History may call Alexander great, but Oliver Stone’s film about the young conqueror is far from great and closer to a disaster at times.
The film, which was released on a two-disc DVD and is a little over three hours, spans from Alexander’s childhood to his death. Stone takes his time with each element of the character’s life, and adds his own Hollywood touches to fill in any holes that history may have about the legendary figure.
Stone brings together a huge cast including Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie, Jared Leto, Val Kilmer and Anthony Hopkins. The cast, joined by thousands of extras, tells a story that travels numerous countries and falls totally into chaos by about halfway through the film.
Although Alexander conquered most of the known world during his time, Stone’s film really doesn’t have that much fighting in it. Instead, Stone focuses on Alexander, himself, and the many relationships that dictated the actions of his life – or at least in the director’s version of his life.
These relationships in the movie include a dominating mother, played by Jolie, a friend/lover, played by Leto, and the memory of a conquering father, played by Kilmer.
The movie jumps back and forth between Alexander’s childhood and adulthood, and Stone tries to show how his upbringing drove the man to fulfill a desire to rule the world at all cost.
However, the epic scope of the movie gets weighted down by these personal relationships, especially the Leto friendship, and begins to move at a snail pace. Nothing really gels together and you feel like you are watching a movie that moves from one disastrous scene to the next.
The battle scenes redeem some of the film’s slower moments
You also find yourself wondering just how much longer is it going to take for the credits to roll and put you our of your misery.
The film’s “Romeo and Juliet” ending, where Farrell drinks from the same diseased water as Leto after his friend’s death, is almost laughable, but at least it signals soon the movie will be over.
Not all of the fault lies with Stone, but also falls on some of his actors that do little to save the film.<!--page-->
Alexander Main Menu
Farrell is horrible in the role, and overacts almost every scene. The actor seems like he was committed to the part, but just couldn’t get a handle on how to play the many different shades of the character. Jolie, who sports a bad Russian accent in the movie, struts around like some evil sorceress, and seems to rely on her beauty to help get her through the role.
Leto is truly awful in the film and often joins Farrell in overacting their love for each other. Although nothing is brought into the open, the two actors give each other enough “knowing” glances, hugs and kisses to make sure we all know the back story of their friendship.
Although the movie struggles under a poor plot and some bad acting, the filming of the movie is at times great.
Stone does a good job of showing the expanse of Alexander’s travels, and the director’s battle scenes, when we get them, are chaotic and filled with wide shots.
Also the set pieces are amazing, and remind you of the glory days of Hollywood -with films like Ben Hur and Cleopatra.
Farrell seems dedicated to the part, but is just bad in the role
The director’s cut of the film, which is what I watched, has eight minutes cut from the original movie. The cut footage is supposed to speed the film’s pace and add a bit more action to it. The lost of those eight minutes were not enough to save the film or its many problems.
The second disc of the DVD contains a detailed, behind-the-scenes look at making the film. It begins with discussing how the project has been a dream of Stone’s for a long time.
It also shows the huge amount of work that went into bringing the project to the screen from the building of the sets, the special effects, costuming, and working with literally thousands of extras for some of the battle scenes.
There is also a lot of time spent talking to the producers of the film about the amount of money that was required to complete the project. They also talk about the work of the designers to bring the ancient world to life – that would both fit into historical context and Stone’s vision for the film.
Alexander Special Feature
Overall, Alexander is a disappointment to watch. It has some moments of greatness, but they are too far apart to hold the film together. Stone’s attempt to capture the epic legend of Alexander fails to capture you.
Alexander is available at Amazon and AmazonUK . Visit the film’s database for more information.
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