Alexander (2-Disc Widescreen Special Edition)
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Angelina JolieDirector: Oliver Stone
Studio: Warner Home Video
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Format: Dolby, Closed-captioned, Widescreen
Running Time: 175 minutes
DVD Release: August 2nd 2005
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DVD Review
If you're determined to spend three hours with Oliver Stone's take on the personal and military struggles of ancient Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great, you should know that Alexander (Colin Farrell, in blonde disarray) is not half so much fun as mom Olympias (Angelina Jolie) or his future wild bride Roxane (Rosario Dawson). Indeed, it's the women in Alex's life who provide the movie's most satisfying action: Jolie, sporting some kind of Russian accent, wraps herself in snakes while hissing promises of Farrell's destiny; Dawson disrobes and threatens to cut Farrell's throat before shtupping his brains out. The rest is leaden history, supposedly novel because it showcases epic battle sequences and addresses Alexander's great love for his buddy Hephaistion (Jared Leto). But the man-on-man romance is limited to teary hugs, and the battles are indecipherable messes-you have to wait for Anthony Hopkins' narration to tell you what happened (in fact, you have to wait for Hopkins' narration to tell you everything that happens). There's some spectacle on display but, alas, not much that is truly spectacular. --Steve Wiecking
User Reviews
Alexander - Rating: 4/5
well done. It showed a more honest view of the Greek culture during Alexander,s time than is usually given.
CRAP - Rating: 2/5
This movie was just dumb,it was extremely boring. Anthony Hopkins needs to shut the hell up!my god he nearly bored me to death and the battle scenes were not very good.
Omegas not so mega - Rating: 3/5
Although there is no reason why you should not see Oliver Stone's Alexander, there is much reason to put it on the backburner until you see the other films of this director and its lead star, Collin Farrell, first. Alexander has a tendency to slip between horrible acting and grandeur epic battle scenes, to create an overall big budget mainstream movie with some low budget production values that should not be there. Still though, we get lots of Greek philosophy, pre-Christian bisexuality and the psychological infant and early adult Oedipus complex. It is all about chasing ideas, shaping our destinies and where the future may take us. Alexander's father, Philip, (Val Kilmer) is a stone cold warrior with no love. His mother, Olympias (Angelina Jolie) is a manipulative power-hungry vixen. His love for both his parents plus his dreams turns him into a stone cold manipulative power-hungry day dreaming warrior who tries to conquer any kingdom that he can think off... and succeeds... for most of it. The power plays are quite interesting, including scenes where the son Alexander disobeys his father and almost creates an international incident because of it. There are those who want to share in Alexander's dreams, and even warriors who want to share his bed, creating an interesting complex story with people trying to reflect each other's qualities. However in directing a film more about Alexander the person than Alexander the Great, we get into trouble a bit because the acting is sketchy, even at the best of times. Performances let it down more than a tad.
The battle scenes are quite bloody with lots of CGI. Again this is certainly not the worst historical battler that you can see but it doesn't really turn out to be such a good one either. Some very nice production design values seem to save it from direct to video hell though. Interesting movie, grand in many parts, but like we said there are more than a few low budget production values that creep in where they should not.
Protracted Wistful Gazes - Rating: 4/5
This is an excellent movie - not exactly Lord of the Rings or Gladiator quality - but still excellent in it's own right. The rumors that Alexander is portrayed as a homosexual in this film are true. However, the one sex scen is heterosexual, and I got more of a bisexual impression. It seems he was just a passionate man in general. He passionately loved his mother, Hephaistion, his wife - Roxane (Rosario Dawson), and his horse. Jared Leto does a particularly good job of protracted wistful gazes at Alexander. The film focuses more on the personal life of Alexander than "the Great" part of his title. It portrays him as a human being who fears, hurts, loves, etc.
The plot opens with Ptolemy (Anthony Hopkins) telling the tale after the death of Alexander. He begins with a short review of Alexander's childhood and education, and the start of his relationship with Hephaistion (Jared Leto). The plot jumps quickly to the first major battle that Alexander was in charge of. The battle scenes are realistic & detailed. Throughout Alexander's journey to the East, he struggles with his strange relationship with his mother, Olympias (Angelina Jolie); the battle between his dream to reach the ocean & his soldiers' desire to go home; and his guilt over the murder of his father, Philip (Val Kilmer).
Angelina Jolie does an excellent job of playing Alexander's mother, however, the script shows her as very one dimensional. She is portrayed as a very cold-hearted woman whose only desire is to see her son ascend to the throne. I suspect there was more to the real historical Olympias.
The soundtrack could have been better. It sounds similar to some of James Horner's work. But, overall, it's a captivating film.
More Like Something .....You Would See On History Channel ...... Realistic, But Still Falls Short And Is Flawed In Many Ways!!!! - Rating: 2/5
I've seen this movie awhile ago and must say that I was greatly dissapointing in my opinion when I watched it. The movie in my opinion was just plainly bland and rushed; with nothing much to savor. The movie did depict Alexander's life, showing that he was not perfect and gave information about his life. Though, I think they should have showed more of the conquest part, with only two epic battles; one at the begging of the movie against the mighty Persians, and one towards the end the bloody battle in the forests of India. Both of the battles though were shown in great detail, and were fun to watch. The movie did depict the hardship of the soldiers during the campaign, and showed hoe Alexander turned from a great leader into a self centering delusional person.
The movie moved slower than I liked; and was mainly created for a History buff that knows a lot about this stuff. I myself love history, but let me tell you there is so much this movie failed to capture in my opinion. Anyways, like I said in the title this is kind of like a documentary you would usually see on the History Channel. The movie plainly went no where no where with the constant flash backs, and point where you when it seem that the movie would just take a nose drive. In, my opinion making the Director's Cut version made no actual difference, and couldn't seem to save this film. The movie is still respectable and very complex and detailed.
I never really did get..... Why the heck Angelina Jolee played as Olympias (Alexander's Mother),.... I know this probably doesn't matter but really she had to be using about 5-6 different accents, I know since I speak a few different languages. It is just odd for Angelia Jolee to actually be Colin Farell's (Alexander) mother. They should have gotten someone older and more mature to play Olympias. Yes, Angelina Jolee is very sexy, but really why is she playing the part of Olympias, just stick with Tomb Raider. Colin Farrel did do a good job playing Alexander. I'm not sure he was maybe the best choice for the part but he delivered. (note:The real Alexander had Green Eyes Not Blue... just a fact though). Val Kimer did not do a good job as Philp(Alexander's dad), I don't know what to say. He just failed at the part doing absolutely horrible, shifting in and out with accents and expressions.... not acting well at all It was pretty suiting to have Anothny Hopkins as Ptolemy,... no complaints there. The acting led to a bit of a drawback to the movie barely being sub par,... but the constant flash backs and slowness of the movie slow it down.
Oliver Stone, focused to much on Alexander's personality, and actually made him look like he is some crazy ruler, instead of one of the greatest rulers of all time. If Oliver Stone would have just added more info on Alexander's conquest. The movie did though make me look at Alexander the Great, in a different way. This movie basically showed that Alexander was human just like all of us. Making mistakes and having his own problems. So in a way you could say that the movie is somewhat intelligent, but I still wanted more action. This movie could have been a masterpiece, but the movie tells you a lot of stuff that you probably never heard about Alexander before. I myself know that Ancient Greeks pictured love in a different way; but still the whole bisexual Alexander kind of turned me off and ruined the rest of the movie. Look, I know it's meant to be historically accurate but, still Oliver Stone just got way to involved in that aspect; when he as a director should of focused on the conquest that actually made Alexander, "Alexander The Great"!!!
The film was just too boring and drawn out in my opinion, with nothing that impressed me except some cool visuals, that depicted cities like Babolyn to the forests of India, to the Hindu Kush mountains of Afganistan. Besides that the movie is something you may want to rent. This movie is mainly meant for a mature auidence, or History buffs like me. Hey when you see the 2 star rating, don't be fooled I still like the movie a little bit, but it just didn't capture Alexanders image correctly in my opinion. By, the way all that the Director's Cut adds is more graphic sexual content along with a few new special features. Really the Director' Cut is nothing special in my opinion, just see the threatical version.
Overall, I will have to give this movie a 2.5/5
ACTING: 2.5/5
VISUAL/SOUND EFFECTS: 3/5
QUALITY: 3/5
PRESENTATION: 2.5/5
SPECIAL FEATURES: 3/5
OVERALL: 2.5/5
I suggest you rent the movie, not entirely buy... unless you like the movie. I suggest you buy "Troy" or "Kingdom of Heaven" instead of "Alexander" though. This movie is sadly sub par, when it had the potential to be a masterpiece.
