Rebutting Myself

[karen]

Rent it -- it's really expensive to buy ;-)Also, there are no added battles, nor much of an expansion on Alexander & Hephaistion's relationship.Best,
Karen

[karen]

I had forgotten, there were different theatrical versions, and perhaps different director's cuts (?)I saw the theatrical version in Canada, and the DVD was the one available in Canada also. Whether that's the same as the one available in the USA or UK, I have no idea. Unfortunately it was borrowed from a friend and so I don't have it in front of me with the running time; I just remember that we observed that it was 45 minutes longer. Might we have made a mistake? Possibly. I can't check right now.All the best,
Karen

[marcus]

Maybe I got the timings wrong ... but Stone has certainly replaced some of the excised material with new material - such as the suicide of Hermolaus, which was not in the theatrical version.All the bestMarcusPS: Has anyone else noticed Stone's cameo in the Hyphasis Mutiny scene?

[azara]

You needn't apologize: I'm beginning to think that each one of us has seen a different film! Thank you and my best greetings Azara

[Paralus]

It really matters not the length of the film. It matters most the quality of the film. That quality defined by what? In a 'director's cut' (and I've not seen it) one would expect that it is defined by the director. To paraphrase Paul Cartledge ("Alexander The Great") the "conceit" of this film was to present history according to the rediscovered "history" of Ptolemy.As far as Hollywood is concerned, I see it as the death knell of "sword and sandal" epics. As an attempt at historical movie making it's a farce.Others here have written about what Stone wanted to achieve artistically. That's fine. Artistic license goes so far. As a person whose interest in history is a passion, the compressions are too many, the omissions unforgivable and the end result desultory. An extra six minutes GÇô added or deducted GÇô to give one an extra forty-five minutes (or three minutes less, depending on country of release) will not save this film. Then again, there's interest in Ptolemy declaring that "they" killed him (Alexander). It's not hard to imagine a bunch of "pissed-off", hard bitten Marshals GÇô finally back in 'civilisation' GÇô not wanting to head off again, assassinating an increasingly megalomaniac monarch. For a bloke who conquered the oecumene, this is a disappointing rendition of an often murderous life.