I wish to first disagree with the earlier poster who said John Hurt was one dimensional in his performance. I found Hurt's portrayal of mad Caligula to be a multi-dimensional masterpiece, filled with terrifying nuance. Watching him you never know when the next head will fall, or if he's suddenly touched with sentiment and decides to spare some perceived slighter. Particularly profound is the scene in the tent with Claudius where he seriously, and with an almost profound regret asks Claudius if he is indeed mad. Certainly Caligula is portrayed as a madman always on the verge of some tyrannical rage and concurrent action but he is still very recognizably a multi-leveled character in the hands of the superb acting of an often overlooked great actor John Hurt. Many of the other performances stand out as well Derek Jacobi, Sian Phillips etc. The film kicks the a$$ off of Rome at least in the acting department and is probably the best portrait of Roman Civilization along with Spartacus , Ben Hur , and Quo Vadis.