History lesson par excellence

Rating: 9/10 (21 August 2005)

First of all I'm really disappointed with the ratings this film has on IMDb, and therefore I would like to add few of my own opinions. As one can see from my rating I have found this movie enjoyable to watch. Probably the reason for such opinion is my passion toward historical movies - though it wouldn't be an only criteria to judge it. Alexander is a historical movie that's right - rather accurate depiction of known facts about this great commander. Sometimes it tends to over-exaggerate with certain aspects or characters in Alexander's life (Olympia, heterosexuality), but it is a fairly credential projection of well documented fragment of history. It is obvious that much of the footage was cut during the montage to make a movie with a reasonable length but still characters and their motives are believable. They are not just 2D sprites hovering over the screen and reciting their scripts giving the viewer feeling it is watching a C-grade theater show. They have their plausibility in what they say. This remark is somehow connected to some other recently shot Historical Epics - namely Troy and King Arthur (both of them movies of catastrophic quality) and somewhat less Kingdom of Heaven (half-way between Troy and Alexander). It is obvious that there are two groups of viewers and reviewers when speaking of Alexander. One that speaks highly of the movie (including myself) and other that is deeply disappointed in the movie. As I have already mentioned, rarely have I seen a great movie with such a disastrous rating and therefore I was obliged to write my first review as a landmark to some doubtful potential viewers not to miss this epic. It is a great movie, far from being perfect. It is the movie that will stay in your head even after you've finished watching it - it will send you into voyages over the net just to find out more facts about the greatest commander ever. It is a history lesson par excellence.