I have read that Oliver Stone blames the failure of the movie on conservatives in the US, and has said he plans to take OUT the gay scenes for the US DVD release. Pretty lame if you ask me...

Edit --- here it is, from the New York Post:

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''The unexamined life is not worth living''

EDIT: And I agree with you with your reaction on the article.

Edited by - Valentino on 1/9/2005 10:24:18 AM

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Maybe down the road a "uncut directors version" will appear.

If you saw the movie let us know what you thought.

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The start of the movie (Alexander growing up) was a bit messy, but after that it was OK. I won't go into details, they might spoil it for those who haven't seen it. But I can tell you that in it's genre (historical) it certainly wasn't a Citizen Kane or something, but not as bad as one would think.

I knew the story about Alexander and accepted the fact that it would be very difficult to display in 165 minutes. So I also accepted the things that were altered to the story (though they weren't too many) and the fact that some characters did not get the chance to show their true value in Alexander's history.

Colin Farrell played his role well, IMO. OK, it was strange to see him with that blonde hair and all but he portrayed a good Alexander - in style and emotion. Maybe a bit too emotional sometimes, but that's Hollywood isn't it?

Angelina Jolie was ravishing as always but her using that accent was just a weird sight. Her role was kinda vague, also. Oliver Stone is to blame for that last part, he could've done a better job with the role of Alexander's mother.

Val Kilmer wasn't the Val like we're used to, he was kind of annoying as Alexander's father. But he did a good job act wise - for the story.

As for Alexander's 'homosexual encounters', I was surprised to see them. But when I thought of it later on, I wasn't completely satisfied with the way Alexander's homosexuality was displayed. It was brought to the viewer like Stone wanted to say 'You see? He picked up some guy on one of his conquests who he kisses. That's gay Alexander for you.'

Of course I know that couldn't have been his true intention, but the image stays. He could've put more romance or lust in those scenes, but these things could've been left out because Colin Farrell refused to do so because it be bad for his rep, or because Stone didn't find the right space for it in his almost three hours long movie
- who knows.

What wás terrible was the recurring hug between Hephaestion and Alexander. Just kiss him already! In fact, that could make for a way better ending of the film, as their bond would be shown for what it really was. (OK, there's no historical proof that Alex and Hephaestion slept together but if you're already changing some facts, why not this one!)

The action was pretty good, especially the battle in India.
Rosario Dawson was the stunner of the movie - straight men who've seen will have good memories from her scenes. The guy that Alexander picked up had an (American) Indian fenotype with long curly hair. His kissing seemed passionately, but to me they were quite overdone. Maybe that's just Colin's inexperience (though you'd think that twenty rehearsals would have a better outcome than that).

So to conclude: I was able to amuse myself with this film, but afterwards I still have the feeling that Alexander's story has more potential than Oliver Stone's version. I think that Alexander's story can be displayed in various ways; each story focuses on another aspect of him and his life. IMO Oliver Stone wanted to show all those aspects in one story, but that almost didn't turn into a big clutter.

Considering the difficulty of this, the various characters and to try and put that together to make a good story, Stone did a reasonable job. On a scale of 1 to 10 I'm giving it a 6.

''The unexamined life is not worth living''

EDIT: typo.

Edited by - Valentino on 2/3/2005 5:14:02 PM

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Edited by - younggabe on 2/3/2005 10:29:41 AM

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Alexander has been nominated for 6 Razzies including the worst actor (Colin Farrell), worst director (Oliver Stone) and worst flick of 2004. Other nominated flicks are the absolutely terrible CATWOMAN, "the inexplicable, astoundingly unfunny sequel SUPERBABIES: BABY GENIUSES 2, Ben Affleck’s snowball-from-Hell yuletide “comedy” SURVIVING CHRISTMAS and the Wayans Brothers’ creepy, cross-dressing reverse-blackface farce WHITE CHICKS."

See The Razzies site for more details and nominees.

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