Production Year: 2004 - Action/Adventure - Director: Oliver Stone - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie, Val Kilmer, Jared Leto, Rosario Dawson, Anthony Hopkins
Director Oliver Stone chalks up an ambitious entry on his biopic resume (past entries include films about Jim Morrison, Richard Nixon, and JFK among others) with this cinematic... more
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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...
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...
Advantages: Colin Farrell flashes his knackers for the lads Disadvantages: Pretty much everything else
...before the birth of Christ, Alexander charts the stormy life of Alexander The Great from childhood to adulthood and to eventual demise. If the story of the Macedonian king's life is of interest to you then, surprisingly, Alexander is probably not the film for you. I found it rather confused, messy and laborious to say the least and reflecting upon what I had seen, I realise that I actually learnt very little about the man behind the myth at all.
... ...they did polished ones.
Alexander is also mind-numbingly, ass-clenchingly dull. The director's cut runs to just over two and a half hours and that's 160 minutes of virtually nothing. There are principally only two battle scenes, a rather silly sex scene and then the rest of it is all political conjecture and alleged intrigue. The dialogue is drawn out, pompous and often quite difficult to follow, and if you asked me to explain what was going on, ...
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Advantages: Some nice locations and looks quite spectacular Disadvantages: The Script, The performances, the direction, the length, pretty much everything
There was something about Alexander that cried out to me to avoid it. When it arrived in the cinema I thought I don't really want to see it but it might be quite good. Then I started thinking that maybe after Phone Booth Colin Farrell would be picking better roles for himself. I suppose by now I should realise when to listen to that initial voice that tells me it'll be terrible. Time and time again though I ignore it and end up sitting through some ... ...of the great Macedonian king Alexander (Colin Farrell), he attempts to educate the audience of a great ruler. During his rule he conquered 90% of the known world from his Macedonian base. He achieved the majority of this by the age of 25 and this film concentrates mainly on his campaigns in Persia and India and also his quest to have a successor to his thrown. For me the majority of this screams out as a video made as a teaching aid but Oliver Stone ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: An ambitious epic with charismatic central performance from Colin Farrell Disadvantages: Some scenes are badly written
...she is partially miscast. Before Alexander turns into Colin Farrell, everything is fine but when Farrell turns up, even when playing the younger Alexander, she simply doesn't look old enough to be his mum. She does look fabulous, though. You can almost overlook the miscasting.
Val Kilmer has a riot as Alexander's one-eyed father King Phillip II of Macedonia but keeps his larger-than-life performance the right side of silliness.
Oliver Stone is ... ...with Pharoah Ptolemy noting that Alexander probably considered himself a failure because turned around and came home before he really wanted to. As he then goes on to say, Alexander's failures were greater than most people's successes. This phrase seems almost appropriate for the movie itself. I'm not saying that this, a failure for Oliver Stone on certain levels, is greater than the successes of other filmmakers. No, but I would rather see filmmakers ...
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Advantages: Colin gets naked Disadvantages: far to many to mention!
...been told so well.
Alexander was great, we know that, but this story goes no way into telling us the conquest of Egypt, the history of the man in this country- his greatest conquest - and the story of the bits in between.
All it really showed was the beginning and the end... there seemed to lack a middle?
Overly long and very lost! But I think that's Oliver Stone's films in general really! ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Actor(s): Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie, Val Kilmer, Jared Leto, Rosario Dawson, Anthony Hopkins
Director(s): Oliver Stone
Genre: Action & Adventure
Classification: 15 years and over
Production Year: 2004
Running Time: 2 hours 47 minutes
Video Category: Feature Film
Plot: Director Oliver Stone chalks up an ambitious entry on his biopic resume (past entries include films about Jim Morrison, Richard Nixon, and JFK among others) with this cinematic treatise on the life of the mighty Alexander the Great. Despite his young death at 32, Alexander packed some unimaginable conquests into his limited years by ruling over a huge chunk of the globe. Stone draws on a voice-over narration provided by Anthony Hopkins, whose character is named Ptolemy, to aurally depict some of the battles. Thus, Stone shifts the weight of the film to focus on the personality of Alexander (Colin Farrell), a man who is stricken by overwhelming personal insecurities that come in direct contrast to his bold achievements. Complex dealings with his mother (Angelina Jolie) and father (Val Kilmer) plague him, as does his turbulent relationship with his wife, Roxane (Rosario Dawson). His connection with his best friend, Hephaestion (Jared Leto), is ambiguous, with Stone touching on their vaunted homosexuality via some shared tender moments. As these personal battles are played out, Ptolemy fills the historic gaps in the narrative by charting the incredible conflicts that raged at Alexander's behest. Eventually, Stone lets loose with an epic on-screen battle, which sees Alexander's troops rumble across India in another country-conquering quest. But while his minions struggle, and Alexander demands success, it becomes clear that he is his own worst enemy. With the only real threat to Alexander coming from a tempestuous struggle with his own ego, Stone's summation of the great historical leader paints a picture of an embittered and solitary figure who was able to rule everyone apart from himself.
Release details
DVD Region: Region 2 (Europe)
Studio(s): WARNER HOME VIDEO; CINRAM LOGISTICS
Release date: 01/08/2005
No of Discs: 1
Catalogue No: D 069974
Barcode: 7321900699747
Screenwriter: Oliver Stone, Laeta Kalogridis, Christopher Kyle
Composer: Vangelis
Executive Producer: Oliver Stone, Iain Smith, Moritz Borman
Languages
Main Language: English
Release details
Producer: Oliver Stone, Iain Smith, Jon Kilik, Moritz Borman, Thomas Schuhly
Languages
Subtitle Language: English
Hearing Impaired Language: English
DVD Description
Director Oliver Stone chalks up an ambitious entry on his biopic resume (past entries include films about Jim Morrison, Richard Nixon, and JFK among others) with this cinematic treatise on the life of the mighty Alexander the Great. Despite his young death at 32, Alexander packed some unimaginable conquests into his limited years by ruling over a huge chunk of the globe. Stone draws on a voice-over narration provided by Anthony Hopkins, whose character is named Ptolemy, to aurally depict some of the battles. Thus, Stone shifts the weight of the film to focus on the personality of Alexander (Colin Farrell), a man who is stricken by overwhelming personal insecurities that come in direct contrast to his bold achievements. Complex dealings with his mother (Angelina Jolie) and father (Val Kilmer) plague him, as does his turbulent relationship with his wife, Roxane (Rosario Dawson). His connection with his best friend, Hephaestion (Jared Leto), is ambiguous, with Stone touching on their vaunted homosexuality via some shared tender moments. As these personal battles are played out, Ptolemy fills the historic gaps in the narrative by charting the incredible conflicts that raged at Alexander's behest. Eventually, Stone lets loose with an epic on-screen battle, which sees Alexander's troops rumble across India in another country-conquering quest. But while his minions struggle, and Alexander demands success, it becomes clear that he is his own worst enemy. With the only real threat to Alexander coming from a tempestuous struggle with his own ego, Stone's summation of the great historical leader paints a picture of an embittered and solitary figure who was able to rule everyone apart from himself.
Technical information
Special Features: Commentary By Oliver Stone
Aspect Ratio: 2.35 Wide Screen
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Dubbing Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Professional reviews
Review: It's history set ablaze, livid with political intrigue, scandal and un-braked sexuality... deliberately over-the-top, over-rich, uninhibited moviemaking (Chicago Tribune, )
As one of the few movies around not pushing state-of-the-art animation or Jude Law, Alexander is a damn good date movie (New York Magazine, )
The work of a first-rate filmaker who makes unforgettable images. (Newsweek, )
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Listed on Ciao since : 05/08/2005
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