Alexander, Revisited: The Final Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition)

As a fan of classic epic films such as Lawrence of Arabia, Ben-Hur, El Cid, and The Ten Commandments, as well as modern epics such as The Right Stuff, Ghandi, and Braveheart, I can tell you that this film belongs among them. Epic filmmaking--that is, films that go on for 3 hours plus and tell grand, sweeping tales of colossal figures in adventurous times--requires that things be done differently from more earthbound movies, and so are to be judged with a wider scope. From beginning to end the cinematography must capture the vastness and beauty of the hero's world, in breathtaking and flawless fashion. The battle scenes must be superbly choreographed, scaled, and amassed. The music must be dramatic, sweeping, and evocative. The panoply of main characters must be in sufficient number to weave an interesting dramatic web whose threads take time to satisfactorily unravel. The overall cast must number in the thousands. The sets and costumes must be luxuriously, ornately, and authentically magnificent. The main character must be--and be rendered--riveting to watch through charismatic, if not gifted, acting. The dialogue must dramatically evoke epic times while still sounding useful. And the directing must be skilled enough to combine all of these elements in such a way that the audience is taken on the same journey the main character takes, thereby becoming utterly transported into that character's mind and world.If you think about it, Mr. Stone had a Herculean Labor here: To bring Alexander "The Great" down from the ivory pedestal he's resided upon in bust for 2300 years, into our modern times so that we might try to understand him as "The Man" inside four hours. No other figure in human history has been so guilded by legend, or obscured by such legendary true accomplishments. How does one begin to get a sense of this man--his thoughts, feelings, vulnerabilities, that secret inner life? Yes, we know what he DID. But who WAS he?This film delivers on all that.So kindly overlook the at-times overmatched acting by Colin Farrell and his youthful peers. Turn a blind eye toward the gross miscasting of Val Kilmer as Alexander's father, Phillip II. Cover your ears as Angelina Jolie snarls and claws her way through one overbearing scene after another, even as she looks every inch Alexander's mother Olympias. Bear with Alexander's old general Ptolemy, ably played as usual by Sir Anthony Hopkins, as he meanders through his own ruminations about who Alexander was in the course of narration. Lie back on the couch and breathe as Oliver Stone beats the Oedipal horse into pudding.The truth is, even those numerous flaws fail to detract from the impact of this film: To put you down on the earth as it was in Alexander's day, and experience what it might have been like to be him--in battle, in love, in friendship, in tragedy, conquering most of the known world. By the end, you will feel as if you've really KNOWN the man. That's what epic filmmaking is all about.And if it took Olie three tries to get it right, so what? What matters is that he got it RIGHT. And we get to enjoy it.(P.S.: The packaging and overall production quality are superb. Really beautiful. That it's selling for about five bucks is itself a wonder of the world.)

This Cut made me happy! I liked the theatrical version okay. The Director's Cut was alright, but this Final Cut did the same thing for me that the Director's Cut for Kingdom of Heaven did: I watched it and went, "Now this is what they meant to show! This makes more sense!"Stone went for the heart and for the glory that Alexander was in life, start to finish, and to me, he did not disappoint in this Cut. It's kind of funny to me, that the reviews I've found for this movie always seem to: 1) glorify Val Kilmer's performance [and it was good], 2) vilify Angelina Jolie's performance [I found her true to Olympias, who always seemed to have an agenda], 3) complain about the homosexual tendencies [do you know ANYTHING about Alexander or ancient Greece?], and 4) moan about the movie being boring [how the hell is a war movie boring?] Kilmer as Phillip II was amazing; I alternately hated Phillip and felt him tender at the same time, and Kilmer doesn't usually do it for me, but he was AWESOME in this role. Jolie--I always like her acting, and to me, she did the snake worshipping Olympias justice, even if the snake worshipping Olympias was weird unto herself; one thing is for certain-- she loved her son... how is a different story. Farrell's Alexander was amazing, but then again, I'm not sure that Colin Farrell has a bad turn of a role, usually it's a script that gets him. Leto as Hephaistion was beautifully done, and I'm not usually a Leto fan when it comes to him and movies.How the hell do people find a movie about conquering the world boring? Especially when, as Aristotle puts it in the movie, "the known world" was pretty small? Alexander was way ahead of his time, and to watch his destiny unfold before his eyes, to watch each decision he made, whether or not it was one everyone agreed with, affect the WORLD, had to be mind-blowing. Ptolemy spoke of his death at the end of the movie, saying that "Alexander's great heart finally gave out." I think that was a perfect way to describe it: from what I've read from Plutarch and Arrian and Curtius-- people who never met the man, but relied on writings we've mostly never seen to make their own-- Alexander had such a big heart and such a keen mind for strategy, and when he put those two together, there was nothing he couldn't accomplish.Stone and Farrell captured that perfectly in this film.

Quick shipping, arrived in good shape

Some scenes from Original were erased and replaced by new ones, I like this editing better than original i saw, Alexander is my childhood hero, since i was 4,

La più completa tra le varie edizioni del film. Il miglior montaggio che alterna azione e racconto (non come la versione theatrical che è una palla). Molto soddisfatto. PS: ovviamente è solo in inglese, ma chi guarda più i film in italiano? :)

Ho comprato il dvd e purtroppo da nessuna parte era indicato che si trattava di un prodotto Regione 1. Nel titolo c'è scritto Edizione Germania e questo è molto fuorviante.Giudizio negativo per le informazioni sbagliate, non per il prodotto in sè. Non lo restituisco perché avendolo pagato 6 euro probabilmente mi costerebbe di più.

Good!

This movie has all of the usual Oliver Stone characteristics one typically finds in his work. Like his previous films, "Alexander Revisited" is long, controversial, and filled with thought-provoking conspiracies. It raises questions and inspires discussions about "The Great" one, and more specifically what/who drove him to do what he did; namely his mother and father (but then again, we always blame our mothers and fathers for our faults). The movie is very much "alpha-male" with its gory, long, war scenes, and open homosexuality. This movie is definitely not for everyone, particularly not children (or even teenagers), and as such, can not be used as an educational teaching tool. This is too bad, as there are several good points made in the movie. One can always view the other two available, shorter versions, which are not available on this final cut version. The other thing that I did not like about this final version, is that the movie is only available with the English soundtrack and subtitles. Still, this is a movie worth watching, if you have the stomach for it.