Posted on 11/27/2004 6:36:33 PM PST by quidnunc
Well, I thought it was simply terrible. The film goes on for nearly three hours, but we hear nothing of what either supporters or detractors of Alexander, both ancient and modern, have agreed were the central issues of his life. Did he really believe in a unity of mankind, and were his mass mixed marriages, Persian dress, and kowtowing cynical, sincere, or delusions of megalomania? We see nothing of the siege of Tyre, Gaza, much less Thebes or even the burning of Persepolis. Other than the talking head Ptolemy, none of his generals have much of a character. There is nothing really in detail about the page purging other than a single reference; Stone, I would have thought, could have had a field day with Alexander’s introduction of both crucifixion and decimation.
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at victorhanson.com ...
I suspect that the bad buzz from Waterworld and disappointed moviegoers partially explains why The Postman did so miserably.
It is! I have the video and I think I'll go watch it now.
Compare the self-confident Aragorn of the LOTR books versus the self-doubting Aragorn of the movies. Part of the problem, I think, is that there are very very few actors under the age of 50 and even 60 who can convincingly play heroes. Russell Crowe is one of the few.
Cutthroat Island and The Postman are 2 of my kids favorites. They also love Big Trouble in Little China and Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins. Imperfect heroes are a common thread in all. I love The Godfather, Unforgiven, Casablanca and North by Northwest. Same theme, "slightly" better done. I think I'll wait on Alexander to come out on DVD. Costs a lot of money to go to the movies these days w/4 kids.
You think that may be due in part to actors' fear of being typecast? John Wayne was always a good guy. Clint Eastwood, too.
No, the actors just lack something -- they don't come off as intelligently heroic types. Russell Crowe does have an air of command about him -- he was excellent in Master and Commander and Gladiator. This quality seems largely confined to actors who are old enough to collect Social Security or damn near. Charlton Heston or Sean Connery are good examples.
Stone wrote CONAN. John Milius directed it.
I think one reason they are able to palm this crapola off on us is they make so much money when they ship this pap overseas.
Witness another blow-dried, pouting idiot in the told of Alexander the Great.
"Someone to Watch Over Me" used classical and standards--I really liked that movie. Also "The Bad News Bears" used Bizet's Carmen to great effect.
I think you are correct about the current leading men not being manly--Jude Law?? As Alfie?? I thought he was wonderful in Ripley but he was a snarky rich boy and he looked the part. But manly no. Pierce Brosnan was manly in Thomas Crowne. Russell Crowe always leaves me thinking that he pulling something over on the audience, like he is acting with a secret smirk for those watching.
I agree that Stone has made some great movies - PLATOON and JFK. ANY GIVEN SUNDAY was a lot of fun. ALEXANDER is a miss for him - Hanson makes a good point in that the movie never addresses the fundamentals of Alexander's character; other than obvious courage, and success in battle, we don't see what made him great. And the movie really does spend a lot of time on his homosexual attractions.
We hear nothing from his other great general, Selucus, either. We hear nothing about the Hellenistic World the Macedonian brought into being through his conquests.
But look at Alexander's NOSE!
Being part-Greek myself, I had no issue with a non-Hellenic person being cast, but I always thought they had to have a powerful face---the "big head" effect that seems to ring true for the great and respected male stars(not necessarily pretty, just charismatic.)
Colin Ferrell is Irish and his features do not comport at all with what I'd come to expect from Alexander. EVen though Brad Pitt gained muscle weight for his role in Troy he just never had "it." Eric Bana was closer to looking the part.
I just don't think Hollywood has many masculine stars that have name recognition AND acting chops right now--not youngish ones. Not ones that they'd trust yet to carry an epic.
Which is why you shouldn't worry about casting the main hero for name, and just use names as the ensemble. Star Wars and LotR both did fine without major names in the primary roles.
But look at Alexander's NOSE!
Being part-Greek myself, I had no issue with a non-Hellenic person being cast, but I always thought they had to have a powerful face---the "big head" effect that seems to ring true for the great and respected male stars(not necessarily pretty, just charismatic.)
Colin Ferrell is Irish and his features do not comport at all with what I'd come to expect from Alexander. EVen though Brad Pitt gained muscle weight for his role in Troy he just never had "it." Eric Bana was closer to looking the part.
I just don't think Hollywood has many masculine stars that have name recognition AND acting chops right now--not youngish ones. Not ones that they'd trust yet to carry an epic.
Which is why you shouldn't worry about casting the main hero for name, and just use names as the ensemble. Star Wars and LotR both did fine without major names in the primary roles.
Now that I think of it, the problem is that there are not enough film stars of Caucasian extraction--not "STARS." I thought, though, the idea was to MAKE stars via great performances.
One of the best manly heroic types in film is Denzel Washington, evidenced by his performance in Man on Fire. I think that guy, Meloni, from Law n Order SUV could pull something off if given some chances. Maybe Oded Fehr for certain roles(he was in the Mummy and Mummy Returns as that Arabic/Egyptian ally of Brendan Fraser)
Nice horse, though.
FYI:
That would be 'Alexander's Ragtime Band' by Irving Berlin. Copyright 1911.
I had the same experience a while back. Then just said what the heck and went and bought the DVD...along with:
Bridge on the River Kwai
Lawrence of Arabia
Bullitt
The Quiet Man
Zulu
Patton
Wind and the Lion
Magnificent Seven
Next will be From Russia with Love.
Semper Fi,
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