Alexander (Two-Disc Special Edition)

     Conquering 90% on the known world by the age of 25 alexander the great led his armies through 22000 miles of sieges & conquests in just 8 years. The world we know today might never been if not for Alexander's bloody yet unifying conquest.

      For better or worse (and in this case, it's mostly for better), Oliver Stone's Alexander Revisited should stand as the definitive version of Stone's much-maligned epic about the great Asian conqueror. Following the DVD release of his previous Director's Cut, Stone offers a video introduction here, explaining why he felt a third and final attempt at refining his film was necessary. Essentially, he's using this opportunity to re-create the "road show" format of the Biblical epics of the 1950s and '60s, with a three-and-a-half-hour running time (with an intermission at the two-hour mark) including 45 minutes of previously unseen footage. Stone has also significantly restructured the film, resulting in substantial (if not exactly redemptive) improvements in its narrative flow. Alexander (played in a torrent of emotions by Colin Farrell) is dying as the film opens, his final moments serving to bookend the film's epic story, which incorporates flashback sequences to flesh out the Macedonian king's back-story involving the turbulent battle of fate between his father, King Philip (Val Kilmer) and his scheming sorceress mother Olympia (Angelina Jolie, ridiculous accent and all), who insists that Alexander is literally a child of the gods. In Stone's final cut, epic battles remain chaotic (although Alexander's strategy is somewhat easier to follow, with on-screen titles indicating left, right, and center during his army's greatest maneuvers) and the ultra-violent battles are more graphically gory than ever (hence their "unrated" status). The animalistic lovemaking of Alexander and his barbarian bride Roxana (Rosario Dawson) is slightly extended (with Dawson as ravishing as ever), and Stone's additional footage also improves the overall arc of Alexander's relationship with his closest generals and male companions, although his most intimate homosexual encounters remain mostly discreet. As Alexander Revisited makes clear, the film's weaknesses remain unavoidable, but Stone deserves credit for recognizing how a longer running time, and more disciplined narrative structure, would bring Alexander closer to the respect it never earned from critics and filmgoers alike. This is unquestionably a better film than it used to be, leaving us to wonder why it took three separate efforts to shape Alexander into its best possible presentation.

Comment:
    This is the version of "Alexander" that should have been released in theaters. Like the director's cut of "Troy", "Alexander Revisited" is long, steamy, epic, dirty, colorful and mesmerizing. Oliver Stone's reworking of the film's timeline adds weight to the story, and lets Colin Farrell come off more as a complex man, and less of the whining mama's boy that he was in the theatrical cut. Of course there's no way a film about a bisexual soldier with an Oedipus complex could have ever played in American multiplexes, but now for home viewing we can see the film the way Stone wanted it to be, uncut and unapologetic in both its violence and its eroticism. The Blu-Ray transfer is stunning, with vivid colors and a fantastic sound mix. And bargain priced, since it probably is not exactly flying off store shelves. Alexander was released to theaters where it didn't do as well as it could of. This film is really a history buff's kind of movie. Yes, it has action, big names (Farrell, Jolie, Hopkins, and Kilmer) and is based on a lot of historical fact. I think the homosexual relationships and the movies length and pacing are what killed it at the theater, which is what I have gathered from others when I have asked them about what they thought of it. Personally, I have no problem with the relationships described in this film as it is pretty much a fact that all Greek men had male lovers back in the day. This movie was paced for Hollywood in the original cut (some suit did that) and cut to make it more audience friendly. The ensuing original product just felt rushed to me and I waited to watch this version; I was not disappointed by the story on either version but it was a better experience with the edit. This version is put together entirely different and I think it is a better story and version of the film. The battle scenes are extended and there is a lot more character development. Kingdom of Heaven's re-cut and re-release is a better film than this one but this is very good and worth obtaining. The Blu-ray transfer is very good......picture quality wise but the sound could be better. Overall, I would give this movie 4/5 because of the sound quality. Dolby on a BD is good for a DVD but for being on BD there was a lot of GB space wasted on this film especially since you have to change disks to watch the whole movie. I am still at a loss as to why you have to do this because of the storage capacity of BD but hey what do I know?