Alexander on DVD (2004)

What Was Mr. Stone THINKING?

robertconnor from Gloucestershire [Highly rated reviewer] , 20/01/2005

Alexander is essentially about this Russian sounding babe (played by Ms. Jolie) who marries into this big Oirish family, is driven to preferring snakes because her husband only has one eye, and begins dying her little boy's hair blonde. Then it all kicks off, Colin Farrell gets his eyebrows bleached and goes off in a flouncy tamtrum to conquer the world. Meanwhile Jared Leto stands around with a twisty Cher hairdo, gazing longingly at bottle-blondie Colin, who every now and then gazes back with tears in his eyes and whispers 'Oy cahnt live if livin' is without you...'

So anyway, about half way through that really handsome guy from The Book Group (the one in the wheelchair) and those porridge commercials shows up, but he has a different hairdresser... he stands around alot, proving that sensible haircuts WERE possible in ancient times. I think he loses his razor at one point, but finds it again eventually... later Tim Piggott-Smith has to smush his hands around inside a dead animal, but they cut all his lines, so of course it all makes PERFECT sense.

Then the elephants come.

Read all reviews

An Incredible achievement by Oliver Stone

Alan Carnegie from Edinburgh , 10/02/2005

I mean, hats off to the man - he managed an incredible cinematic feat.. Taking one of THE great characters from history, and some of the greatest battles, and turning it into a three hour bore-athon! Overacted, no sense of where the film is going, big, loud, but spectacularly badly done, confusing battles, mystifying Irish accents all round (OK, the Macedonians used Celtic swords, but, COME ON!!)On the positive side, it seems historically accurate, but not enough to save a dire effort. Watch Time Commanders instead - you'll have more fun! A mile away from Braveheart, Gladiator and Lord of the Rings. Jeez, it even makes TROY seem good!

Read all reviews

Enjoyable Portrayal of History's Greatest Military Commander

LeoM from London [Highly rated reviewer] , 20/02/2006

I disagree with the slating that Alexander has received. Whilst perhaps not as accomplished as some of the other great historical epics (Ben Hur, Gladiator, Braveheart etc) Alexander is still a very good film in its own right. How can people complain that Alex isn’t accurately portrayed? How do they know? Were they around in the 3rd century BC? (Most of the film is based on the accounts given in Plutarch's 'Life of Alexander' which itself was written around 300 years later). I hear/read that people say that the Irish Accents were ridiculous... like an American twang or a traditional English accent would have been better? Alexander spoke a Greek dialect for goodness sake.

It could be said that Colin Farrell’s Alexander is a little too ‘soft’ to be truly believable as the great commander that he was supposed to be and maybe Stone concentrates too much on his bi-sexuality and childish temper.

However, the battle scenes are breathtaking, the landscapes and visual details are stunning and the 3rd century BC is beautifully brought to life. The film is never boring and the length (3hrs+) is fully justified by the magnitude of Alexander’s achievements.

Read all reviews

What a Turkey !!

An0n from West Midlands , 16/01/2005

If you thought that you had suffered enough turkey over Christmas then prepare yourself for more ... watch Oliver Stone's Epic Alexander.

Having read the poor reviews over its release in the USA I was still prepared to see this film ... after all the Yanks are a bit strange when it comes to taste.

I wouldn't disagree with them. This film is a complete disappointment. Colin Farrell delivers some credible performances in parts of the film but is let down by a cast of wooden actors. The film has no clear direction and if you can sit through the first dull hour then some of the battle scenes start to fill you with some promise of a real Epic. .... No.

It just plods on with occasional bits of Angelina Jolie sporting a strange eastern european accent. Most of the cast seemed to have developed Irish accents! There are many scenes in this film that are reminiscent of a school play.

I found watching this film a test of endurance. With the standard 3 hour epic film tag it's too boring!

Read all reviews

This is bad

Josephine Helps from London , 16/03/2006

I'm not sure what is the worst thing about this film - so here they all are:

1) Everyone's appears to be trying to do a bad impression of an Irish accent to blend in with the title character. Apart from Ms. Jolie who is doing, possibly, a Greek? accent. And the others call her 'foreign', in Macedonia - where they all sound Irish.

2) To save time, Anthony Hopkins keeps telling the audience on what happened in between the sequences. That is not what we expect for 21st century blockbusters.

3) It's bad

4) About 40 minutes prior to the end you wish it would just finish. And you loose the will to live.

Read all highest rated reviews

The rise of the Irish Republican Army

A customer from Shankhill, Greece , 14/01/2006

This is a very interisting film about michel collins ruling the word. His russian mother was keen on snakes. The homosexual Irish were very noble and brave, make no mistake about it. I recomend this film about Mr O'lexander to anyone who is thinking about living forever as there is no such thing as wasting time if you have an infinite amout. If you expect to die in the next 100 years I would recomend a better use of time.

Read all highest rated reviews