The battle scenes in Alexander were amazing, and they leave the ones in Troy standing. Bloody, dusty, confused, chaotic, brutal, frantic, HUGE- this is the depiction of ancient warfare I have been waiting for! I think the battle of Gaugamela was even better than the battle of Pelinor fields in ROTK, and I thought THAT was spectacular, but Gaugamela just felt so much more REAL.
And Colin Farrell does battle rage better than anyone I've ever seen! The part where he was riding through the forest in the battle against the elephants, cutting down men with such swift and exultant brutality, I myself wanted to take up a sword and fight for him, which made me understand and appreciate the loyalty he commanded from his troops better than at any other point in the film.
My only complaint about the battles is that there were not enough of them- the film only showed two battles out of a campaign of 13 years. But I was happy with what they did show, and if they had spread the budget more thinly, giving us more battles but making them less impressive, I would have felt cheated anyway.
Overall I enjoyed it more than Troy- I thought the acting was good, the chemistry between the characters was good, the sets and costumes were not only beautiful they were also more accurate than in Troy, and I think on the whole more thought was put into historical accuracy I even got used to the accents after a while, and having Irish Greeks didnt really bother me. I was able to enjoy Alexander as a film, and although it has been pretty badly panned in the UK press, I dont think it was a bad film at all. I'd give it a solid 7.
Alexander was more on the psychlogicall side than Troy and the acting was OK...well, I enjoyed it.
The gay thing was a bit off,but, oh well, nothing is perfect.
The fight with the elephants was utterly cool! Did you know that when they shot it, the horse-Ducipal-attacked the elephant for real--it bit its leg---then they had to hold back the elephant....
Gay wasn't a word then, it was natural in those times apparently for men to feel close to men in the same way they were with women.
Nothing wrong if he did anyway...
I believe Alexander did have relations with men, but more with women.
It is believed he took part in pederasty.
as for the films, I prefered Alexander over Troy, even though both films were horribly miscast.
Yeah, it`s a known fact that men in those times were like that--but it bothered me a bit... I preffer the 'normally oriented' heroes, so to say. Anyway, Alexander, overall, is a pretty awesome pic--it stays true to the historical facts and does a marvelous job with the sets.
Alex is way better than Troy.