CD Giveaway - Sam Shrieve, "Bittersweet Lullabies"
Ends Nov 29, 2009
The current student at Berklee College of Music has a rock 'n' roll pedigree, but delivers a pleasing and diverse collection of soft pop on his debut record. Enter our contest for your chance to win! |
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DVD Review: Alexander - The Final Cut (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
by Jim Pappas
Published: February 26, 2007
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Rating: 
Country: USA
Release Date: February 27, 2007
Distributor: Warner Brothers
Director:
· Oliver Stone
Cast:
· Colin Farrell
· Angelina Jolie
· Val Kilmer
· Anthony Hopkins
Grade: B
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I reviewed “Alexander” when it was released into theaters near the end of 2004. I found the film worked best as a history lesson, telling a straightforward and earnest story about a man who lived and died more than 300 years before the birth of Christ. Director Oliver Stone has taken his film and re-edited and re-cut it for a DVD version called “Alexander Revisited, The Final Cut,” which will be released on Tuesday, Feb. 27th. It is a worthy effort, and I found this new version to be a better film, although it is still as dry and humorless as the original theatrical version.
Rather than a linear presentation like the original, the DVD tells the same story by jumping back and forth between key moments in Alexander’s life. This new cut has the effect of placing more emphasis on aspects of Alexander’s life that were less developed in the original work. For example, I had a much clearer understanding of the relationships between Alexander and his mother Olympias (Angelina Jolie) and his father Philip (Val Kilmer). The new version also examines the homosexual aspects of Alexander’s personal life more thoroughly, showing at least a bit of how that part of Alexander’s nature effected those around him.
I think both the theatrical film and the new DVD version of “Alexander” can be thought of as the work of a scholar, rather than an entertainer. Oliver Stone has made something of value, and it is of value, just not to a general audience. The film has the aura of academia around it, and that is a good thing for the most part. At least it is a good thing for people who like to be challenged and forced to think when watching a movie. I’m one of those people so I appreciate what Mr. Stone has done with his film, and I also appreciate the amount of effort it had to have taken to make “Alexander.” There is no question the film is beautiful to look at, and some of the battle sequences are stunning in their ferocity and realism. Unfortunately, something that looks good can’t be considered as more than that without having other elements work in harmony with each other so that the results are more than the sum of the parts. That is the main problem with “Alexander,” it just isn’t more than the sum of its parts.
One of the great tragedies to historians has to have been the destruction of the library in Alexandria, Egypt. Lost were records of events that helped shape the known world before the time of Jesus, including Ptolemy’s history of Alexander. Anthony Hopkins plays the elder Ptolemy in the film, and acts as narrator throughout. From what historical facts remain, Stone imagines the life of Alexander (Colin Farrell) as the story of a serious minded man, one who honestly wants to bring order and freedom into the world. We are shown that although some shared his dream, many did not and stayed with their leader only because of the wealth and power that lie in the wake of his conquests. This is another aspect of the story that is examined more clearly in the new DVD version.
The nature of heroes and heroism itself is something the new DVD version brings into the light. I don’t recall there being much of a look at those aspects of human nature from the earlier film Alexander’s father, Philip takes his young son into a cave that shows graphic representations of the lives of earlier heroes like Achilles, and he explains what happened to all the heroes of the past. Most lived and died tragically, and it is that part of greatness Alexander understands probably much more clearly as he neared the end of his life. Oliver Stone has bothered to make his character flawed and human, something that is more likely to be true than the myths and legends about the man.
For all of its flaws, “Alexander Revisited, The Final Cut feels and looks like a complete work. The biggest problem remains the grimness of the movie, and its lack of truly sympathetic and likeable characters. Everyone involved in Alexander’s life seems to have been motivated by desires that are less than noble, except for Alexander himself. And that Alexander managed to achieve the conquest of so much of the known world at the time of his life while leading an army he treated like equals is what made him earn the nickname “the Great.” He earned that appellation with his actions. I believe the world became a better place because of Alexander, and I think Oliver Stone has much admiration for the man as well. He certainly demonstrates that by how carefully and with complete respect for history he has made this film.
The 2 disk DVD of “Alexander Revisited, The Final Cut I received to review had no special features on it, except for a brief introduction by Mr. Stone who explains to the viewer, briefly, what changes he made in the film and how he hopes it will now be perceived. I do not know if the street version of the DVD will be any different the one I got, so I can’t really recommend it based on anything other than the film itself. If you want to study the life of Alexander the Great, watching this movie is probably a good place to start. If you’re seeking only to be entertained, then maybe this isn’t the film for you.
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