Alexander: The Director's Cut (2004)

Twenty years ago, Two-time Oscar winner Oliver Stone (Platoon, JFK, Wall Street) finally had the opportunity to direct the grand-scale historical epic which he and several of his directing peers (Scorsese, Kubrick) had been trying to helm for decades.....the story of Alexander the Great who once lead a MASSIVE Macedonian Empire which at one point comprised around half of the land mass in the Eastern Hemisphere during ancient times.  He lived one hell of a life conquering much of the ancient world and here he is played by Colin Farrell (In Bruges, The Banshees of Inisherin, The Penguin) whose casting DID raise some eyebrows at the time of release....especially given that he portrayed this character with his heavy Irish accent.  And beyond that, Oscar-winner Angelina Jolie (Girl Interrupted, Salt, Mr. & Mrs. Smith) was cast as his mother Olympias....even though she was only one year older than Farrell at the time.  Beyond that, the stellar cast also includes Val Kilmer, Rosario Dawson, Anthony Hopkins, and the late, great Christopher Plummer among several others.  Also co-written by Oliver Stone, this would also be THE last big budget film he would helm as the $150 million production was not only a commercial flop but also destroyed by critics at the time of release.

And yet....a few years later, Stone was able to release his own extended "Director's Cut" on DVD (and eventually Blu-Ray) which is considered by many (himself included) to be a far superior version of this story as it includes 40 additional minutes of footage including some extended action sequences.  So in reviewing THAT version of this film, let's find out if Alexander DID in fact live up to his title. ;) 

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

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