Don't Hate

Rating: 10/10 (1 December 2004)

It is obvious that many people would dislike this movie from the minute it starts because they are not going to want to hear that Alexander the Great was GAY. Yeah, he liked to bang guys but this is as factual as ancient history can be. I graduated as a history major, and if there is one thing i have learned about ancient history, it is that facts are a very grey area. You can only go by what you have to interpret an event. As for the film itself, i thought it was excellent. It follows the genre of epic historical films (like Braveheart, Troy, Spartacus...etc) and does so with some conventional wizardry.
The dialogue was beautiful and elequent, the flashbacks were not boring and easy, but challenged the audience, which i liked (God bless the A.D.D. audience---you prolly slit your wrists!) I enjoyed Anthony Hopkins as Ptolmey, and was Surprised at Colin Ferrel's acting ability. I enjoyed his performance, which is the only thing i feared going into the film. I also enjoyed Oliver Stone's citation of his own work (Scarface) in the dialogue "The World is Yours". I thought the Gaugamela battle scene was intense, and the presence of the Eagle in that scene took my breath away. What the feeble-minded miss in Oliver Stone's pictures is his keen sense of detail when dealing with culture. 10 years ago, someone making a film about Alexander would have left out ANY AND EVERYTHING homosexual. Also, i feel that he tended to the Grecian Pagan religion very well... (Instead of them saying Oh God...they name a God they would prey to for the situation. Stone is an excellent filmmaker and proved it many ways in this film, so much so that I could write a book about it.
It was an excellent film, i give it 4 out of 4 stars and i will prolly go and see it again.