a noble, inspired film

Rating: 6/10 (31 July 2005)

Oliver Stone's film is as impassioned as Alexander, himself. Alexander(Colin Ferrel) begins to tame his fear by overcoming it. Beginning with the taming of Bucephalus, the wild horse, He sought his destiny, by overcoming his fear. His aim; To match the glory of Achilles. His father(Phillip) teaches him that there is no glory without suffering, and that greatness comes from loss.
He would go on to conquer Asia, Southeast Egypt and be declared the "true son" of Zeus.
The battle sequences in the film had a wide area of weapons and the above shots gave an overhead scope of the battle. Even, a little J.F.K was referenced with "back and to the left" being said during the battle with the army of Darius.
He sought to unite Macedonia and Asia and in doing so sought to overcome the prejudices against both Greek and Asian, by uniting his lineage with Roxane(a very sexy Rosario Dawson). The climactic battle in India with horse backed warriors against soldiers from India on mounted Elephants was epic. Stone using red film stock switches to emphasize his vision of battle. With some premonition, Alexander sees his death in the reflection( of Medusa) of the wine he's about to drink. During this time, men abandon him, as he sought conspirators within his camp. Great performances by Colin Ferrell, Jared Leto, Val Kilmer, Anthony Hopkins and Angelina Jolie, who displayed impressive range as an actress(by playing a woman older than she really is).
Oliver Stone delivered a condensed, impassioned film about The Greatest Alexander of all.