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Alexander

  • 2004
  • R
  • 2h 55m
IMDb RATING
5.6/10
173K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
2,207
391
Anthony Hopkins, Val Kilmer, Angelina Jolie, and Colin Farrell in Alexander (2004)
Home Video Trailer from Warner Home Video
Play trailer0:31
17 Videos
99+ Photos
ActionBiographyDrama

Alexander, the King of Macedonia and one of the greatest army leaders in the history of warfare, conquers much of the known world.Alexander, the King of Macedonia and one of the greatest army leaders in the history of warfare, conquers much of the known world.Alexander, the King of Macedonia and one of the greatest army leaders in the history of warfare, conquers much of the known world.

  • Director
    • Oliver Stone
  • Writers
    • Oliver Stone
    • Christopher Kyle
    • Laeta Kalogridis
  • Stars
    • Colin Farrell
    • Anthony Hopkins
    • Rosario Dawson
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    5.6/10
    173K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    2,207
    391
    • Director
      • Oliver Stone
    • Writers
      • Oliver Stone
      • Christopher Kyle
      • Laeta Kalogridis
    • Stars
      • Colin Farrell
      • Anthony Hopkins
      • Rosario Dawson
    • 1.4KUser reviews
    • 230Critic reviews
    • 40Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 6 wins & 19 nominations

    Videos17

    Alexander (2004)
    Trailer 0:31
    Watch Alexander (2004)
    What Roles Has Colin Farrell Been Considered For?
    Clip 3:40
    Watch What Roles Has Colin Farrell Been Considered For?
    Alexander Scene: Elephant Army
    Clip 0:55
    Watch Alexander Scene: Elephant Army
    Alexander Scene: This Is Insanity
    Clip 1:07
    Watch Alexander Scene: This Is Insanity
    Alexander Scene: Did You Help Him?
    Clip 0:33
    Watch Alexander Scene: Did You Help Him?
    Alexander Scene: Did You Conquer Asia By Yourself?
    Clip 1:06
    Watch Alexander Scene: Did You Conquer Asia By Yourself?
    Alexander Scene: Charge At Gaugamela
    Clip 1:03
    Watch Alexander Scene: Charge At Gaugamela
    Alexander Scene: Apologize
    Clip 1:12
    Watch Alexander Scene: Apologize
    Alexander Scene: Understand How Philip Thinks
    Clip 0:56
    Watch Alexander Scene: Understand How Philip Thinks
    Alexander Scene: You Left Your King In Asia
    Clip 1:10
    Watch Alexander Scene: You Left Your King In Asia
    Alexander Scene: Alexander Falls At Gaugamela
    Clip 0:34
    Watch Alexander Scene: Alexander Falls At Gaugamela
    Alexander Scene: Enter Babylon
    Clip 1:12
    Watch Alexander Scene: Enter Babylon

    Photos243

    Jared Leto in Alexander (2004)
    Bin Bunluerit in Alexander (2004)
    Jared Leto, Colin Farrell, Rory McCann, and Neil Jackson in Alexander (2004)
    Alexander (2004)
    Oliver Stone in Alexander (2004)
    Anthony Hopkins in Alexander (2004)
    Jared Leto in Alexander (2004)
    Dale Dye in Alexander (2004)
    Alexander (2004)
    Val Kilmer and Colin Farrell in Alexander (2004)
    Val Kilmer, Angelina Jolie, and Colin Farrell in Alexander (2004)
    Oliver Stone, Colin Farrell, and Elliot Cowan in Alexander (2004)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Colin Farrell
    Colin Farrell
    • Alexander
    Anthony Hopkins
    Anthony Hopkins
    • Old Ptolemy
    Rosario Dawson
    Rosario Dawson
    • Roxane
    Angelina Jolie
    Angelina Jolie
    • Olympias
    David Bedella
    David Bedella
    • Scribe
    Jessie Kamm
    Jessie Kamm
    • Child Alexander
    Val Kilmer
    Val Kilmer
    • Philip
    Fiona O'Shaughnessy
    Fiona O'Shaughnessy
    • Nurse
    Connor Paolo
    Connor Paolo
    • Young Alexander
    Patrick Carroll
    • Young Hephaistion
    Brian Blessed
    Brian Blessed
    • Wrestling Trainer
    Peter Williamson
    Peter Williamson
    • Young Nearchus
    Morgan Christopher Ferris
    Morgan Christopher Ferris
    • Young Cassander
    Rob Earley
    Rob Earley
    • Young Ptolemy
    • (as Robert Earley)
    Aleczander Gordon
    Aleczander Gordon
    • Young Perdiccas
    Christopher Plummer
    Christopher Plummer
    • Aristotle
    Gary Stretch
    Gary Stretch
    • Cleitus
    John Kavanagh
    John Kavanagh
    • Parmenion
    • Director
      • Oliver Stone
    • Writers
      • Oliver Stone
      • Christopher Kyle
      • Laeta Kalogridis
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The biography of Alexander by Oxford University professor Robin Lane Fox was an original inspiration and source of information for writer and director Oliver Stone. As a historical advisor, Professor Fox didn't get on-screen credit. His price for giving his advice was to be allowed to take a place at the head of what is one of the largest cavalry charges ever filmed. Professor Fox was used to riding around the English countryside, but gladly dressed up as a Macedonean cavalry officer to live his dream of charging for Alexander.
    • Goofs
      Ptolemy I is depicted recounting the story of Alexander in 283 B.C. The Lighthouse at Alexandria, seen in the background, was built during the reign of his son Ptolemy II, around 270 B.C.
    • Quotes

      Old Ptolemy: The truth is never simple and yet it is. The truth is we did kill him. By silence we consented... because we couldn't go on. But by Ares, what did we have to look forward to but to be discarded in the end like Cleitus? After all this time, to give away our wealth to Asian sycophants we despised? Mixing the races? Harmony? Oh, he talked of these things. I never believe in his dream. None of us did. That's the truth of his life. The dreamers exhaust us. They must die before they kill us with their blasted dreams.

    • Alternate versions
      The Director's Cut is 9 minutes shorter than the 175-minute theatrical version. It is a reworked version although seamless to many. 18 minutes were cut and 9 added. Many of the added or extended sequences involve Val Kilmer and Angelina Jolie's characters. The battle of Gaugamela now starts earlier. Taking a cue from classic movie epics, the opening reel now set up the basic themes with greater economy: Alexander's Oedipal relationship with his parents, Olympias' ambitions for her son, the boy's need to surpass his father, and the entirely natural way in which myth/religion is shown as integral to the ancients' behavior. Oliver Stone reworked the third act, too, juxtaposing events in India and Greece. Jolie's Olympias emerges now more as a genuinely pathetic figure in the whole tragedy. Ptolemy's final scene was edited. Stone also slightly reworked Alexander's death scene because of audience feedback, adding 17 seconds to the scene.
    • Connections
      Featured in Charging for Alexander (2004)

    User reviews1.4K

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    My take on this
    At first, I didn't feel much of a need to comment on the film, since so many others have written and have said so many things. But I think there are some really important points to made, and I haven't seen anyone make them. So here I am writing.

    In my opinion, almost everyone misunderstood the relationship between Hephaistion and Alexander. In the modern world, especially in the West, two men are either very close to each other, sleep together, and have sex, or they keep a good comfortable distance from each other and, if they're friendly, might punch each other on the arm. In this film, we see a relationship that is hard for most people today to understand, namely a passionate love relationship between two men in which sex is not very important and possibly even absent.

    Aristotle essentially explained the whole film near the beginning when he told the young couple something like the following, as best I can remember it, "When two men lie together in lust, it is over indulgence. But when two men lie together in purity, they can perform wonders." Or something like that. Given what I know of that culture, I am sure that "in purity" means no sex, or at least very little. That's why we never see them kiss. In the film, as in many older films, kissing is a metaphor for sex. Even when Alexander kisses his mother, it refers to the idea of sex. That's why Alexander kisses Bagoas, but not Hephaistion.

    Now I'm not sure if the real historical Aristotle would have made that remark. That's not exactly what he says about homosexuality in the Nicomachean Ethics. But the remark is plausible enough since Alexander could easily have heard such an idea during his youth. Plato (before Aristotle) expressed that idea, and Zeno of Citium (after Aristotle) did too. So even if Aristotle never said this to Alexander, it is plausible enough that the idea was in the air and that Alexander heard it from someone or other.

    Some have complained that the "homosexuality" (assuming that A's relationship with Heph. should even be called that) was thrown in their faces too much. But it's crucial to the plot. Stone is hypothesizing that Hephaistion was essential for what Alexander did. Further, it's a standard Hollywood convention to juxtapose a love story with some great political, military, or otherwise grand event. There are tons of examples. Titanic, Enemy at the Gates, Gone with the Wind, ... the list could go on forever. It really is homophobic to complain about Stone continually going back to this theme, because he has a perfectly good artistic reason to do it.

    A few more details: Alexander's hair. I think that Stone was trying to make Alexander look like Martin Potter in Satyricon -- a nod to Fellini.

    Alexander's accent and soft appearance. Another nod to a great director passed on, this time Stanley Kubrick. Farrel really looks a lot like Ryan O'Neil in Barry Lyndon. In fact, he really looks like a Ryan O'Neill / Martin Potter coalescence. I think it's deliberate.

    The softness of Alexander's personality. In a lot of scenes it made sense. He was gentle enough to know how to approach Bucephalus and tame him without scaring him. He was open minded enough to adopt a lot of Persian culture and encourage intermarriage, while the other more "he-man" folks around him were less comfortable with the idea.

    Yes, if you haven't figured it out by now, I do like the film. People's hatred of the film is hard for me to understand.
    helpful•787
    323
    • bolender-1
    • Dec 5, 2004

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    FAQ2

    • What was the music used in the trailer?
    • How many different cuts do exist of this movie?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 24, 2004 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United States
      • United Kingdom
      • Germany
      • Netherlands
      • France
      • Italy
    • Official sites
      • MySpace (United States)
      • Official site (Russia)
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Alexander Revisited: The Final Cut
    • Filming locations
      • Udon Rachatani, Thailand(Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand)
    • Production companies
      • Warner Bros.
      • Intermedia Films
      • Pacifica Film
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $155,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $34,297,191
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $13,687,087
      • Nov 28, 2004
    • Gross worldwide
      • $167,298,192
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 55 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • DTS
      • Dolby Digital
      • SDDS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.39 : 1

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