FemaleFirst.co.uk: DVD: Alexander : The Movie More (2 Disc Special Edition) [DVD] [2004]

Alexander : The Movie More (2 Disc Special Edition) [DVD] [2004]
enlarge	Director: Oliver Stone Actors: Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie, Val Kilmer, Jared Leto, Rosario Dawson Studio: Warner Home Video Category: DVD List Price: ~~£9.99~~ Buy New: £3.90 as of 25/11/2009 22:42 GMT details You Save: £6.09 (61%) New (10) Used (4) from £3.00 Seller: media_moguls-uk Rating: 1 reviews Sales Rank: 58130 Format: Box set, PAL, Special Edition Language: English (Original Language) Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over Region: 2 Number Of Discs: 2 Running Time: 168 Minutes Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4 Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.4 x 0.6 EAN: 7321908389367 ASIN: B000GPIL1O Theatrical Release Date: 2004 Release Date: August 7, 2006 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days


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Customer Reviews: Alexander the Not Quite Great Enough June 17, 2009 Trevor Willsmer (London, England) The theatrical version of Alexander presented on this two-disc DVD is not the total disaster it's been painted, more an interesting failure with moments that aspire to greatness nestled amid others that look too much like a Hallmark miniseries for comfort. Unfortunately, it lacks a particularly good script: indeed, where there's overlap between them, Robert Rossen's somewhat underfunded 1955 film dealt with key events much more dramatically and without recoursing to excessive narration to fill in the gaps. What it lacks even more is a real star as Alexander, a part that requires either great screen presence or a great actor. Sadly the blandly inoffensive Colin Farrell is neither. He tries hard (which is much more than can be said for Clive Owen in King Arthur) and he's almost convincing in the two action scenes, but he never sells you as an extraordinary man people will follow across the known world. br / br /And then, of course, there's the supporting cast, Val Kilmer occasionally channelling Robert Newton's Long John Silver, Angelina Jolie coming across like Irene Papas on steroids (not to mention with added collagen) and Anthony Hopkins looking for another bit of scenery to chew on. (On a purely trivial note it's strange to note how much Rory McCann looks like either a young Sean Connery or a middle-aged Victor Argo depending on what angle he's photographed from.) Although there's a method to his madness, it's hard not to think Stone is taking the Mick with all the Celtic accents and at times its surprisingly difficult to decipher what is being said, more because of mumbling and slurred pronunciation than the regional dialect, to be fair. br / br /There's intelligence at work here, as witnessed by the cave scene where the terrible price of greatness among the mythological heroes Alexander idolises is outlined, but often more in intent than execution. When it does work, it works well - the bloody battle of Guagamela seen intermittently from an eagle's eye view, the scenes in a gorgeously realized Babylon - but all too often there's too little of what made Alexander great. Indeed, there's too little of everything despite its running time. Relationships aren't convincingly sketched out and the big dramatic scenes are clumsily executed and emotionally uninvolving: his scenes with his mother or the fatal argument with Cleitus just show up the inadequacies of the cast and lack power or focus. Stone's tendency to idealize Alexander doesn't help, even if his script acknowledges the fact. For all his talk of being driven by a dream, it's never really communicated what that dream was beyond a desire for personal glory and a place among the immortals, nor does he deal with the fact that Alexander left no legacy but chaos. As a result, the last hour, when things start to go bad for Al, gets duller than it needs to be. Still, Vangelis' score is excellent br / br /It's strange that so many American critics focused on the bisexuality: in truth, it's one of the least gay sword-and-sandals epics, simply avoiding all the euphemisms to deal with it head-on. That said, I could have done without Farrell flittering his eyelids like a little girl ever time he's with Hephaistion. br / br /Extras include an 85-minute documentary by the director's son, commentary by Stone and historian Robin Lane Fox and two trailers for the film.

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