Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6168 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-08-01
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Director's Cut, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 167 minutes

Amazon.co.uk 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, Amazon.com

Synopsis
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.

Customer Reviews

Dissapointing but still worth a watch.
The good points first: The battle scenes are fantastic and look very realistic, the acting (for the most part) is good, the production is excellent and the sound-track is atmospheric. Despite these good points the film is a dissapointment and for the following reasons: The film concentrates far too much on Alexanders sexuality, so much so that hugely more interesting chunks of Alexanders life and achievements are left out of the film. The films jumps back and forth in time and disrupts the whole story-arc of his life.

Although I enjoyed watching this film in parts, in the end I was left disapointed. Far too much time in this movie was dedicated to Alexanders sexuality and left out the more interesting points in his life.

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.

Oliver, what did you doooooo?
First of all when you showed yourself in the movie smiling stood there it did not add to the experience, i felt even less immersed in what should be one a great story of a great man. And didn't it occur to you that the main star taking in an Irish accent, then Angelina doing a fake accent, Hopkins in an English accent (and so on) makes the film look farcical. The battlefield scenes look quite fake with low quality CGI.