Alexander (2004) - Blu-ray Forum

pauljeremiah · 08-15-2012, 08:37 PM

Since Sunday I have watched all 3 versions of Oliver Stone's "Alexander"

I find the film to be an interesting yet flawed film. From a technical point of view the film is great. I loved the whole design and look of the film.

The single biggest problem here is the script, and in particular the plot structure. Just as viewers are getting familiar with a plot sequence, the time period of the story shifts backward to a previous era, or forward to a future era. Displayed on the screen as "10 Years Earlier" or "40 Years Later" or "9 Years Earlier" or "8 Years Later", back and forth we go. It's maddening. It makes the story, which already contains too many characters with strange names, muddled and hard to follow. Director Oliver Stone apparently tries to cram in too much information; as such, the story's scope is too broad. Another possibility is that the time-shifts were necessitated in post-production editing. But whatever the cause, the screen story's convoluted plot is a huge barrier to understanding Alexander and the people in his life.

In addition, the script's dialogue contains too much exposition, mostly from Old Ptolemy (Anthony Hopkins) who, via numerous monologues, lectures us about Greek history. Again, one gets the impression that Stone is trying too hard to make the film a comprehensive history lesson.

Non-script elements are not much better. Casting for the main parts is poor. I like Angelina Jolie, but she is no Olympias. And Colin Farrell, with his golden locks, would fit better in a modern day romantic comedy. Acting is hammy, at times almost laughably so. Actors don't communicate with each other so much as they speechify. Every line of dialogue is heavy with import. Even the film's makeup is overdone. Jared Leto, with all that eyeliner, looks like a drag queen.

Perhaps the best element of the film is the color cinematography. It's quite good. Some of the landscapes are visually sweeping and majestic. And I liked that ethereal background music from Vangelis. Also, the costumes are colorful and apparently quite authentic.

Maybe Oliver Stone would have been better advised to confine his saga to a smaller, more restricted story, one wherein viewers can get to know the protagonist and his inspirations and challenges. In its present form, "Alexander" is just too sprawling and epical to warrant any enthusiasm from me.

The Different Cuts:

One has to differentiate between three official cuts of the movie. First of all there's the Theatrical Cut that runs approx. 175 minutes. and has been released to cinemas in November 2004.

In July 2005 a Director's Cut was put out on DVD that is shorter than the original version and runs approx. 167 minutes. Stone did not put in any new scenes, save for an extension of an already existing scene and a short insertion from Aristotle. However, he did change the movies structure; for example, the battle of Gaugamela is now seen earlier. Also, the movie is a bit more fast-paced since some scenes have been trimmed down and many dialogue details have been changed, something one most likely only notices if one knows both versions. A good example is Alexander being taught by Aristotle, as shown in the report.The Director's Cut is a bit clearer than the Theatrical Version, the structure is a bit more demanding and the opening is better designed. It is altogether better than the Theatrical Version but not obligatory if you already own it. A detailed comparison between the Theatrical Cut and the Director's Cut with pictures can be found here.

But Stone wasn't finished with his movie yet because later the so-called Final Cut was released, that runs approx. 214 minutes. The only true big extensions concerns Alexanders servant Bagaos. The homoerotic undertones were already in the Theatrical Version too much for many viewers. In the final Cut, we now get to know the servants name, he is noticed among many beautiful women by Alexander (much to Hephaistions regret), seemingly dances only for Alexander in India and even shares a bed with him. Apart from Bagaos the Final Cut merely offers more detailed characterizations, deepening of the characters relations to each other and short impressions of Alexanders life often only as a commentary from the Off by Ptolemaios. On top of that, a healthy dozen of violent scenes have been re-integrated into the battle scenes that presumably had to to be cut for the Theatrical release, for they are a good deal more brutal than we are used from the rest of the film.The most obvious change is again the structure of the movie. The battle of Gaugamela has been moved towards the beginning again (as planned in an early version of the script) and is seen even before Alexanders childhood and adolescence. The events in Bactria have been reassembled as well. First we see the wedding with Roxane, then the movie jumps back to the discussion with the generals and the celebration before that where Alexander meets and falls in love with Roxane before the movie jumps back to the wedding night. All other changes from the DC are present in the FC as well. Again one can find a very detailed comparison between the Theatrical Version and the Final Cut with pictures here.

chris_sc77 · 08-15-2012, 09:10 PM

Well i know I got the two different 2-disk DVD sets on their release day in 2005. Then I got the 2-disk Revisited Cut on DVD. Then I got the HD-DVD 2-disk set (And I got an DH-DVD player really because of Alexander and the extensive new special Features on the hi-definition versions of the title). , Then I got the 4-disk Oliver Stone collection on Blu-ray which included the 2-disk Blu-ray. Whew!!!... Talk about double- dippin' ..
I still havn't watched the shortest version of the film.. The so-called Director's Cut but I did watch the HD version of Alexander Revisited which I thought was great. Loved the Extra Rosario DAwson material. Especially the nekkid-ness. What a beautiful perfect female.,

The movie is very flawed but like Watchmen and maybe even Southland Tales there is just so damn much to like it is very watchable and compelling. I really gotta bust out the blu-ray soon and Revisit the Revisited cut.

08-15-2012, 08:37 PM	#1
pauljeremiah Active Member Member since:Jun 2008 Location:Ireland 4K collection:587 Blu-ray collection:2318 iTunes collection:43	Alexander (2004) Since Sunday I have watched all 3 versions of Oliver Stone's "Alexander" I find the film to be an interesting yet flawed film. From a technical point of view the film is great. I loved the whole design and look of the film. The single biggest problem here is the script, and in particular the plot structure. Just as viewers are getting familiar with a plot sequence, the time period of the story shifts backward to a previous era, or forward to a future era. Displayed on the screen as "10 Years Earlier" or "40 Years Later" or "9 Years Earlier" or "8 Years Later", back and forth we go. It's maddening. It makes the story, which already contains too many characters with strange names, muddled and hard to follow. Director Oliver Stone apparently tries to cram in too much information; as such, the story's scope is too broad. Another possibility is that the time-shifts were necessitated in post-production editing. But whatever the cause, the screen story's convoluted plot is a huge barrier to understanding Alexander and the people in his life. In addition, the script's dialogue contains too much exposition, mostly from Old Ptolemy (Anthony Hopkins) who, via numerous monologues, lectures us about Greek history. Again, one gets the impression that Stone is trying too hard to make the film a comprehensive history lesson. Non-script elements are not much better. Casting for the main parts is poor. I like Angelina Jolie, but she is no Olympias. And Colin Farrell, with his golden locks, would fit better in a modern day romantic comedy. Acting is hammy, at times almost laughably so. Actors don't communicate with each other so much as they speechify. Every line of dialogue is heavy with import. Even the film's makeup is overdone. Jared Leto, with all that eyeliner, looks like a drag queen. Perhaps the best element of the film is the color cinematography. It's quite good. Some of the landscapes are visually sweeping and majestic. And I liked that ethereal background music from Vangelis. Also, the costumes are colorful and apparently quite authentic. Maybe Oliver Stone would have been better advised to confine his saga to a smaller, more restricted story, one wherein viewers can get to know the protagonist and his inspirations and challenges. In its present form, "Alexander" is just too sprawling and epical to warrant any enthusiasm from me. The Different Cuts: One has to differentiate between three official cuts of the movie. First of all there's the Theatrical Cut that runs approx. 175 minutes. and has been released to cinemas in November 2004. In July 2005 a Director's Cut was put out on DVD that is shorter than the original version and runs approx. 167 minutes. Stone did not put in any new scenes, save for an extension of an already existing scene and a short insertion from Aristotle. However, he did change the movies structure; for example, the battle of Gaugamela is now seen earlier. Also, the movie is a bit more fast-paced since some scenes have been trimmed down and many dialogue details have been changed, something one most likely only notices if one knows both versions. A good example is Alexander being taught by Aristotle, as shown in the report.The Director's Cut is a bit clearer than the Theatrical Version, the structure is a bit more demanding and the opening is better designed. It is altogether better than the Theatrical Version but not obligatory if you already own it. A detailed comparison between the Theatrical Cut and the Director's Cut with pictures can be found here. But Stone wasn't finished with his movie yet because later the so-called Final Cut was released, that runs approx. 214 minutes. The only true big extensions concerns Alexanders servant Bagaos. The homoerotic undertones were already in the Theatrical Version too much for many viewers. In the final Cut, we now get to know the servants name, he is noticed among many beautiful women by Alexander (much to Hephaistions regret), seemingly dances only for Alexander in India and even shares a bed with him. Apart from Bagaos the Final Cut merely offers more detailed characterizations, deepening of the characters relations to each other and short impressions of Alexanders life often only as a commentary from the Off by Ptolemaios. On top of that, a healthy dozen of violent scenes have been re-integrated into the battle scenes that presumably had to to be cut for the Theatrical release, for they are a good deal more brutal than we are used from the rest of the film.The most obvious change is again the structure of the movie. The battle of Gaugamela has been moved towards the beginning again (as planned in an early version of the script) and is seen even before Alexanders childhood and adolescence. The events in Bactria have been reassembled as well. First we see the wedding with Roxane, then the movie jumps back to the discussion with the generals and the celebration before that where Alexander meets and falls in love with Roxane before the movie jumps back to the wedding night. All other changes from the DC are present in the FC as well. Again one can find a very detailed comparison between the Theatrical Version and the Final Cut with pictures here.

08-15-2012, 09:10 PM	#2
chris_sc77 Banned Member since:Feb 2012 Location:OH Blu-ray collection:1345 DVD collection:4285 Digital collection:144 Trading Score:777	Well i know I got the two different 2-disk DVD sets on their release day in 2005. Then I got the 2-disk Revisited Cut on DVD. Then I got the HD-DVD 2-disk set (And I got an DH-DVD player really because of Alexander and the extensive new special Features on the hi-definition versions of the title). , Then I got the 4-disk Oliver Stone collection on Blu-ray which included the 2-disk Blu-ray. Whew!!!... Talk about double- dippin' .. I still havn't watched the shortest version of the film.. The so-called Director's Cut but I did watch the HD version of Alexander Revisited which I thought was great. Loved the Extra Rosario DAwson material. Especially the nekkid-ness. What a beautiful perfect female., The movie is very flawed but like Watchmen and maybe even Southland Tales there is just so damn much to like it is very watchable and compelling. I really gotta bust out the blu-ray soon and Revisit the Revisited cut.

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