Movie: Alexander

History buffs will probably favour this movie more then those seeking an action packed film.
At times Alexander felt more like a documentary and i was interested to see just how much of the truth the plot would mirror.
Surprisingly it swung very close to the truth of Alexanders life, or at least that of the one history books depict.
Despite Alexanders death having been chronicled as 'death by poison' it was probably more likely that he died from syphilis, but the movie chose to portray the more widely believed cause, 'poison'.
The real life tension between actress Angelina Jolie (Alexanders mother) and actor Colin Farrel (Alexander) was never apparent in any of the scenes; and everything played out decently and in order.
Not everyone relished the film and preferred that the Alexander of their mind had remained that of a Heterosexual one.

As the movie synopsis states "He was many things to many people" - and those are probably the words of choice i'd use to sum things up.
A conqueror, drunkard, bisexual, arrogant fool, and courageous warlord, Alexander portrays all these and much more.

Find out more @ http://alexanderthemovie.warnerbros.com/

is this worth watching then? what if ur a homophobe?

when u say its not action packed, do they pretty much cover all the action scenes in the shorts they were showing on the tv?

Personally i appreciated the films historical value but beyond that i didn't enjoy it. All the bad press it recieved wasn't to do with the quallity of acting or anything like that, Europe hated the fact that their great Alexander was being portrayed as a drunkard, bisexual madman bent on domination.
It is action packed, but i suspect historical fans will be more inclined to like this movie than action fans will be, as it focuses primarily on Alexander as a person and then to a lesser extent his triumphs, there are 4 substantial battles in the whole film.

If you're a homophobe ...errr shut your eyes and block your ears - you're likely to spend more time looking away from the screen then you are watching it. There are a host of scenes involving Alexander and his best 'friend' and also a scene where one of Alexanders mates is taken by the 'older' men in the scene and bent over a table and ...fill in the blanks.
Bisexualism was big back then and the movie certainly had a Caligular feel to it.
I suspect this wasn't the movie 90% of people were expecting it to be but it did portray the REAL Alexander which is probably the only thing it had going for it.
An altered version of the truth would have sold it better and i'm not surprised all of Europe hated it.

As for all the shorts being battle related i suspect it's because man-on-man action and drunken fits of rage would not have brought hordes of viewers to the table.

as a small minded individual i would like to put my take on this film.


horrible.

i'll second that.

on the homosexuality, it was perfectly acceptable in those times to be gay, many powerful men took a younger man under their wing, it had something to do with being able to appreciate both men a women or sumfin like that.

Is that like how redeemer took you under his wing? :)

Nice call phil!

the movie was ok. bit long, more battles would have worked.

making him homosexual was clearly a marketing ploy

Apparently it was actually historically accurate, it just wasn't a popular idea

You'd have to be incredibly silly to think that portraying one of histories most revered leaders as a homosexual was going to work in your favor.

I find it amusing that the Sponge Bob Square pants movie made more than Alexander over the 5 day thanksgiving weekend in the US and that the 150 million dollar production didn't even gross $21,837,517 in that time.

Meanwhile the movie flopped due to it's lack of family appeal and critics slagged it off - i quote "Alexander" failed because it didn't do enough with Alexander's sexuality. Desson Thomas of the Washington Post complains that "Alexander's homosexual side is only bashfully explored ... There are no thighs, just whispers." Likewise, Wesley Morris of the Boston Globe writes, "The nervous handling of the important relationship (between Alexander and Hephaistion) lays an absurd emotional dead spot over the picture's overblown finale."

On a more personal note, i think Alexanders bisexual tendencies should not have been explored any further. Not because of my dislike of man-on-man action but simply because i didn't pay to see a gay porno.