The film that will never end.

Rating: 1/10 (3 August 2005)

One could argue that this is a two star film only on the acting, which wasn't bad at all. The writing and directing was horrible, and I can't believe Oliver Stone made this movie. What could have been the movie of the year was a waste of time.
It presents itself more as a history documentary than an action/drama movie. Thus you have very little in the way of character development or plot. Yet it doesn't even give one a good grasp of the history. The script was just terrible. There is no clear view of what is going on at all times. None of the secondary characters were developed at all.
The battle scenes were jumpy and not exciting. There was no overview of the battles so you can't really see what's going on. The action sequences were poorly made. Only the horse vs. the elephant had any presence and it's a long movie to watch if you're waiting for that.
While one cannot blame the actor's for this movie, it was indeed a long terrible slow painful waste of time. Even Angelina Jolie actually put up a decent performance (although casting her as Colin Farrell's mother who doesn't age in 25 years is a little iffy), yet none of the acting in the world could have saved this movie.
It's hard to offer a real analysis of this film because it had no real good points to work with. Just do not see this expecting well made battle scenes, or words that hit the heart, or moving drama, or anything good that can come from a movie. All is lost here.
All in all, I knew it was a movie I had to see anyway. I have deep interest in history and Alexander and the mythology of the time. For me it was worth the risk, but this movie will never be owned by me or watched again. It doesn't even contain anything of little interest. It isn't what I would expect from Oliver Stone. It isn't a new interesting angle. It isn't the truth no one wants to hear. It isn't really accurate.
ALSO The 2 Disc Director's Cut DVD features - VERY SPARSE! There are a couple trailers (which are well made and are not representative of the movie) for the movie and a documentary. The two discs is a marketing gimmick only. It could easily have fit on one disc and you'd still be disappointed in the lack of extras.