Oliver Stone has failed.

Rating: 1/10 (28 November 2004)

Upon hearing Oliver Stone was the director of this movie when it was still in production, I immediately thought he was out of his league. And after seeing it, it is true.
This is not a movie about one of the world's greatest generals who happened to be gay. This was a gay love story about a guy who happened to fight a battle once in a while. Three hours of movie, and Oliver Stone decides to show 2 choppy battle scenes and about 10 gay scenes or references. With all the resources at Oliver Stone's disposal, he presents Alexander's historical greatness not with battlefield exploits but with lengthy and boring narratives by Anthony Hopkins' character. I can listen to a history professor speak about Alexander's life and get as much imaginative imagery as I did with this movie.
It is clear Oliver Stone has no idea what he is doing when he shoots the 2 battle scenes, as he incorporates no overall battle strategy during the scenes but instead portrays a confusing mess of dust clouds concealing the action and a series of 1 second one-on-one fights between the soldiers. So great is Oliver Stone's obsession with Alexander's supposed homosexuality, that he seems to include these battle scenes half-heartedly as an afterthought. Gladiator or Troy, this is not.
It is not enough for Stone to suggest Alexander's possible homosexuality. Stone believes he must reinforce it again and again and again in nearly every scene so that homosexuality is the story, not one man's swift conquering of the known world. Pretty sad since Alexander's conquests are accepted historical events while the possible homosexuality is speculation that was written hundreds of years after Alexander's time. Stone hijacks the story of Alexander to stir up the controversy he craves, the same as he did with JFK.
So in the end, Oliver Stone presents nothing compelling in this movie. He tries to draw his audience in by making them believe it is an epic war movie only to swindle them by shoving his political agenda down their throats. The greatness of Alexander, according to Oliver Stone, is his gayness. This movie in a word: Pathetic.