Alexander

R

Now Playing

2 hr. 55 min.

History

Drama

Biography

Adventure

War

List

16%

204 Reviews

Tomatometer

35%

100,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

The story is an epic that is as daring and ambitious as its subject, a relentless conqueror who by the age of 32 had amassed the greatest empire the world had ever seen. Past and present collide to form the puzzle of the protagonist, a tapestry of triumphs and tragedies in which childhood memories and Alexander's rise to power unfold side by side with the later day expansion of his empire, and its ultimate downfall.

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Critics Consensus

Even at nearly three hours long, this ponderous, talky, and emotionally distant biopic fails to illuminate Alexander's life.

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Lowchungus

One of my favorite movies. The ultimate cut, revisited final cut. Doesnt matter. Great movie. Just going in as a dum dum, recognizing its a movie and enjoying it for what it is.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/06/24

Full Review

Collective S

A much better film than it has been received and reviewed, Oliver Stone's Alexander will one day be considered a very good movie that sought to discover the underlying motives, flaws and successes in Alexander the historical figure and man of destiny. There are some epic scenes, and while it is overlong, the payoffs are there for those that invest the time. This movie suffered most by its extremely poor timing going against prevailing US audience expectations in a post 9-11 world and released during the invasion of IRAQ. It's nuanced portrayal of a military leader that sought however imperfectly to unite tribes, peoples and races did not jibe at all with the prevailing mood and audience expectations, and the movie (unfortunately) flopped.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/23/24

Full Review

Laura L

The movie is a great historical epic - so, expect to watch a movie that is over three hours. It presents the story of Alexander the Great. The screenwriters didn't miss the major points of his life: his master was Aristotle, he won over the Persians with a small army, he pushed the borders of his empire more than Aristotle thought possible, his (bi) sexuality, etc. Being an epic, the movie has a variety of scenes: some are breathtaking (battles), others are impressive (the entry into Babylone), and others are joyful with lots of dances and music. The wedding night scene is original and it fits the general topic and genre of the movie. A brilliant idea to unfold such a historical epic in a logical way and artistically memorable was to use a narrator. This narrator is no other but - the one and only - Anthony Hopkins (Ptolemy)! It's a great movie, a great story, and a great artistic achievement. Enjoy it!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/13/24

Full Review

Alec B

Time has been kind to this, as has the numerous versions Stone has put together. There are still problems but they seem to matter less now, especially when stacked against the ambitious structure and length. Also, it is hard to not see how much of Stone's vision clashed with the mores and expectations of audiences in 2004.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/10/24

Full Review

Gortee U

The movie was great whit shots. But i din't like how at the end they just got back in like 8 years ago. idk how about others but i dint like it.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/03/24

Full Review

Kevin D

Yes, this is a ponderous movie. It asks more of its cast than what they can deliver. It moves at precisely the speed and ability of the Persian army at Gaugamela (Alexander's upset victory.) But it is one of Hollywood's uniquely epic films, arguably unrivaled in its authenticity and zest for bringing the ancient era to the big screen. It does a good deal of justice to the facts about Alexander as we know them. It deftly creates the world of his time. And, refreshingly, it seems to genuinely want to say something "grand" about who Alexander was and what he meant to the Hellenistic (and possibly Western) mind. Just to ask and attempt such an ambitious question gives it a staying power that many other history films lack. This day and age, Hollywood finds itself incapable of providing such an ennobling or elucidating examination of history. One only need to see Napoleon (2023) to note the complete uninterestedness of both director, actors, audience, and critics, in its subject. We trade away a search for Napoleon for a cardboard Hitler-in-becoming meets generic Hollywood romance. Alexander is only an unfinished house, but in an age in which we pretend a cave can be a substitute, it remains one of the few that keeps up its scaffolding, to remind us of another way forward.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/30/23

Full Review

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Oliver Stone

Director

Colin Farrell

Alexander

Angelina Jolie

Olympias

Val Kilmer

Philip

Christopher Plummer

Aristotle

Jared Leto

Hephaestion

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Alonso Duralde

The Advocate

While it's worth applauding Alexander for not making its legendary hero 100% hetero, there's nothing else to recommend about this stilted, tedious epic.

Jul 27, 2021

Full Review

David Ansen

Newsweek

Though Alexander is emotionally and intellectually incoherent, it's the work of a first-rate filmmaker who creates unforgettable images...could any contemporary actor fill Alexander's globe-bestriding shoes? He remains beyond Farrell's grasp.

Mar 13, 2018

Full Review

Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

Alexander the person was great. This movie isn't.

Rated: 1/5

Sep 9, 2010

Full Review

David Walsh

World Socialist Web Site

It's not at all clear what Stone is getting at, other than suggesting that conquering the world is exhausting and psychologically damaging work.

Feb 15, 2021

Full Review

Kaleem Aftab

The List

Stone has always relished posing more questions than he has answers in biopics. In Alexander, however, he enjoys it a little too much.

Rated: 3/5

Apr 23, 2019

Full Review

Mark Steyn

The Spectator

When you look at the bloated gleeful paranoia of JFK or the hallucinatory inflation of Natural Born Killers, who would have thought Stone would pick this subject to make a film that's so much smaller than life?

Feb 1, 2018

Full Review

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Synopsis

The story is an epic that is as daring and ambitious as its subject, a relentless conqueror who by the age of 32 had amassed the greatest empire the world had ever seen. Past and present collide to form the puzzle of the protagonist, a tapestry of triumphs and tragedies in which childhood memories and Alexander's rise to power unfold side by side with the later day expansion of his empire, and its ultimate downfall.

Director: Oliver Stone
Executive Producer: Matthias Deyle, Pierre Grunstein
Screenwriter: Oliver Stone, Christopher Kyle, Laeta Kalogridis
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Warner Brothers, Pacifica Film
Rating: R (Violence|Some Sexuality|Nudity)
Genre: History, Drama, Biography, Adventure, War
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 24, 2004, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 24, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $34.3M
Sound Mix: Dolby SRD, SDDS, Surround, DTS
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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