Distributor:
Warner Home Entertainment - TNT Certificate: R | 167
minutes Available to buy Director: Oliver Stone
Extras: Yes
ANYONE
IN IT WE KNOW?
Colin
Farrell, Angelina Jolie, Val Kilmer, Anthony Hopkins, Jared Leto,
Rosario Dawson
WHAT’S
IT ABOUT THEN?
Oliver
Stone's Alexander was going to
be the movie to out Lord of the
Rings Lord of the Rings with its
epic sweep and timeless tale of
a legendary figure from history,
however things didn't quite turn
out as Stone wanted, given a
really rough ride by the
critics
and
not quite the blockbuster anticipated, not one to take criticism lightly
Stone decided he would have another shot at telling the story. So whilst
the original movie was Stones vision he felt that he compromised and
left out or changed various aspects of the movie, this new cut redresses
the balance somewhat.
Colin
Farrell plays the supremely driven Alexander who wants the approval of
his father and is pushed by his ambitious mother, soon he is leading
armies into battle across the world and never being defeated. The story,
despite its Greek setting, is a real Roman tragedy worthy of I Claudius,
yes it's based on a real figure from ancient history but much is no
doubt myth making, this new version is definitely a fast paced beast,
with more action and less narration by Ptolomy as well as a few more sex
scenes.
Whilst
most of the performances in the movie are good, Kilmer is great as
Alexander's father, there are a couple of problems that don't help the
movie, Angelina Jolie just isn't believable as Alexander's mother and
Colin Farrell just isn't Alexander, he doesn't have the gravitas, or the
acting ability to pull the role off but major plus points must include
the films epic sweep and some superbly realised battle scenes that
really put you in the thick of the action, despite its faults, some of
which have been fixed by this directors cut, some of which remain,
Alexander is still worth seeing.
ANY
SPECIAL FEATURES?
This
is a nicely put together 2 disc set full of extras, disc 2 is devoted to
them in fact. There's an Audio commentary from Oliver Stone followed by
a great 3 part 90 min cinema verite behind the scenes doco; Vangelis
Scores Alexander is a short featurette looking at the scoring of the
movie, there's also the theatrical trailer and a DVD Rom weblink to a
special site about Alexander the Great.
