Sadly, no. That's just it. I didn't sit there going, "They got that wrong, they got that wrong," and hating it for that reason. I had detached myself from all expectations, and for that matter, they got most of it right.
It DID get on my nerves that many of the fictional embellishments to the historical story were lifted straight out of Mary Renault's two wonderul Alexander novels -- even entire scenes were hers -- yet of course she got no co-writing credit and it supposedly was not an adaptation of her books.
But overall, the part of me that thought it was awful was simply the part of me who loves good films and groans at bad ones. It was actually worse than Troy, and that is saying A LOT.
I love historical epics even when overblown and sometimes inaccurate -- I loved Gladiator and Braveheart -- but this was beyond bad, not just as a portrayal of Alexander but as a film, period. It was so amateur in places that I can't believe Oliver Stone directed it
( ... )
Yes, that's the one. Though I don't particularly care for either one, I thought Farrell and Jolie did an okay job in the roles -- they played them in an extreme manner, but honestly, both Olympias and Alexander were apparently very high-strung and extreme people, so that wasn't the problem.
Just so much else was wrong with the film. The exposition (FAR too much of it, yet not really illuminating), the dialogue, the pacing, the focus, the awkward jumps back in forth in time... and it took itself horribly seriously while being unintentionally funny in many places. Painful.
He surprised me by being, well, not GOOD but not anywhere near as bad as I expected acting-wise. He's just distractingly physically all wrong for Alexander. And the continuity problem with his eyebrows drove me nuts! At one point they were blond, another they were brown, another they were black. And they are some very heavy and very noticeable eyebrows! lol
Yes, I noticed the eyebrows issue too. Still, I'd bend him over and conquer his ... tracts of land.
There were places where it seemed like the movie had been turned over to a bunch of art film students, what with the Warholesque colored filters, and slow-mo, etc.
I dodn't suppose you heard the story about the country of Macedonia threatening to sue the production company halfway through the film because they heard that is was going to portray Alexander as *gasp* bi? Denial ain't just a river in Egypt.
There were places where it seemed like the movie had been turned over to a bunch of art film students, what with the Warholesque colored filters, and slow-mo, etc.
YES, like that battle scene in India where he's grievously wounded. That's the one with lots of slo-mo and the red filter. Painful.
I dodn't suppose you heard the story about the country of Macedonia threatening to sue the production company halfway through the film because they heard that is was going to portray Alexander as *gasp* bi? Denial ain't just a river in Egypt.
Hmm, apparently it's a river in Macedon as well. lol
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It DID get on my nerves that many of the fictional embellishments to the historical story were lifted straight out of Mary Renault's two wonderul Alexander novels -- even entire scenes were hers -- yet of course she got no co-writing credit and it supposedly was not an adaptation of her books.
But overall, the part of me that thought it was awful was simply the part of me who loves good films and groans at bad ones. It was actually worse than Troy, and that is saying A LOT.
I love historical epics even when overblown and sometimes inaccurate -- I loved Gladiator and Braveheart -- but this was beyond bad, not just as a portrayal of Alexander but as a film, period. It was so amateur in places that I can't believe Oliver Stone directed it ( ... )
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Actually, Troy was better than Alexander, though it did annoy me for purist reasons ( here's my review of it).
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(I get it confused with some epic film with Brad Pitt).
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Just so much else was wrong with the film. The exposition (FAR too much of it, yet not really illuminating), the dialogue, the pacing, the focus, the awkward jumps back in forth in time... and it took itself horribly seriously while being unintentionally funny in many places. Painful.
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(The comment has been removed)
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There were places where it seemed like the movie had been turned over to a bunch of art film students, what with the Warholesque colored filters, and slow-mo, etc.
I dodn't suppose you heard the story about the country of Macedonia threatening to sue the production company halfway through the film because they heard that is was going to portray Alexander as *gasp* bi? Denial ain't just a river in Egypt.
Reply
YES, like that battle scene in India where he's grievously wounded. That's the one with lots of slo-mo and the red filter. Painful.
I dodn't suppose you heard the story about the country of Macedonia threatening to sue the production company halfway through the film because they heard that is was going to portray Alexander as *gasp* bi? Denial ain't just a river in Egypt.
Hmm, apparently it's a river in Macedon as well. lol
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