Alexander (2004)

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

Stars:

Colin Farrell, Anthony Hopkins, Rosario Dawson

6 wins & 19 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anthony Hopkins	...	Old Ptolemy
David Bedella	...	Scribe
Jessie Kamm	...	Child Alexander
Angelina Jolie	...	Olympias
Val Kilmer	...	Philip
Fiona O'Shaughnessy	...	Nurse
Connor Paolo	...	Young Alexander
Patrick Carroll	...	Young Hephaistion
Brian Blessed	...	Wrestling Trainer
Peter Williamson	...	Young Nearchus
Morgan Christopher Ferris	...	Young Cassander
Rob Earley	...	Young Ptolemy (as Robert Earley)
Aleczander Gordon	...	Young Perdiccas
Christopher Plummer	...	Aristotle
Gary Stretch	...	Cleitus

Storyline

Conquering 90% of the known world by the age of 25, Alexander the Great led his armies through 22,000 miles of sieges and conquests in just eight years. Coming out of tiny Macedonia (today part of Greece), Alexander led his armies against the mighty Persian Empire, drove west to Egypt, and finally made his way east to India. This film will concentrate on those eight years of battles, as well as his relationship with his boyhood friend and battle mate, Hephaestion. Alexander died young, of illness, at 33. Alexander's conquests paved the way for the spread of Greek culture (facilitating the spread of Christianity centuries later), and removed many of the obstacles that might have prevented the expansion of the Roman Empire. In other words, the world we know today might never have been if not for Alexander's bloody, yet unifying, conquest.

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Plot Keywords:

greek | king | india | army | babylon | 

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Taglines:

Fortune favors the bold

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Biography | Drama | History | Romance | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and some sexuality/nudity

Details

Official Sites:

MySpace [United States] Official site [Russia]

Country:

USA UK Germany Netherlands France Italy

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 November 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Alexander Revisited: The Final Cut

Filming Locations:

UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Intermedia Films, Pacifica Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

175 min 167 min (director's cut) 214 min (final cut) 207 min (Ultimate Cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Oliver Stone's first choice for the role of Alexander the Great was Russell Crowe, who turned it down.

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Goofs

Antigonus, portrayed in the film as one of Alexander's childhood friends, was in fact 26 years older than Alexander.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Old Ptolemy: Our world is gone now. Smashed by the wars. Now I am the keeper of his body, embalmed here in the Egyptian ways. I followed him as Pharaoh, and have now ruled 40 years. I am the victor. But what does it all mean when there is not one left to remember - the great cavalry charge at Gaugamela, or the mountains of the Hindu Kush when we crossed a 100,000-man army into India? He was a god, Cadmos. Or as close as anything I've ever seen.

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Alternate Versions

The director's cut is nine minutes shorter than the 175-minute theatrical version. It is a reworked version although seamless to many. Eighteen minutes were cut and nine added. Many of the added or extended sequences involved Val Kilmer and Angelina Jolie's characters. With battle of Gaugamela now starts earlier. Taking a cue from classic movie epics, the opening reels 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, juxtaposing events in India and Greece. And Jolie's Olympias emerged more as a genuinely pathetic figure in the whole tragedy. Stone wanting to isolate her character's own ambition from the one person she loves. Ptolemy's final scene was edited. Stone also reworked Alexander's death scene secondary to audience feedback, adding 17 seconds to the scene.

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Connections

Referenced in Star Stories: Oops I Did It Again!: Ballad of Britney Jean Spears (2007)

User Reviews

I thought Alexander was a brilliant general: stupid me

In this film you wouldn't know it. He was in battles, but the battles seemed little more than two armies going at it. What I would have enjoyed was learning about his thinking about military strategy, his tactics, his philosophies, how he implemented his ideas on the battlefield.

Instead, we get a (very boring) story of Alexander as being a mama's boy and as someone trying unsuccessfully to please his father. It is the story of a neurotic, not of one of the greatest generals of all time.

There are a few great battles, but after awhile they too get boring. What was happening? All you see is the small picture (guys hacking each other up). You don't see Alexander planning, plotting, strategizing, analyzing, etc. He's just another guy hacking away.

He doesn't come across as a great man.

The decision to jump around in history is puzzling. It makes the film hard to follow and disjointed. We don't get a sense of change in him, or in the world, or in his leadership or his generalship. It's cute, but distracting.

The film is as bad as most people have rated it to be. There is nothing about him that would make me want to follow him. Instead, I'd want to give him a hankie so he would have something to cry into.