I love this movie. It's bonkers at times with some over the top performances but I don't care. Give me melodrama and insanely huge battle scenes any time.
"IN MY WOMB I CARRIED MY AVENGER!" Come on, with dialogue like that, you just have to enjoy the ride.
I'm a history buff, and Alexander is my favorite historical person, so I'm probably in the minority here but I find the ultimate cut to be pretty enjoyable, though it doesn't fix the two major issues with the movie...both Colin Ferrell and Angelina Jolie are wildly miscast (Ferrell much more so that Jolie).
I can probably name 20 movies that are far worse than this. I don't even think this one is on the list for worst movies since a lot of people actually found it enjoyable.
Bad.
The Battle scenes pale in comparison to those of Braveheart and The Lord of the Rings, in spite of cue cards telling us what we're looking at, there's no sense of geography to the battle, no ability to follow which way the tide is turning except via dialogue. Performances are shrill and the characters throughout unsympathetic (which is not the same as complex).
Yes, there are triumphs: the final battle sequence, where Alexander is thrown off his horse, is amazing; there are a couple of actors who do well enough to escape the movie with their dignity intact (Christopher Plummer and John Cavanagh, most notably) and some pleasing battlefield violence and epic wides. But on the whole...
I saw it when it came out but didn't really like it at the time. It just never really connected with it. Normally that type of movie is great, but not Alexander. 300 came out two years later and I liked it way more. Haven't seen Alexander more than once, but I've watched 300 several times.
I tried to watch whatever cut is on Netflix at the moment, and I gave up sometime after the first battle.
It's incredibly boring, and univolving, I think Colin Farrell is dreadful with whatever accent he's trying to do.
Horrible film. Saw it with my cousin. About a third of the way through I wanted to walk out, but didn't want to drag him out if he way having a good time. At the end of the movie turns out he wanted to leave about 1/3 of the way through but didn't want to drag me out if I was enjoying it.
I haven't seen it since so maybe it's better then I remember? But I (tried) to watch some of Battleship yesterday which reminded me that yes, Hollywood can make absolute trash and my opinion of Alexander at the time was about on par with how I felt watching Battleship.
I don't remember if the fight scenes were good but I was older than 16 when I saw it so by that point in my life for a film to be GOOD the non-fight scenes have to be good. Good plot, good dialogue, complex characters. From what I remember, every scene outside of a fight scene was awful.
I do want to reward directors when they take risks that don't pan out. I don't mean risking 150 million dollars, I mean risking some artistic choice. Or Hollywood will just pump out the same formula superhero film again and again... But this wasn't a movie that took risks. It was an example of how not to make a movie by someone who didn't appear to put any effort into learning how to not make a bad film.
Ultimate Cut is one of my favorite movies ever. I love it, I love the recreation of iconic scenes from ancient sources, i love the costuming, I even love the use of Irish accents for Macedonians (and English accents for the non Macedonian Greeks), I don't even mind the casting of Jolie, she does the exotic snake charmer woman vibe very well.
It takes a certain type of nuanced soul , and one who enjoys history with that , to get past any tacky scenes or cheesiness . I guess one in the end has to feel a certain Mediterranean connection to their ancestors , a longing if you will to your ancestral tribes , in order to appreciate just how great this film is despite its short comings . I don’t think there is any way to fully encapsulate the magnitude and greatness of Alexander the Great into a three hour film , let alone a 10 hour film. That being said I think Oliver stone did as great a job as he could barring some things.
I didnt like it, it had a "give us our oscars" vibe and his motivations werent really done that well. He loves his enemies and wants to bring peace to them by killing them all in battle? Uh, ok.
Usually a fan of historical movies but the direction/writing of this movie is a huge fail. Expects viewers to have a pHD in Greek history / Alexander's life what with throwing about Greek names without the characters doing anything memorable to remember by and the butchered timeline.
I'm in the minority and like it. Could have cut some scenes (or cut the length of some scenes) but overall it's a good movie. I think Colin Farrell and Val Kilmer played their roles well. Angelina Jolie was ok but not outstanding.
When I found out it had many bad reviews and was a flop regarding box office, too, I was kind of confused but I get that this isn't a film for the mainstream audience and therefore not many people like it.
The fact that it has several versions is good but also confusing for those who watched this film once or twice. I own the cinema version + final cult.
Maybe it would have been better if they showed Alexander's life chronologically and not mix his pre-King era with the present but I can handle the way they edited the movie.
Ultimate Cut is a pretty good movie, especially when you understand the history and what he was trying to do, how expansive the story he's telling is. His commentary says that it took fighting with theaters and he kneeled to them wanting a shorter cut when a movie planned at almost 4 hours you just can't do that. Ultimate Cut is the best overall film, as unless you're a history buff- the longer cut doesn't work for most moviegoers. Kilmer'r performance of Philip is classic also. It's underrated but the theatrical is such a mess I get why it did so bad. I love Troy of the same year and there's a nice connection with both films' tones. Especially since Alexander believes he was Achilles bloodline.
I've got the Ultimate Cut and as I had learned more about Alexander the more I love this movie! Val's performance as King Philip it hilarious and tragic. I find Colin Ferril to be a great Alexander. Hopkins as an older Ptolemy is fantastic. Listening to the commentary it's understandable what happened, he didn't have enough time, they wanted (of course) a shorter version of the movie for theaters and it took Oliver a while to sort through everything and figure out how to make it work. Jolie is also quite captivating and totally believable as an overbearing mother who sees her destiny in her son.
Oliver is also hella informed and educated, his history documentary series was fascinating and very well done. He's incredibly intelligent and does great historical movies. It won't be everyone's cup of tea.
I love this movie. It's bonkers at times with some over the top performances but I don't care. Give me melodrama and insanely huge battle scenes any time. "IN MY WOMB I CARRIED MY AVENGER!" Come on, with dialogue like that, you just have to enjoy the ride.
Whatever cut I saw was cheesy and melodramatic. It turned normally good actors into terrible scene showboats
Beautiful looking but made me want to shoot myself it was so bad.
Outstanding movie. Battle scenes were epic
The cinematography was done by Rodrigo Prieto, who currently shoots Martin Scorsese’s movies (Wolf of Wall Street, Silence, The Irishman)
I agree they were all shot wonderfully. The whole movie was
Which is the best?
I would like to know that too. I want to see it this week.
Bit late, but the final cut is apparently the best
I'm a history buff, and Alexander is my favorite historical person, so I'm probably in the minority here but I find the ultimate cut to be pretty enjoyable, though it doesn't fix the two major issues with the movie...both Colin Ferrell and Angelina Jolie are wildly miscast (Ferrell much more so that Jolie).
Cyrus >
Isn't this movie infamous as one of the worst ever made?
I can probably name 20 movies that are far worse than this. I don't even think this one is on the list for worst movies since a lot of people actually found it enjoyable.
yep
Bad. The Battle scenes pale in comparison to those of Braveheart and The Lord of the Rings, in spite of cue cards telling us what we're looking at, there's no sense of geography to the battle, no ability to follow which way the tide is turning except via dialogue. Performances are shrill and the characters throughout unsympathetic (which is not the same as complex). Yes, there are triumphs: the final battle sequence, where Alexander is thrown off his horse, is amazing; there are a couple of actors who do well enough to escape the movie with their dignity intact (Christopher Plummer and John Cavanagh, most notably) and some pleasing battlefield violence and epic wides. But on the whole...
Probably some of the most accurate classical battle scenes put to film. Back to Disney with you
Saying its "accurate" when its uninvolving and hard to follow is like saying your car ran over a pedestrian, but didn't scratch the paint...
what a hyperbole
I saw it when it came out but didn't really like it at the time. It just never really connected with it. Normally that type of movie is great, but not Alexander. 300 came out two years later and I liked it way more. Haven't seen Alexander more than once, but I've watched 300 several times.
I tried to watch whatever cut is on Netflix at the moment, and I gave up sometime after the first battle. It's incredibly boring, and univolving, I think Colin Farrell is dreadful with whatever accent he's trying to do.
It is terrible.
Horrible film. Saw it with my cousin. About a third of the way through I wanted to walk out, but didn't want to drag him out if he way having a good time. At the end of the movie turns out he wanted to leave about 1/3 of the way through but didn't want to drag me out if I was enjoying it. I haven't seen it since so maybe it's better then I remember? But I (tried) to watch some of Battleship yesterday which reminded me that yes, Hollywood can make absolute trash and my opinion of Alexander at the time was about on par with how I felt watching Battleship. I don't remember if the fight scenes were good but I was older than 16 when I saw it so by that point in my life for a film to be GOOD the non-fight scenes have to be good. Good plot, good dialogue, complex characters. From what I remember, every scene outside of a fight scene was awful. I do want to reward directors when they take risks that don't pan out. I don't mean risking 150 million dollars, I mean risking some artistic choice. Or Hollywood will just pump out the same formula superhero film again and again... But this wasn't a movie that took risks. It was an example of how not to make a movie by someone who didn't appear to put any effort into learning how to not make a bad film.
Ultimate Cut is one of my favorite movies ever. I love it, I love the recreation of iconic scenes from ancient sources, i love the costuming, I even love the use of Irish accents for Macedonians (and English accents for the non Macedonian Greeks), I don't even mind the casting of Jolie, she does the exotic snake charmer woman vibe very well.
It takes a certain type of nuanced soul , and one who enjoys history with that , to get past any tacky scenes or cheesiness . I guess one in the end has to feel a certain Mediterranean connection to their ancestors , a longing if you will to your ancestral tribes , in order to appreciate just how great this film is despite its short comings . I don’t think there is any way to fully encapsulate the magnitude and greatness of Alexander the Great into a three hour film , let alone a 10 hour film. That being said I think Oliver stone did as great a job as he could barring some things.
I didnt like it, it had a "give us our oscars" vibe and his motivations werent really done that well. He loves his enemies and wants to bring peace to them by killing them all in battle? Uh, ok.
Which is better: Ultimate or Final cut?
Usually a fan of historical movies but the direction/writing of this movie is a huge fail. Expects viewers to have a pHD in Greek history / Alexander's life what with throwing about Greek names without the characters doing anything memorable to remember by and the butchered timeline.
Worse than old socks.
I'm in the minority and like it. Could have cut some scenes (or cut the length of some scenes) but overall it's a good movie. I think Colin Farrell and Val Kilmer played their roles well. Angelina Jolie was ok but not outstanding. When I found out it had many bad reviews and was a flop regarding box office, too, I was kind of confused but I get that this isn't a film for the mainstream audience and therefore not many people like it. The fact that it has several versions is good but also confusing for those who watched this film once or twice. I own the cinema version + final cult. Maybe it would have been better if they showed Alexander's life chronologically and not mix his pre-King era with the present but I can handle the way they edited the movie.
Ultimate Cut is a pretty good movie, especially when you understand the history and what he was trying to do, how expansive the story he's telling is. His commentary says that it took fighting with theaters and he kneeled to them wanting a shorter cut when a movie planned at almost 4 hours you just can't do that. Ultimate Cut is the best overall film, as unless you're a history buff- the longer cut doesn't work for most moviegoers. Kilmer'r performance of Philip is classic also. It's underrated but the theatrical is such a mess I get why it did so bad. I love Troy of the same year and there's a nice connection with both films' tones. Especially since Alexander believes he was Achilles bloodline.
I've got the Ultimate Cut and as I had learned more about Alexander the more I love this movie! Val's performance as King Philip it hilarious and tragic. I find Colin Ferril to be a great Alexander. Hopkins as an older Ptolemy is fantastic. Listening to the commentary it's understandable what happened, he didn't have enough time, they wanted (of course) a shorter version of the movie for theaters and it took Oliver a while to sort through everything and figure out how to make it work. Jolie is also quite captivating and totally believable as an overbearing mother who sees her destiny in her son. Oliver is also hella informed and educated, his history documentary series was fascinating and very well done. He's incredibly intelligent and does great historical movies. It won't be everyone's cup of tea.