Director Oliver Stone traces the life of Alexander the Great (Colin Farrell) from his youth on through his time as ruler of much of the ancient world.

CRITIQUE

Oliver Stone’s Alexander has become one of the most notorious cinematic flops of the past decade. Stone has gone back to the drawing board twice since the film’s release, preparing what was billed as a Director’s Cut for the initial DVD release, which he now follows up with what he claims is the final, definitive version of the film.

This version is a good forty minutes longer than the theatrical version, incorporating footage reinstated for the Director’s Cut and adding in a great deal of new footage as well (some of which plays up Alexander’s homosexuality). The chronology of the narrative has also been rearranged, discarding the largely linear approach of the theatrical version and going even further with the approach taken by the Director’s Cut. But in the end none of this really matters, as Alexander, in whatever form it’s presented, is still never going to be a good film.

Alexander, despite its reputation, isn’t awful, but it is terribly misguided. Despite his talents, which are often obscured by his tendency to let his passions get the better of him, Stone is the last major director I’d think of when looking for candidates to helm a historical epic. He’s better when telling stories that, regardless of their length or scope, have a strong central character (JFK is a perfect example of this).

He also lacks the directorial eye for this type of storytelling. His compositions here are often cluttered and cramped, with none of the visual sweep that’s a hallmark of the genre. Someone really needed to tell him that close-ups of spear tips aren’t enough to convey the size of an army, or that sweeping vistas shouldn’t be photographed from rapidly moving camera cars (you almost have to wonder if he’s even heard of David Lean).

And I’ll never understand the decision to tint much of the footage from the battle in the jungles of India. The pink hues that suddenly dominate the scene make it look like a bad knock-off of a Zhang Yimou film, or (and this is even worse) like one of the poorly rotoscoped battles from Ralph Baskhi’s take on The Lord of the Rings. I get that Stone was once again attempting to convey the chaos and madness of war, but the approach he took in Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July is out of place here.

Lack of focus is the film’s one major flaw, and this is never more evident than in the character of Alexander himself. Stone and his co-writers take one of the most fascinating figures from history and portray him as little more than an impetuous mama’s boy. How such a man could conquer most of the known world is beyond me, and the film doesn’t do much to explain how he pulled it off. Stone has boasted about the copious research he did in preparation for the project, but what occurs on the screen doesn’t reflect this.

The plot ends up being a mixture of bloody battles and ham-fisted melodrama, and neither does anything to deepen our understanding of the central figure. And there’s meant to be an arc to Alexander, who becomes more decadent and distant as he grows older (imagine that), but the disjointed, nonlinear narrative (intended to contrast events from Alexander’s early life with moments from his time as ruler) blunts the arc. Rather than coming off as a brilliant leader and warrior, Alexander seems more like a petulant dilettante who, rather than achieving greatness, simply has it thrust upon him.

The casting is, in both senses of the term, all over the map. Farrell (who really needs a director to sit on him) is all wrong as Alexander; he’s not believable for a second. And the silly blonde hair certainly doesn’t help. Early on he looks like Aubrey Miller, the young star of those Ewoks TV movies from the mid ‘80s, and in the latter stages of the story his long, flowing locks make him look like he’s part of a Def Leppard tribute band.

Angelina Jolie, playing Alexander’s mother Olympias, looks to be having fun chewing the scenery, but the approach is all wrong (and can anyone explain to me why she doesn’t age at all over the course of the film?). To make matters worse, her accent appears to have arrived in ancient Greece by way of some unnamed Eastern Bloc nation.

Jared Leto is totally out of place as Hephaistion, Alexander’s longtime friend and lover. Sporting so much black eyeliner you’d think he believed he was playing Nefertiti, Leto does little more than stand around and pouts like a spoiled little girl. Rosario Dawson, as Roxanne, has one of the more thankless roles, as the character is generally used as a convenient plot devise; she has little to do, so it’s hard to judge how good she is, but she certainly looks good.

Christopher Plummer adds spark as Aristotle, as does the great Brian Blessed as one of Alexander’s gymnasium instructors. Anthony Hopkins, as the elder Ptolemy, is essentially around to read the pretentious, portentous narration, which he does quite well.

I think Val Kilmer, playing Philip of Macedon, is probably the strongest member of the cast (that’s certainly not something you hear every day), especially when he’s given more to do than simply act like a buffoonish sot (a portrayal that’s about as far away from the real Philip as you can get). The scene in which he regales the young Alexander with tales of Greek myths and legends is easily the best scene in the film, due in not small part to the force of Kilmer’s performance.

THE VIDEO

The 2.40:1/1080p transfer looks very good, although some edge enhancement is visible at times. Flesh tones can also look a little too orange on occasion, but this is inherent in the cinematography and not a transfer-related issue. A fine sheen of grain is also noticeable, which is in keeping with the original Super 35 photography.

Colors are generally lush and vibrant throughout, and they’re reproduced beautifully here, even during moments when contrast has been manipulated; blacks are dead on. There’s an exemplary amount of detail in the image, and the illusion of depth is impressive, which gives the transfer a nice film-like appearance.

THE AUDIO

I’m not sure if a space issue made the inclusion of lossless audio impossible, or if Warner simply decided to play it cheap, but this disc contains only an English Dolby Digital 5.1 track. I have to admit to being disappointed in the mix, which sounds very constricted. It’s very front-heavy in the non-battle sequences, and even during the battle sequences it’s a little too restrained.

The surround action is never as expansive or immersive as it could have been (the same could be said for the track as a whole); directional and ambient effects aren’t integrated very well, and their scarcity often serves to call attention to the ones that do pop up, which makes them sound artificial. On the other hand, dialogue always sounds very good (if you can get around the mishmash of uneven accents, that is), and the low end is put to good use (keep an ear out for those elephants in the last act).

On the whole, though, this sounds less like a modern mix and more like an older track that has been repurposed. English, French, and Spanish subtitles are included.

THE EXTRAS

The extras here, which in total make for a very nice package, consist of both material recycled from the earlier releases and some new features created specifically for the high-def discs.

The commentary by Oliver Stone makes for a good listen, as the director discusses the numerous challenges involved in making the film, including problems with the script, the execs’ concerns regarding practically every aspect of the production, and the reasons he’s assembled three different cuts. He also delves into why he thinks the film was such a failure in the States, but the reasons he offers up seem misguided. I will give him credit for realizing the film has its share of flaws, even if he doesn’t seem to realize how deep they run.    

The commentary by historian/Alexander biographer Robin Lane Fox isn’t nearly as interesting. Fox was one of the film’s historical advisors (he was compensated by being allowed to take part in one of the battle sequences), so he does provide some information and perspective on the actual historical events, but he too often has a tendency to fawn over Stone and the film.

Stone also provides a short introduction for the film, in which he explains why this cut exists, discusses some of the changes made, and admits that no cut is ever going to please everyone.

Created especially for this latest release is the documentary Fight Against Time: Oliver Stone’s Alexander (75 minutes). Assembled by Sean Stone, the director’s son, the interviews and behind-the-scenes footage included here provide an unflinching look at the elder Stone’s struggles to both complete shooting and shape the miles of film into a finished work.

The following three featurettes, which were also created by the younger Stone, originally appeared on the Director’s Cut disc:

Resurrecting Alexander (28 minutes) delves into costuming, production design, set decoration, and cinematography.

Perfect is the Enemy of Good (30 minutes) explores the research the director and his collaborators performed in order to make the film as accurate as possible (or at least as accurate as they wanted it to be).

The Death of Alexander (32 minutes) looks at the actual shoot and the numerous obstacles that arose during filming.

Vangelis Scores Alexander (4 minutes) shows the composer at work, creating the score in his studio as the film unfolds before him.

Closing out the extras are the film’s teaser and theatrical trailers.

FINAL THOUGHTS