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Title:
Alexander Director’s Cut: 2-Disc Widescreen Special Edition
Region:
One
Genre:
Biographical Drama
Stars:
Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie, Val Kilmer, Jared Leto, Rosario Dawson, and
Anthony Hopkins
Writers:
Oliver Stone and Christopher Kyle
Director:
Oliver Stone
Feature
length: 167 minutes
Extras:
Feature Length Audio Commentary With Writer/Director Oliver Stone, Three Part
Feature Length Documentary, Vangelis Scores Alexander Featurette, Theatrical
Trailers, DVD-ROM Link To World Of Alexander The Great Website
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Closed Captions and English, French, and Spanish Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Single Size Two-Disc Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 39
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 2004/DVD Release: 2005
Theatrical
Distributor: Warner Brothers Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: Warner Home Video
MPAA
Rating: R
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
The
saying “Fortune favors the bold” seems to sometimes go hand in hand with
saying “The light that grows twice as bright lasts half as long.” Alexander
The Great ruled over an empire he created that spanned all the way from ancient
Greece to Egypt, Persia, and India and he accomplished this great task in his
early thirties, but for reasons that outside of the film may be forever debated,
he never lived to see his 35th birthday. The film adaptation had been
in development with various producers overseas and Master American Filmmaker
Oliver Stone since 1989, but it would take fifteen years to climb the very tall
mountain as Stone puts it to succinctly bring a biographical dramatization of
the life of “Alexander” to the big screen. One almost wonders why a
miniseries for a premium cable/satellite network like HBO was not considered
since Stone would have had the freedom to depict the violence and sexuality of
the time unhindered on a channel like HBO and he would also have more time to
tell his story. Editing of the theatrical version of “Alexander” took seven
months and the film had a mixed reception when it finally premiered on the big
screen last fall. Stone then spent another ten months recutting the film to
create his Director’s Cut, which has been released on DVD in both a two-disc
Widescreen Special Edition set as well as a single disc Full Screen Edition. In
addition the Original Theatrical Version of “Alexander” has been released to
DVD with exclusive commentary by Historian and Alexander Biographer Robin Lane
Fox. The Theatrical Version features a bonus disc with what appears to be the
same extra value materials found on the Director’s Cut and is available in an
anamorphic widescreen edition only. This gives a chance for home video users to
examine both cuts of the film and decide which version they like better as well
as learn additional material about the film and the historical legacy that
Alexander The Great represents today as well as throughout history.
Personally I’d be interested in comparing both versions myself and
listening to that extra commentary track not included with the Director’s Cut
DVD.
The
Director’s Cut is actually eight minutes shorter than the Original Theatrical
Version with a dramatic restructuring of the scenes that is less linear, but as
a result gives more of a dramatic impact than the theatrical cut. There are two
additional scenes, one featuring Christopher Plummer, that are not in the
theatrical version and there appears to be more gore and maybe a little more
nudity in the Director’s Cut too. There has been some concern among the
homosexual community that the bisexual side of the character or as Stone puts it
“Pan-Sexual” side to Alexander has been removed in the Director’s Cut.
Having scene the Director’s Cut I can state that this fear among members of
the homosexual community that the sexual duality of Alexander has been
whitewashed is in my opinion unfounded. If anything I think a greater emphasis
on that side of the character is in place and even an understanding of how
culturally among the male bonding of ancient Greek society this might have been
encouraged as more of an honorable love or fellowship is now present in the
film. One also must understand that the sexuality of Alexander is only one facet
of a very complicated historical figure and it would be impossible to cover
every bit of Alexander’s psyche given the limitations of a feature film
without making other important aspects of his character fall out of balance. The
relationship he has with his mother and father as well as his creation of a
unified fighting style for his armies and the emphasis on unifying a world after
conquering it are all important to explore as well. I believe that even with all
of the historical artifacts and texts left behind over the centuries and studied
by experts, in the end we can only get a glimpse at the shadow that was the man,
but never truly know the man himself.
Even
with the faster pacing and restructuring of the film, “Alexander Director’s
Cut” is still a flawed epic, but I have to give kudos to Oliver Stone because
after listening to his articulate feature length audio commentary present on the
Director’s Cut DVD, I find myself liking the film more and more and forgiving
whatever shortcomings there may be. I am not sure if anyone could have done a
better job than Stone at bringing this story to the big screen, but I certainly
think Stone brought a passion to the subject matter and that comes off clearer
on DVD than perhaps when it ran in theaters.
“Alexander
Director’s Cut” is presented in a beautiful anamorphic widescreen aspect
ratio of approximately (2.35:1) and the picture quality is flawless. An
aggressive English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack has also been included
along with English Closed Captions for the hearing impaired and English, French,
and Spanish Language Subtitles encoded onto the first disc as options. French
Language Subtitles are available for some of the extra value materials found on
disc two as well. A surprisingly entertaining and in-depth behind the scenes
documentary is included that can be viewed individually in three parts under the
subheadings “Resurrecting Alexander”, “Perfect Is The Enemy Of Good”,
and “The Death Of Alexander” or can be viewed using a “Play All” feature
that presents the three parts as one feature length documentary of approximately
86 minutes and 44 seconds. A short companion featurette with Vangelis discussing
the film’s score complete with a quick CD Soundtrack Spot (4:29) is also
included. The theatrical teaser (1:45) and trailer (1:48) wrap up the extra
value DVD-Video features included within the set. Windows based DVD-ROM users
with access to the Internet will also be able to visit the Online World Of
Alexander The Great Website by placing the second disc in their DVD-ROM drive.
The
main menus on both discs feature scenes from the film while the subsequent menus
are all standard interactive still frames that are easy to navigate.
“Alexander Director’s Cut: 2-Disc Widescreen Special Edition” is available
on DVD-Video now at retailers on and offline courtesy of Warner Home Video and
is well worth checking out as well as revisiting and comparing for those who
have only seen the theatrical version.
©
Copyright 2005 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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