History Lesson

Near to the East, in a part of ancient Greece,
In an ancient land called Macedonia,
Was born a son to Philip of Macedon,
The legend his name was Alexander.

At the age of nineteen, he became the Macedon king,
And swore to free all of Asia Minor,
By the Aegian Sea in 334 BC,
He utterly beat the armies of Persia.

Alexander the Great,
His name struck fear into hearts of men,
Alexander the Great,
Became a legend 'mongst mortal men.

- "Alexander the Great" Iron Maiden Somewhere In Time

I watched Alexander last night. It was a long, arduous film. Hence the lack of post.

I had my misgivings about this movie before and I was rather hesitant. Some of my friends said it was boring, others said it was your typically bombastic Hollywood epic. In some ways, it was.

First, the bad. It had many, many Braveheart like epic war movie cliches like the pre-battle speech. Which was not all that bad considering that I get rousing pre-battle speeches in Rome Total War too.

Then there were bits of melodrama that in my opinion was a little over the top. Some scenes were just too overwrought with emotion for them to be believable. I supposed a movie can't be considered epic without the over the top moments.

And if you are prone to extreme homophobia, perhaps you should avoid this movie.

And now the good. I'm happy to say there are many.

I'm a casual fan of ancient and medieval history. The very idea that someone was going to actually make a film about Alexander's live had me salivating.

They did a very good job. But then, what else do you expect from Oliver Stone ?

I like the historical detail of this movie. It was awesome to see the Pharos in Alexandria, the Hanging Gardens and the fabulous lapis lazuli covered walls of Babylon. The Battle of Gaugemela was brilliantly done, especially watching the hoplites dealing with the chariot rush. I mean how many times do you see chariots in battle ? Ditto the battle against the forces of King Porus in India, complete with war elephants. Yes, I enjoy a good battle scene.

When I watch movies based on historical events, I do tend to get a little fussy about details. Things like names of places and people, uniforms, weapons, heraldry, markings, even tactics. Talking about this, there was a blooper I noticed. In a Macedonian phalanx company, the first FIVE ranks are supposed to fight with their sarrisae (pikes) lowered while the rest hold theirs at a 45 degree angle. I need to watch those scenes again to be sure but it looked like only the first two or three ranks deployed their pikes.

Impressive also were the costumes worn by the Persians and other Asian tribes. Nice detail levels here. Also quite accurately done.

Ok that's enough of details. What else ?

The acting. Was good. I thought Colin Farrell wouldn't work as Alexander at first. I always imagined Alexander to be much larger. But he pulled it off just fine. And Jared Leto was totally unrecognisable as Hephaistion. Watch The Thin Red Line and you'll know what I mean.

Anthony Hopkins as Ptolemy ? I like this too.

But I liked Angelina Jolie's Olympias most of all. She's a good actress. Really. Now I wait for her in Love and Honour, where she will play Catherine the Great. Should be awesome.

This movie is nearly three hours long. I know I like this movie because not once did I want to leave and go the washroom. I sat there and honestly it didn't feel like three hours.

If you're looking for a movie with lots and lots of fighting and violence, you shouldn't watch this movie. Also, people who can't appreciate history shouldn't watch it either. It'll seem extremely long-winded and dull.

I suppose a bit of prior knowledge about about ancient history is a must to maximise this movie's effect. If you like history and drama, this movie will be right up your alley. I give this 7.5 out of 10.