Simply OUTSTANDING!

Rating: 10/10 (20 August 2005)

I, too, had heard horrendous comments about this movie and hesitated renting it for months on end. However, I did finally rent the movie...and, oh my gosh, am I glad I did! I believe that this is one of the best movies I have ever seen...and I've seen thousands. I read two novels about Alexander as a teenager, and I absolutely loved the movies historical sense. No movie is ever 100% accurate according to history, but I believe that this film gives us a great look at the life and legends of Alexander's time.
I found the acting to be simply superb! Collin Farrell provides an excellent performance as Alexander, Jared Leto is terrific as Hephaistion, Val Kilmer (Phillip), Christopher Plummer (Aristotle), Connor Paolo (Young Alexander), Rosario Dawson (Roxane), and Anthony Hopkins (Old Ptolemy) provide excellent support in their roles. Angelina Jolie is absolutely mesmerizing as Olympias; she makes this film unique with her wonderful accent and performance. It is unthinkable that this film was ignored by the Academy Awards for the performances of Collin, Angelina, and Val...all deserved nominations...Angelina certainly should have won a supporting Oscar in this role! Kudos to Oliver Stone, who certainly deserved a nomination as Best Director for this truly epic film.
There is nothing about the film that I do not enjoy. It is a film that I can watch over and over and over again, without breaks. It is completely and totally fascinating to me. The final Indian battle scene makes watching this film a treat as I believe it to be one of the very best battle scenes ever filmed.
If you were like me and listened to those around you and have not watched this film, please take the chance and view it. You will not be sorry!