A great movie that will shock some people. Good on you Oliver Stone. After watching this movie, I left the cinema respecting much more your work and values. Some other director would have preferred to get easy $ from the American market instead of respecting his/her beliefs. People can complain about the acting, but at least Oliver Stone did not put Hephaistion as Alexander's cousin :-) Troy was a joke. I hope the movie will be more well received in Europe.… Expand

I just cannot understand why people are saying that Alexander is a terrible movie! I have studied Alexander The Great for about 2 years now, and i have written numerous essays about him. This movie depicts the EXACT history of his wonderful and great life. I think that people were expecting to see a bloodfest. If you want to see a stupid gory movie, go and rent freddy vs. jason. Alexander is an historical epic about the greatest warrior to ever live. I think that people were taken aback by Alexanders bisexuality. You must understand that during those times, a person who loved men and women was respected greatly because he/she loved each and every single one of God's children. You cant think of it as modern times. The mentality back then was VERY different. So when you watch this movie, judge Alexander as a loving, yet strong person. I would like to say that the acting in this movie was riveting. No one overacted. Anglina Jolie betrayed Olmypia perfectly, passionate yet overpowering over her son. She had a perfect Greek accent, and i would know this since i am greek and lived there for sometime! So everyone who say's their accents are stupid are wrong! You have no fricken idea about how they are suppose to sound! Colin Farrel is a wonderful actor, he captured Alexander's passion and his pain. Also, i wanted to add that Anthony Hopkins was not given the props he should be given. He narrated the movie with such fatigue and (here it is again, lol) passion. So please, disregard all of the stupid and idiotic bad comments made by some of these people! Go and watch Alexander with an open mind and expect an epic with just enough battle, history, and love to make it a spectacular film. (please email me if this article made any difference to you @ ctaoushiani656@comcast.net)… Expand

it was a very nice movie depicting the true life of alex. fighting sequences were awesome.

This movie is taking a lot of heavy hits because it isn't just like "Gladiator" and "Braveheart". Well, it wasn't intended to be a film of that type (despite spectacular battle sequences, the best I've ever seen). It is more in the style of "My Dinner With Andre", and I'm sure if I read the user reviews of that movie, I wouldn't find many that said "Talk! Talk! Talk! Talk! Where are all the battle scenes?" "Alexander" is a meditative movie, dominated by monologue and dialogue, punctuated with scenes of tremendous natural beauty, sexual passion, extravagant opulence and decadence, and battle scenes of unparalleled intensity. I am convinced that the two battles in "Alexander" have such a compelling dream/nightmare character because of Oliver Stone's experiences in Vietnam. There is absolutely no similarity between these battles and the fairly orderly battle between the Romans and the Germans in "Gladiator". Many reviewers wrote that the battle scenes are very confusing. That's the whole point ! They are nightmares, because war is literally hell. I have addressed the bi-sexual issue in my previous review of "Alexander". But of course one will not find accurate history in this movie. The real Philip, Alexander's father, could speak as eloquently and in as learned a manner as any of the philosophers of his day, so the ancient Greek historian Plutarch wrote, although you'd never know that from Val Kilmer's portrayal of him. There was absolutely no incestuous relationship between the real Olympias and her son. As for Alexander himself, the movie does not present him as he really was most of the time: very restrained and disciplined, even ascetic with regard to the pleasures of the flesh. Plutrch wrote: "He had no desire to inherit a kingdom which offered him riches, luxuries and the pleasures of the senses: his choice was a life of struggle, of wars, and of unrelenting ambition...At any rate Alexander, so it seems, thought it more worthy of a king to subdue his own passions than to conquer his enemies, and so he never came near these women (female relatives of Darius whom Alexander the Great had captured and then cared for and protected with great chivalry), nor did he associate with any other before marriage, with the exception only of Barsine... As for the other prisoners, when Alexander saw their handsome and stately appearance, he took no more notice of them than to say jokingly, 'These Persian women are a torment for our eyes' (because they incite the body to rebel against the discipline of the will)." Olympias (Angelina Jolie) and snakes..... Here Oliver Stone took one detail of the real Olympias' life and magnified it to fill her entire life in the film. Plutarch wrote: "At another time a serpent was seen stretched out at Olympias' side as she slept...It appears that from very ancient times all women of this region have been initiates of the Orphic religion and the orgiastic rites of Dionysus...extravagant and superstitious ceremonies. It was Olympias' habit to enter into these states of possession and surrender herself to the inspiration of the god with even wilder abandon than the others, and she would introduce into the festal procession numbers of large snakes, hand-tamed, which terrified the male spectators..." That's it. That's all there was to it. It wasn't anything sexual or Freudian. It was just part of her occasional religious observances. If Stone had made a film about, say, Winston Churchill, and he showed Churchill's wife constantly singing religious hymns and bowing her head in prayer and kneeling and reciting religious sermons and sprinkling holy water and incense everywhere and at all hours of the day and night, just because in real life she attended church services every Sunday, you can see how ridiculous it was for Stone to portray Olympias constantly covered with snakes even while relaxing in her own home ! The eagle symbol has come in for unjust critical bashing, because modern audiences have no idea what a mighty significance most ancient Greeks attached to "bird signs". (Not all Greeks; Euripides called it "sheer folly" to pay attention to them). The ancient Greek mind was enthralled by mighty birds of prey, and attached a mystical significance to them. In Homer's Iliad there is a famous scene where two warriors are on a dangerous mission. Suddenly an eagle appears above them, and they know then that Zeus had approved their mission. The Greek army at Troy actually contained men whose sole function was to interpret "bird signs" ! Of course it would be very odd and humorous if a young man or woman walked into a modern American Army recruitment office and announced that he or she wanted to specialize in computers, medical technology, and "bird signs". The modern mind cannot appreciate what this meant to the Greeks. So keep that in mind as you read all the mocking comments like "What's up with that eagle ???". As I said, this is a thinking person's film, like "My Dinner With Andre", combined with certain other elements. It is not really an action flick. Lastly, accents.... You hear this strange criticism again and again and again. "Why did they have Irish accents or English accents or Scottish accents ? They should have had Greek accents..." This is a very foolish criticism. The Greeks and Macedonians of that day did not speak "Greek-accented English". They spoke Greek. Unless you want the actors in this film to speak in the Greek language (and Colin Farrell would still have an Irish accent if he did !!), with distracting subtitles popping up on the screen, just suspend disbelief about the accents, as you suspend disbelief that the Battle of Gaugamela only lasted 10 minutes and that Alexander conquered the known world in three hours. In short, this movie is much better than the reviews generally indicate. See it with an open mind.… Expand

A movie not for the dumb. Its precarious approach is nothing but original and authentic. I mean its not known so why should Oliver Stone make it obvious otherwise. This film is not for your nerve like some want it to be. Its for your brain.

This movie was HOT!!!

Its a great movie, fantastic!!! by the way, this is not a pop corn film or for people who things that Aristoteles is a player of the Chicago bulls.

Una de las mejores biografias que he visto.Retratando con sinceridad y con realismo la grandeza y la decadencia de uno de los personajes historicos más importantes que como esta pelicula se adelanta a su tiempo.La gente cree que va a ver batallas y a comer palomitas pero no entienden que aun asi una pelicula sea epica.No menosprecio las batallas que son espectaculares, en las que se demuestra que se gana con la inteligencia y no con la superioridad, que cada uno ocupa su posicion y no se lanzan como borregos, pero que la batalla que libra el propio Alejandro por creer en si mismo y en sus sueños es mucho más epica que el ejercito más grande.Un repato muy acertado con un Filipo II sobervio y una Olimpia solida y madura en cuanto a Alejandro cuesta en un primer momento aceptarlo pero Collin lo va mejorando hasta el final.Si acaso Jared Leto no logra sacarle partido al personaje de Hefestion.Con la música(para mi importante) Vangelis hace un trabajo muy calculado y perfectamente desarrollado dando el aire de clasico, exotico, romantico y brutal cuando debe darlo.Una recreacion historica muy cuidada(¡que Babilonia!) la fotografia mejora de forma sobresaliente cada plano con unos exteriores de lujo, es tambien uno de los puntos fuertes de la pelicua.De lo que puede pecar el film es de su larga duracion parece que a Stone le cuesta dar razones para meter pasajes de la vida de Alejandro, las cosas se ponen si hay que ponerlas. Yo por mi parte le doy un 10 para que la gente sepa que suspendiendo esta gran obra demuestran su irremediable ignorancia.… Expand

adoro su musica y sus maravillosas panoramicas.

I just cannot understand why people are saying that Alexander is a terrible movie! I have studied Alexander The Great for about 2 years now, and i have written numerous essays about him. This movie depicts the EXACT history of his wonderful and great life. I think that people were expecting to see a bloodfest. If you want to see a stupid gory movie, go and rent freddy vs. jason. Alexander is an historical epic about the greatest warrior to ever live. I think that people were taken aback by Alexanders bisexuality. You must understand that during those times, a person who loved men and women was respected greatly because he/she loved each and every single one of God's children. You cant think of it as modern times. The mentality back then was VERY different. So when you watch this movie, judge Alexander as a loving, yet strong person. I would like to say that the acting in this movie was riveting. No one overacted. Anglina Jolie betrayed Olmypia perfectly, passionate yet overpowering over her son. She had a perfect Greek accent, and i would know this since i am greek and lived there for sometime! So everyone who say's their accents are stupid are wrong! You have no fricken idea about how they are suppose to sound! Colin Farrel is a wonderful actor, he captured Alexander's passion and his pain. Also, i wanted to add that Anthony Hopkins was not given the props he should be given. He narrated the movie with such fatigue and (here it is again, lol) passion. So please, disregard all of the stupid and idiotic bad comments made by some of these people! Go and watch Alexander with an open mind and expect an epic with just enough battle, history, and love to make it a spectacular film. (please email me if this article made any difference to you @ ctaoushiani656@comcast.net)… Expand

A taut, realistic and amazing film, Alexander is a fitting film for a man fit for being a legend of all ages. There has been a lot of negative views around whether the film should have shown of his sexual nature or his tandem acts of selfless violence but i think this film really captured the essence of the man and explaining why he carried on the conquer the world.

The best epic movie ever. Goog story telling, acting, cimatography, and excellent action. Defenetely the Best Picture of the year. An A+

Masterpiece of an epic. Ignorants will hate it, the tolerants and nostalgics will love it.

A 10 just because its a film about the greatest story ever and the greatest man ever. Alexandar deserves a 10.

The BEST MOVE EVER!!!

I loved it!

I enjoyed it! It was fun.

One of the BEST movies of the year! I don't understand all the absolutely stupid reviews, but the homophobic comments of some explain a lot...Alexander the Great, one of the greatest warriors/leaders of all time, loved another man. Get used to it. While some gay activist were upset that the movie did not show enough of the sexual side of the real love in Alexanders Life, I think it was better not to. The most explicit sex seen was with Alexanders wife (chosen simply for sexual and political reasons), whereas the relationship with his real lover was on a much higher level. This movie was more historically accurate than Troy, which totally erased Achilles' homosexual relationships. Bravo to Oliver Stone for making not only a good movie (certainly better than any other movie in the theatres), but the best big motion picture presentation of gay love.… Expand

A woderfully picturised movie showing the life and pathos of an individual who is a legend. Really, the greatest legend was real after all.

A brilliant film. Epic and well made.

A great film for inteligent people.

If you know nothing about ancient Greek history, this movie will be very, very boring (I believe this explains the majority of the poor reviews Alexander has gotten).

Wonderful movie that describes perfectly the different faces of Alexander's personality. No important fact is left aside, but still you have the time to think and elaborate your own interpretation about what happens. I think this is the best solution for a hystorical movie, because hystorically speaking there are lots of different traditions and you can't choose one over the other that easily.

This is an amazing video. Colin F makes a great job at portraying Alexander. This is how a historical movie should be made. Accuracy neatly balanced with entertainment value.

Also an answer to the reviewer called "Christo": For someone who supposedly studied Alexander for 2 years, you have very little knowledge of Alexander and the times he lived in. This is a laugh: "You must understand that during those times, a person who loved men and women was respected greatly because he/she loved each and every single one of God's children.". God's children? Since neither Christianity or Islam had been even founded, I suppose you are either claiming that all Greeks including Alexander were, what...? Jewish? Polytheism ruled back then. There would be no "God's children". You are either very ignorant to the times of Alexander or simply trying to apply your beliefs on a time and place where that belief didn't even exist.… Expand

This was the best movie I saw last year.

Movies that are controversial are the ones that are usually good and "special" in some sense. First and foremost, "Alexander" is good for the great performances in it, especially Angelina Jolie who, with her brilliant and mesmerizingly performance as an awful vampirish Olympias, should be a major Acedemy contender. Farrell does a well job, better are Rosario Dawson and Val Kilmer. Second, there are the wide and opulent visuel impressions; being huge and always faszinating. Third, the psychological moment is used to explain characters - too obvious here and there, but, man, compared to "Troy" that's deep and profound character study!!! The narrative element presented through Sir Anthony Hopkins is sometimes a little spoiling and overdone. The plot should have been more clearly and, here and there, more dramatic in order to keep the movie fully faszinating and interesting from its beginning to the end. BUT, dear friends of good movies (I don't mean those who rated the movie with 0 or 1, because they got aversions against Stone, homosexuals, Angelina Jolie or simply have a short attention span.), PLEASE be fair with this one. It's by far better than "Troy" and it should be critizised more factual (I dare say 3 - 3,5 stars out of four - that's a fair and true voting for this epic movie). … Expand

Very Good. Slow at times. Gross at times but very well done. That's what I think.

I did not get to see the theatrical cut. And maybe thats a good thing. I picked up the Director's cut dvd and I have to say The film works for me. The cast is great and the visuals are amazing. This film is an example of how Conan The Barberian would have looked like if Oliver Stone directed it. And when you have Anthony Hopkins Narrating, it gets no better then that. give it a whirl. That is my opinion.… Expand

I loved it. To fully appreciate this, you need to enjoy history, have an open mind, and actually be able to *pay* *attention* to what the 'characters' are saying. Alexander did a *lot,* and Stone is trying to include as much as he can, coherently, to give us the best picture all around of who Alexander really was. And I think that for the most part he did a really good job of acheiving this. I don't care how they marketed the film. I do, however, think that they should have gotten linguistic coaches for their actors in major roles - you cannot have what sounds like a Scottish Crateros, an Irish Alexander, etc. - it takes the viewers out of the movie enough for them to have to tell themselves to ignore that element (and can annoy many people throughout). I really enjoyed this; but I also happen to be the kind of person that loves long movies, enjoys history, has an open mind, and pays attention to what's being said and not said by the characters.… Expand

Summary: This is a great movie Good action scenes and photography. The problem is that one has to follow all the dialogues since the story is quite complex. I wish someone like Russel Crowe had acted instead of Collin Farell.