[.ca] Alexander Revisited: The Final Cut [HD DVD]

From Amazon.com:
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

The greatest Alexander, brought down to real life:
I must confess at the outset that I am picky with most historical films; being an historian of sorts, it bothers me when the story deviates too far from the historical record. Given that the character of Ptolemy (played by the always-good Anthony Hopkins) speaks at length in the prologue and epilogue about stripping away the myth and leaving the true tale of the man, this cannot but set up a bit of disappointment. Ultimately, it wasn't so much disappointment as a lack of satisfaction, on several fronts. Before I go much further, I must say that I found the film to be good on the whole. I would probably grade it overall a 'B'; the acting for the most part would be a little less than this, and the effects a bit more (particularly the battle scenes, which for computer-generation, were very well done, especially the battle at Gaugamela, and the battle near the Ganges). The music, done by Vangelis (think 'Chariots of Fire'), was superb. As entertainment, the film was a good evening's outing, and I didn't find myself squirming in my seat as much as I thought I might at the prospect of a three-hour film. The computer-generated scenes in Babylon, and the on-location settings of Morocco and Thailand were glorious cinematography. The character of Alexander in history is one of mythology, one that was so powerful that it inspired the Roman leaders from Julius Caesar forward to global conquest (an irony of history is that the Roman Empire, which supposedly covered the 'known world', didn't cover half of Alexander's empire). Colin Farrell's performance here was not one that is inspiring; his speeches to the troops lack the kind of power that an Olivier or Brannagh might have in a performance of Henry V -- yet this is precisely what was needed. Alexander is a man who inspired tens of thousands of men to follow him beyond the ends of the known world, but that doesn't quite come across on the film. We don't get the power of Alexander's personality either at Gaugamela or at the Ganges. Angelina Jolie is lovely as ever, but her part as an abused woman who uses quasi-supernatural sorcery to bring about her ends (Alexander's rise to the throne) is melodramatic -- one gets the sense that this might have been the writing or directing as much as it was Jolie's own performance. As Olympias, Alexander's mother, she seems a bit too young (Jolie is probably better cast as Farrell's love interest, rather than his matron figure). The other women in Alexander's life are portrayed as rather flat characters too, even the high-spirited Asian tribeswoman he takes as a wife. There's lots of innuendo, but not much sexual content here. Philip of Macedon, Alexander's father (played by a barely recognisable Val Kilmer), has an almost-rape scene with Olympias, while the boy Alexander watches from behind the bedding; Alexander almost repeats this scene at one point, and has an interesting wedding night with his Asian bride, but nothing ever really seems consummated; Alexander's affections for many of his male friends is a bit overplayed in some respects, and greatly wanting in others. Again there is a lack of satisfaction all around. This is a very different film for Oliver Stone. Perhaps one constant theme (given that Alexander's decision to stop going forward toward the East comes after a terrible battle in which his force loses) Stone seems to work into everything is that there is no way to win a war in Southeast Asia, even back in Alexander's time. There are hints at a political agenda here as well -- Alexander is constantly praised, and constantly praising himself, for not asking others to do in battle what he himself wouldn't do. Is this an indirect slap at the current administration? With Oliver Stone, one never knows. There are a few interesting cameos -- Christopher Plummer plays the philosopher Aristotle, recruited to teach the young Alexander, and who despite being on screen but a few minutes at the beginning of the tale is referred to again and again. Brian Blessed has an even smaller role, essentially just to walk on and separate two wrestlers, telling the child Alexander that he must win on his own merits. For this thirty-second scene, Blessed received a primary credit in the film! Good work if you can get it. Costuming was great, very appropriate to the time, and resisting temptation to add modernisations to all the outfits. The choreography for the battle scenes, both computer-generated and real-life stunts, were well played. The battle against the Persian king Darius was in real-life the last battle in which the chariot played a major offensive function, due to tactics developed by Philip and Alexander's Greek armies which are displayed in the goings on here. Thus, this is a hard film to categorise. Good in parts, and not so hot in others, it is still well worth seeing. The history doesn't deviate too far from the known path to be too distracting, and the film, while not quite living up to its larger-than-life subject, does provide some entertainment. Some judicious editing might make it a bit more palatable. I'd give it three-and-a-half stars, were such permitted. As it is, I'll round up to four.

"CONQUER YOUR FEAR! AND I PROMISE YOU'LL CONQUER DEATH!":
I really enjoyed this movie but this should really only be four and a half because of the annoying, sometimes pointless flashbacks, but this is definetly Alexander the Great brought to life. When I went back and read some books on Greece I enjoyed it even more than the first time I watched it! It is really a great Oliver Stone movie. I will warn some people, this movie isn't all war scenes. There is a lot of talking and a lot of strtegic moves BEFORE and AFTER war scenes, and some is just about Alexander's life itself. All in all, though, I really enjoyed this movie and it is definetly worth a look-see.

This Alexander ain't all that great:
So, according to Oliver Stone, who's never met a piece of history he didn't want to distort, Alexander the Great was a girly man crybaby who let his own men insult and belittle him throughout his whole quest for greatness. The very fact that Stone sensationalized the homosexual malarkey of his Alexander cut the rug out from under this film's feet before it ever hit theatres. Alexander the Great is a name that has resounded throughout history for over two millennia - but the history of that story somehow wasn't good enough for Stone. I think even Freud would shudder at the thought of someone who is not a psychologist or even an historian trying to psychoanalyze a man who died over three hundred years before the birth of Christ. It's unfortunate because this could have been a powerful film. Skipping back and forth across Alexander's life (Stone apparently thinks is a devilishly clever way to tell a story), we follow the great conqueror's story from his childhood to his death through the eyes of Ptolemy (Anthony Hopkins). Born to Philip of Macedon and his exotic first wife Olympias (Angelina Jolie) -who claimed Alexander was the son of Zeus -Alexander (Colin Farrell) had a complicated childhood. Olympias groomed him to be the next king, worrying all the while that Philip would not recognize him as the legitimate heir. Interestingly, Olympias doesn't seem to age a day between Alexander's birth and his ascendancy to the throne at the age of nineteen. We're talking about Angelina Jolie here, so I couldn't get past the thought that this is an Oedipus complex just waiting to happen. Anyway, Alexander replaces his murdered father, sets off north to establish his control over the tribes there, and then just keeps heading east conquering everything that gets in his way. After his daring defeat of Persia's King Darius, he fights his way all the way into India, farther than anyone before him had ever gone. If he had known those Indian tribes had war elephants, I daresay Alexander might have just turned around at the border and headed back home early. Instead, his military exploits extend over seven years. We hear him talk about assimilating the conquered peoples, and he certainly likes to build Alexandrias all over the place, but this grand vision theme of Alexander's life doesn't get enough play in the movie to sufficiently explain his motives. The movie does have some strengths. The battle scenes are very impressive (except the end of the final one, when Stone decides to get artistic with it), especially Alexander's ill-fated fight with the elephant-equipped Indian tribes. Blood and guts are spilled on an epic scale. Angelina Jolie is mesmerizing as Alexander's devious, snake-loving mother - but I have no idea where that accent of hers was supposed to have come from. Speaking of strange accents, Colin Farrell sometimes sounded to me like he should have been leading Braveheart's forces. He never became Alexander in my eyes - there just wasn't enough substance to his character. If the film had been nothing but battle scenes, Farrell would have been more convincing; it's the scenes taking place between battles that leads this film astray. Most of this time is spent watching Alexander exchange meaningful glances with pretty boys wearing more makeup than Jezebel. The rest of the time consists of all those loyal men who supposedly adore their brave king whining about the length of the campaign, criticizing Alexander's motives and strategy, and making snide remarks about his heritage. There's no way Alexander the Great let his men talk to him the way they do throughout this film. There's really not much leadership on display by here. Alexander's brave, certainly, but he's no Patton. Basically, Oliver Stone does a great disservice to Alexander the Great, passing him off as a dandy with little strategic genius and even less control over men who supposedly loved and respected him enough to fight and die for him thousands of miles from home. Stone's characterization of Alexander is just plain weird - and that's the whole problem with this movie. Let's hope that the youth of today and tomorrow don't see this film and actually believe they're seeing an accurate picture of Alexander the Great because Stone's Alexander ain't all that great.

Tried to hard:
This movie came off as trying too hard to win an oscar. The reviewer "Rod Beilfuss from Canada" said it best: Seriously...it's that bad. i mean it..... BAD!

not bad:
This film has been much maligned but I don't quite understand why. While I wouldn't say that it's among Stone's best, it is still a pretty good movie. Colin Farrell plays a pretty low key Alexander. One might argue that his is a lackluster performance, but I think somewhat low key was Stone's intent. I must say that I didn't like Anthony Hopkins' role that much, but Val Kilmer had a memorable one. The battle scenes played out well, but may have been a bit perfunctory. Maybe the main reason the film didn't do well is timing, namely coming on the heels of other ancient battle movies such as Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven. Author of Adjust Your Brain: A Practical Theory for Maximizing Mental Health.