Alexander the Great
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Movie Reviews of Alexander the Great
Movie Review: Bruce Hodson
Summary: 4 Stars
Absolutely fascinating movie. Quite accurate in most respects, presenting Alexander as Hollywood figure. I enjoyed watching it.Movie Review: Long on Spectacle Short on Drama
Summary: 3 Stars
For a film that has as many classic actors as it does, ALEXANDER THE GREAT still manages to misfire enough to cause the viewer to lose interest by midpoint. Whenever a film goes off course like that, the fault is usually the director's. In this case, Robert Rossen took a very big budget film and used it appallingly. Rossem filmed ALEXANDER THE GREAT as if it were two unrelated movies. The first half has Alexander (Richard Burton) in constant Oedipal conflict with his father Phillip (Frederick March). March plays Phillip as a ruler more interested in protecting his realm from a son whom he considers to be only quasi-legitimate since his wife (Danielle Darrieux) was forced on him as part of a political alliance. Phillip raises Alexander as one who is fit to command an army but not a nation. For that, he dreams of choosing a wife with whom he may bear a son to rule after him. Burton plays Alexander as one who owes fealty to his father but only at the cost of fealty to his destiny. From the very moment of Alexander's birth, omens presage his latent divinity, all the while reinforcing in Phillip's mind that his son is a mixed blessing. Alexander grows knowing that his future in irrevocably mixed with the Gods of Olympus. By the time that Phillip is assassinated, Alexander is convinced that his destiny and Greece's destiny are the same thing.
The second half is a working out of Alexander's vision of world conquest. The Gods of Olympus choose their entrants most carefully and Alexander deduces that it is only by humbling the Persian king Darius that he may assume the mantle of divinity. The problem of the second half is a continuation of that of the first half. For a film that chronicles the exploits of a world conquerer, ALEXANDER THE GREAT does not deliver the military dramatic goods. Whenever Alexander's forces face a foe, the entire filmed battle is more of a vignette than lively interpretation of blood and gore. Historically, Alexander overcame fearsome odds at nearly every battle by means of tactical genius. Here, he simply lines up his men and shouts at them "Charge!" The frequent discourses between March and Burton hold the first half more or less together, but there is nothing like that to do likewise in the second. Alexander runs from one battle to another whose fiercest opposition comes not from any Persian but from malcontents in his own army who see him as a false god unwilling to take them back to Greece after a ten year hiatus in Asia conquering the known world. Burton, as usual, holds up his end with his richly resonant voice though his physique seems a little too pretty-boy like for the role. There is not a whiff of any homesexual subtext that is usually associated with any filmed version of Alexander's life. ALEXANDER THE GREAT concludes as a film that is a sad misuse of what should have been a soul stirring spectacle of one who sought to rule a world when he could not first rule himself.
Movie Review: Not entirely bad
Summary: 3 Stars
But difficult to call good. The actors are good, but have crummy lines to speak and are poorly directed. It seems a waste, since one is left with a feeling that with greater creative imagination and more dynamic direction this could have been an effective film. The look of it is heavily dated, with the costumes far too bright and clean-looking all the time, and the style is generally very theatrical. Nothing convinces: certainly not the battles; and the way the scenes are shot is mostly plain dull. It also seems to jump about in a jerky manner, especially in the later scenes: probably it had been heavily cut down by someone with minimal sense of pacing. It would be nice, some time, to see a film where someone had taken the trouble to deeply immerse himself in the way people truly lived, thought, spoke and interacted in Ancient Greece. I could never quite believe what I was seeing here. Nevertheless, there is something memorable about the movie, and I think it must simply be down to the presence, voice and look of Burton, in spite of his back-combed strawberry blond rug and fake tan. Every now and then you suspect that, given a director with a tauter, clearer vision and more drive, he might have produced an Alexander to match the legend. With new words and new music it could have been a great song. Strangely enough it has left me with a much stronger and longer-lasting impression than Stone's Alexander, which I watched a couple of months ago and can't remember anything about.Movie Review: It's OK
Summary: 3 Stars
This movie is so-so. It's not great, it's not bad, it's not awesome, it's not crappy. I didn't really like Richard Burton as Alexander. He over acted some parts too much and some parts not enough. I liked watching the guy who plays Philip much more. He seemed to really get into his character and made him work for the time that he was in the film.
The battle scenes are anemic compared to what we're used to today and even for that time I think left a bit to be desired in that realm. The dialogue could be a bit silly in places and odd in some other parts.
I would say, and this had it going for it, it's no worse than the modern version of Alexander with Colin Farrell. To me it seems like Stone watched this movie and only updated it instead of revamping it.
Movie Review: Alexander The Great
Summary: 3 Stars
Richard Burton(The Robe,An Excellent film way Better than This) makes an impressive yet at times over dramatic(They are the Greeks Though?) performance,the movie is okay. The Battle scenes are not "Battle Scenes" as they should be or perhaps Historically Accurate,Alexander while a Great Military Conqueror and Strategist was not so great after all,While we can(according to "History" and "Historians") Credit the Greeks with Democracy(In Athens at Least)they ultimately failed(Besides Aristotle)and like most civilizations disappeared.The movie is worth watching But I prefer the Biblical Epics of the same Era.