start this fall..."a lot of fire and flesh,"

Something Roman coming up that sounds great.


The Rise Of 'Rome'
HBO's new TV series wasn't built in a day.
By Dana Thomas
Newsweek International


~snip~

With its astounding $100 million budget, cast of relative unknowns and multinational production team, "Rome" is breaking the rules of television, too. The onslaught of digital and Web television has caused a steep decline in viewership for networks and major cable channels all over the world. "Television is spread out across so many channels now that it is getting more difficult to get people to tune in to a regular weekly series," says Adrian Edwards, consultant for DGA Metrics, a media-research company in London. "Because of that, there is a movement toward big-event programming—shows that get a lot of hype which draws audiences to tune in."

"Rome" should be a good lure. When writers Bill MacDonald and John Milius first proposed the story—about two soldiers in Caesar's 13th legion, Lucius VorenusandTitus Pullo—as a mini-series to HBO back in 1998, the pay-cable network's executives immediately saw a larger potential: they commissioned the first 12 episodes as well as an outline for a possible five-year run. Eventually the BBC and Italy's RAI joined in, recognizing the project's global appeal. The one-hour weekly series is scheduled to air on HBO in the United States in early fall and on the BBC a few weeks later; other markets—including Italy, France, Germany and Australia—will follow. Like HBO's other high-profile series "The Sopranos," "Sex and the City" and "Deadwood," "Rome" pushes the limits of violence, profanity and nudity. "It's very elemental—a lot of fire and flesh," says British hunk Ray Stevenson ("King Arthur"), who plays Pullo. "Just like Rome."

Once greenlighted, the production went into high gear. HBO chose to film at Cinecitta because, as Doelger explains, "the quality of light in Rome is extraordinary; they have such brilliant craftsmen here and the extras have such great Roman faces and a boundless enthusiasm." The rest of the cast is primarily British, most from theater or television; the directors are mainly Americans and Europeans culled from the HBO stable. Renowned film costumer April Ferry went to India for 10 days and returned to Cinecitta with reams of silk, linen and cotton, which she and her team fashioned into a staggering 3,000 costumes, ranging from the shredded rags of the poor to Cleopatra's layered chiffon royal robes. Set construction began in November, took four months and cost $11 million—far beyond any ordinary television budget. With the directors doing complicated multiple-camera shots with 35mm movie cameras instead of the usual television videocams, "Rome" is "a one-hour movie that appears on television once a week," says Stevenson. "The only difference between this and a movie is, we do the complicated shots in three days instead of two weeks."

~snip~

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7296366/site/newsweek/

[MrSlayer]

21. The Penthouse produced version starring Malcolm McDowell.

Is by far the best. Excellent film and brilliant acting by McDowell.

"I have existed since the morning of the world and I shall exist until the last star falls from the heavens. Although I have taken the form of Kias Caligula I am all men as I am no men, therefore I am.... a God!"