The Theatrical Cut and STEAMBOY GIFT SET for me...
If Hollywood censors and conservatives groups continue to cut the imagination or the original points of view of the directors, writers, etc USA cinema will become only a ''box office factory''.
Look the movies they do in japan, spain, france... even the uk. I mean...the thing is, people should have the right to wacht whatever the hell they wan't.
I live in Southamerica and the main source of cinema is the USA. Thanks god the internet for the posibility to buy dvds from other parts of the world... i dont want to wacht only movies where the human emotions are censored (i don't like the gay thing, is un-natural to me) but you have to let other people to be heard. Is even worse if the historical perspective of any movie gets deviated for this stupid censors or the ''actual'' political position of a country.
Since 9/11 the world has changed and the USA has become the ''world police''... like or not... people in the world don't like the USA goverment...not the people... the politics are the ones who projects the wars... and it's the same everywhere... here in southamerica the people just can't stand the economic situation...politicians are the cause...
Received my copies of the Theatrical Cut yesterday. Yes, it does split the movie over two discs, and it seperates the movie at almost exactly the middle of the movie. The second disc begins with Rosario Dawson's entrance.
The good: The transfer is, to my eyes, utterly flawless. Very filmlike, vibrant... any words of hyperbole you want to use, they apply. The audio holds it's own, as well, and the documentaries (which add up to about an hour, I believe) are above average for their type. It gets pretty in-depth. (This said having only seen the first half-hour or so of the docs and about an hour of the movie.)
The bad: Um... the movie. Yikes. It's a little unfair to call it the worst movie of the year, but maybe not altogether misguided.
If you already like the movie, this DVD is going to rock your world.
Original Cut: Side #1 -- Alexander, Disc 1 1. Falling Ring [2:58] 2. Empire of the Mind [4:03] 3. Mother's Little Achilles [3:49] 4. Avenger From My Womb [1:34] 5. Aristotle Teaches [4:58] 6. Taming Bucephalas [4:55] 7. Kings are Made [3:55] 8. Love Vs. Duty [4:25] 9. Banished [5:00] 10. Map of Conquest [1:54] 11. Battle Plan [4:33] 12. Moonlit Vow [2:51] 13. Conquer Your Fear [5:58] 14. Gaugamela: Battle Begins [6:06] 15. Darius Retreats [4:57] 16. Entering Babylon [4:55] 17. Royal Request [5:17] 18. Mother's Letters [2:46] 19. Everything I Care for [4:09] 20. Fate of Darius [2:35] Side #2 -- Alexander, Disc 2 21. Asian Allurements [5:41] 22. Wedding Vows [2:21] 23. Different Ways to Love [8:07] 24. Conspirators [3:54] 25. Across the Hindu Kush [4:10] 26. Mired in India [6:12] 27. Clash With Cleitus [6:33] 28. Go on Your Way Father [3:41] 29. Assassination [3:14] 30. The World is Yours [:25] 31. Rebellion in the Ranks [4:24] 32. Elephant Attack [7:32] 33. Brought Down [5:06] 34. Home to Babylon [5:29] 35. Hephaistion's Farewell [3:35] 36. Roxane's Revelation [4:14] 37. One Last Toast [1:19] 38. Taking Flight [1:41] 39. Greatest of Them All [2:37] 40. End Credits [5:15]
Director's Cut: Side #1 -- Alexander, Disc 1 1. Falling Ring [3:17] 2. Empire of the Mind [2:32] 3. My Little Achilles [3:28] 4. Never Yours [1:32] 5. Our Greek Dream [5:29] 6. Bucephalas [4:55] 7. Kings are Made [4:19] 8. On Alexander's Terms [3:57] 9. Conquer Your Fear [5:46] 10. Battle of Gaugamela [6:03] 11. Driving Darius Back [4:57] 12. Joining the Myth Wall [3:23] 13. Entering Babylon [3:52] 14. Royal Request [3:50] 15. Mother's Letters [2:12] 16. With You Always [3:38] 17. Fate of Darius [2:23] 18. Personal Desires [5:17] 19. Wedding Vows [1:40] 20. Different Ways to Love [6:27] 21. Love Vs. Duty [6:12] 22. Conspirators [:05] 23. Banished [4:08] 24. Across the Hindu Kush [5:00] 25. Mired in India [4:10] 26. Clash With Cleitus [5:29] 27. Go on Your Way, Father [5:02] 28. Assassination [3:40] 29. Rebellion in the Ranks [3:14] 30. Elephant Attack [6:58] 31. Brought Down [5:33] 32. The World is Yours [5:54] 33. Home to Babylon [5:04] 34. Hephaistion's Farewell [3:56] 35. Roxane's Revelation [4:03] 36. One Last Toast [1:20] 37. Taking Flight [1:42] 38. Greatest of Them All [4:52] 39. End Credits [2:59]
Looks like I will be getting the original cut of the film. I still really enjoyed the movie despite a few of its flaws. I have found that people who knew nothing of it before seeing it enjoyed it, while those who had read negative reviews before seeing it hated it.
The Directors Cut DVD, which I watched tonight, is actually a pretty good movie. I was surprised how beautiful it looked, for one thing. Very rich colors, evocative of old Technicolor movies, and not at all the mod "brown" of Gladiator and Troy. It is a MUCH better movie than either of those, though slowed down by some performances. Honestly, I don't think I ever need to see Angelina Jolie again, not with those hyper-stuffed colagen lips. But Colin Farrell serves nicely, and Val Kilmer steals every scene he's in. One BIG bad thing: the music score by Vangelis. We really can't write them like Alex North and Miklos Rosza used to.
Surprise! I liked the movie. I've heard that the theatrical version is better than the director's cut, and I may get that one too (a separate DVD).
I'm in the UK and our version(s) were released today. I got the theatrical and just want to compare something about it with the Region 1 release! So 2 quick questions for anyone with the Region 1 Theatrical Version: 1) Is disc 1 a dvd5 and disc 2 a dvd9? (as that's how Warners have done it in the UK - which makes no sense to me as using a dvd9 for disc 1 would've allowed the whole film to fit on one disc!) 2) What bit rate is the English 5.1 track encoded at? (my UK version is 384kbps) many thanks
I enjoyed the DC much more. It's still campy, but at least this version told a story. Colin Farrell comes off a lot better too. I'm officially putting this down as a guilty pleasure.
The Theatrical Cut is the proper version. The Director's Cut is just flat out terrible. He basically raped his own film to pander to what critics didn't understand or tolerated the first go around. It's almost shameful that he went back and edited the film down. It's very clear fromt the commentary.
The only problem I really had with Alexander in the theatre and on DVD is the music. In spots, it's very good. In others, it's too majestic and often times very campy for the film. Still, I believe Colin's performance was very solid and captivating. Angie was great as always. Val Kilmer was way over the top but great nonetheless.
Still, I think the film begs to be reevaluated 10 to 20 yeas from now.
I think the music is fantastic throughout and really suits the visual material. It's fantastically rhythmic too and not half as bombastic with a need to underline every single moment as other 'epic' films have a tendancy to.
I could not have said it better. I don't know what all the fuss is about.
Sure, the movie had some bad editing, poor music at moments (and I think this is more of a style of music issue than anything else), and some cheesey lines and moments...but over all it was a very solid film which I will enjoy for years to come. There have been alot worse movies that don't get the same horrible treatment this movie does.
I still stand by my thought that most people who had heard nothing about this movie going into it enjoyed it. I think bad reviews and overall negativity shaped alot of the reviews and the reviewers who actually had balls and an opinion would share positive reviews about it.
I agree. Most people say that she was over the top...but that was what Olympias WAS LIKE. She was nuts. I thought the performance was dead on.
If this had come out before Troy (which I did not like) or maybe Gladiator (which I love) I think it would have done alot better here in the States.
I got both editions last night from Amazon and watched the Theatrical Cut, being prepared to witness some vomit-inducing cringe-cinema. Well, surprise-surprise, I really enjoyed the film. I'll watch the Director's Cut tonight. Alexander has an involving storyline, despite the 3-hour runtime, great cinematography, awesome score, very good acting, editing, and so forth. The Persian battle sequence was extremely well-done. I can't imagine why this film was so hated, and even nominated for Razzies. I can think of dozens of films from last year that sucked ass, and sucked it rightfully.