Alexander Movie Review 2004

Looooong and somewhat farcical bio of Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great. In Stone's depiction, Alexander (Farrell) is the pawn in a marital war between his swaggering, drunken father Philip (Kilmer) and his snake-worshipping mother Olympias (a sultry Jolie), who implies that her boy is really the progeny of the god Zeus. Tutored by Aristotle (Plummer), Alexander believes it's his destiny to subjugate as much of the known world as is possible. Lots of big battles ensue as Alexander forcibly unites the squabbling Greek city-states before challenging the might of the Persian empire. He does take some time out to marry hot-blooded Eastern princess, Roxanne (Dawson), while the ruler's relationship with constant companion Hephaistion (Leto) is reduced to meaningful glances. Farrell cannot overcome the fact that he isn't forceful enough to portray an epic figure.

Distribution

Not Yet Released

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 175 minutes.
Originally from United States.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Historical Drama, Historical Romance, Biopics: Military, War, General, Greece--Ancient, Period Piece, Sword & Sandal

Screenplay

Oliver Stone, Laeta Kalogridis, Christopher Kyle

Cast

Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie, Val Kilmer, Christopher Plummer, Jared Leto, Rosario Dawson, Anthony Hopkins, Brian Blessed, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Tim Pigott-Smith, Gary Stretch, John Kavanagh, Ian Beattie, Feodor Atkine, Connor Paolo, Nick Dunning, Marie Meyer, Elliot Cowan, Joseph Morgan, Denis Conway, Neil Jackson, Rory McCann, Raz Degan, Annelise Hesme

Cinematography

Rodrigo Prieto

Director

Oliver Stone

Music

Vangelis

Other

Jean-Paul Mugel, Budd Carr, Tom Nordberg, Yann Herve, Alex Marquez, Stuart Rose, James Lewis, Stephane Cressend, Lek Chunsutiwat, Jenny Beavan, Jan Roelfs

Producer

Jon Kilik, Iain Smith, Thomas Schuhly, Moritz Borman, Moritz Borman, Warner Bros.