Alexander's dramatic soundtrack

Advantages: beautiful music to a great film, very touching, cheap
Disadvantages: carelessly made booklet, weird extra track

...Today I will tell you all about the soundtrack to the epic movie Alexander by Vangelis What is it? This is the soundtrack to the movie "Alexander" by Oliver Stone. The movie came out in 2004 and recieved mixed review - some loved it, some hated it. But most reviewers agreed on the soundtrack, composed by Vangelis, being a work of art. Who is Vangelis? Vangelis is a greek composer and a pioneer regarding electrical music. He has started to compose electric music that sounds like a whole epic orchestra, putting a lot of feeling into it. He was born in 1943 and surprisingly also composed the music to "Bladerunner". What's "Alexander"? "Alexander" is a movie about Alexander The Great. About 350 before Christ, he was the son of the Macedonian king Philip. After his father died, he became the king of Macedonia, later...

morticiaaddams 29.04.2009 · Read review
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Review of Alexander (Original Soundtrack) - Vangelis

ALEXANDER: Director's Cut

Advantages: A must see for all lovers of long historical epics.
Disadvantages: Could have shown more detail in the battle scenes.

...This is an impressive looking production with sumptuous costumes and sets and a rousing score from Vangelis. The Director's Cut includes extra footage, as is to be expected. Oliver Stone chose a largely European cast for the film, with Colin Farrell as Alexander and Anthony Hopkins as Ptolemy. In this film there are several Irish actors, including Farrell, so the main accent is of course Irish, which makes a change from the (by now) traditional British accents in film epics. It would be refreshing if a director had his historical cast adopt an accent authentic to the time and place i.e. in this case Macedonian or Greek. Val Kilmer, who plays Philip, Alexander's father, does change his, but to an Irish one like Farrell. Angelina Jolie, who plays Alexander's manipulative mother, is the only one who attempts a Mediterranean delivery...

Thormod 07.02.2009 · Read review
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Review of Alexander (Director's Cut) (DVD)

Was he really that great? - Alexander

Advantages: Good story, Loads of factual information
Disadvantages: Nearly 3 hours long!

...Alexander Running Time: 175 Minutes Released: 7 January 2005 Directed By: Oliver Stone Certificate: 15 Cast: Alexander - Colin Farrel Hephaistion - Jared Leto Ptolemy - Elliot Cowan Philotas - Joseph Morgan Antigonus - Ian Beattie Cassander - Jonathan Rhys Meyers Leonnatus - Garrett Lombard Crateros - Rory McCann Roxane - Rosario Dawson Old Ptolemy - Anthony Hopkins Scribe - David Bedella Child Alexander - Jessie Kamm Olympias - Angelina Jolie Philip - Val Kilmer Nurse - Fiona O'Shaughnessy Young Alexander - Connor Paolo Young Hephaistion - Patrick Carroll Wrestling Trainer - Brian Blessed Young Nearchus - Peter Williamson Young Cassander - Morgan Christopher Ferris Young Ptolemy - Robert Earley Young Perdiccas - Aleczander Gordon Aristotle - Christopher Plummer Cleitus - Gary...

Gangsta-ash 05.02.2008 (12.03.2008) · Read review
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Review of Alexander (Special Edition) (DVD)

A King Isn't Born, Alexander; He's Made.

Advantages: Some nice locations and looks quite spectacular
Disadvantages: The Script, The performances, the direction, the length, pretty much everything

...There was something about Alexander that cried out to me to avoid it. When it arrived in the cinema I thought I don't really want to see it but it might be quite good. Then I started thinking that maybe after Phone Booth Colin Farrell would be picking better roles for himself. I suppose by now I should realise when to listen to that initial voice that tells me it'll be terrible. Time and time again though I ignore it and end up sitting through some pretty terrible films and this certainly ranks up there amongst them. In Oliver Stone's biopic of the great Macedonian king Alexander (Colin Farrell), he attempts to educate the audience of a great ruler. During his rule he conquered 90% of the known world from his Macedonian base. He achieved the majority of this by the age of 25 and this film concentrates mainly on his campaigns in Persia...

Andy.mack 14.08.2005 · Read review
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Review of Alexander (Director's Cut) (DVD)

Alexander the Great Waste of Time

Advantages: Interaction between Alexander and Haphaestion (all 3 minutes of it)
Disadvantages: Overacting, inappropriate music, horrible accents, too many flashbacks, too long of film, ... the list can keep going on and on.

...the whole movie spouting rubbish in what's been described perfectly by other reviewers as a 'fruitshop Romanian accent') speak with an Irish accent! What gives with that? I mean we all know Colin Farrell is an Irish boy, but even he can do another accent, so why did the producers decide that all Macedonians would be speaking with a lilt, to be sure to be sure??!! Then there's the dialogue - we have not one but two narrators to the film, first of all Anthony Hopkins as the older version of Ptolemy mythologises Alexander and spouts all sorts of guff about how 'great' he was, but this is let down by what we actually see of the man - there are no great inspirational moments or even moving moments from this character other than those with his boyfriend Haphaestion (these scenes are actually some of the best moments of the film, which is...

Rahielli 14.03.2005 · Read review
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Review of Alexander (2004)

The great Alexander, brought down to real life

Advantages: Some good ideas and sets
Disadvantages: The plot was plodding and somewhat unrealistic at times

..., and the battle near the Ganges). The music, done by Vangelis (think 'Chariots of Fire'), was superb. As entertainment, the film was a good evening's outing, and I didn't find myself squirming in my seat as much as I thought I might at the prospect of a three-hour film. The computer-generated scenes in Babylon, and the on-location settings of Morocco and Thailand were glorious cinematography. The character of Alexander in history is one of mythology, one that was so powerful that it inspired the Roman leaders from Julius Caesar forward to global conquest (an irony of history is that the Roman Empire, which supposedly covered the 'known world', didn't cover half of Alexander's empire). Colin Farrell's performance here was not one that is inspiring; his speeches to the troops lack the kind of power that an Olivier or Brannagh might have in...

frkurt 12.01.2005 · Read review
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Review of Alexander (2004)

Alexander McCall SMITH

Advantages: A good writer
Disadvantages: none

...Alexander McCall Smith who is known as Sandy was born on the 24/8/1948. In a place called Bulawayo,he is a Rhodesian born British writer.The first stage of his education was at CBC Bulawayo then moved to Scotland where he studied Law at University of Edinburgh.. After that Alexander moved back to South Africa and at the University of Botswana he taught Law. Then after a while he then returned to Edinburgh where he still lives today a long side his wife Elizabeth and they had two daughters Lucy and Emily.Also in the late twentieth Century Alexander became a very repected person and an expert on medical law and bioethics and he has been on a number of committees for Britain and Internationally. He was a former Chairman of the British Medical Journal Ethics Committee and he was there until 2002. Vice-Chairman of the Human Genetics...

ruth1957 01.07.2008 · Read review
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Review of Alexander McCall Smith

Alexander model 103 and related instruments

Advantages: Beautiful sound, hand made
Disadvantages: Not ideal for beginners

...I currently play on an Alexander 103, which I have owned now for many years. However, perhaps a little background first... I started off as a tenor horn player when I was about 11-12. I played that for a couple of years and then moved on to the french horn, playing on a Holton 177. This was a good horn to start on, but after playing for a few years I wanted more. I spent hours (and I mean hours) in Paxman's in London, trying each and every instrument they had. In the end I decided on a screw-bell Alex model 103. I received it on trial the day before I was due to go off on a course to record a CD. I loved it the moment I played it, and have loved it ever since. -- All Alexander horns are hand-made in Mainz, Germany. They have several different models of single, double, triple and descant horns available. However, the two which...

newc0597 04.05.2004 · Read review
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Review of Alexander French Horns

Not as great as Alexander himself

Advantages: Costuming was good
Disadvantages: bad accents, not so good acting, a few historical errors if you look close

...One of my favourite personalities of all time is Alexander the Great, and so, I expect nothing but greatness from a movie that is supposed to tell his life story. I expect flawless casting, perfect acting, great props, great filming and camera shots, etc. However, if you watch the movie, you will realise that the movie Alexander was not perfect, and even if you have no clue who Alexander the Great was or know that he even existed, you'd know that it could have been better. First of all theres the issue with the casting. Now, I'm no big film buff, neither am I a director, or one of those jobs that is big in the movie field, but even I was able to figure out that some roles just wouldn't fit some actors from he outset. For example, I love Colin Farrel and Jared Leto, but I certainly wouldn't have casted Colin Farrel as Alexander...

RedTape 11.07.2008 · Read review
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Review of Alexander (Special Edition) (DVD)

Alexander isn't great but it is worth watching

Advantages: An ambitious epic with charismatic central performance from Colin Farrell
Disadvantages: Some scenes are badly written

...>>> Comment summary Director's cut: Vehemently ripped apart by contemporary critics, this movie takes one of the most famous and remarkable people in all human history and attempts to present it on-screen. Key scenes are hamstrung by non-sensical dialogue but the plus points outweight the bad with Colin Farrell nailing the 'great' one from his first scene, Vangelis returning to the Hollywood big-screen after more than ten years with a suitably stirring score and a number of strong epic moments including the Battle of Gaugamela and the battle against Porus. It still doesn't convey just how remarkable and far-reaching Alexander's accomplishments were but it does better than any previous attempt. >>> Plot teaser A story of Alexander, King of Macedonia, who conquered almost all of the known world and brought it together into...

MisterSlimm 20.01.2006 (22.01.2006) · Read review
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Review of Alexander (Director's Cut) (DVD)