Alexander (Blu-ray)

Connect to Facebook/Twitter, recommend via email and much more.

---

Detail and other aspects of the transfer is also top notch. Throughout the film, the level of detail is incredibly strong and everything from individual grains of sand to the textures of various clothing can be seen as if it was right in front of the viewer and not part of a film. You could count the blonde hairs on Alexander´s head. The Greek architecture looks sharp and impressive and benefits from the high definition visuals. Aside from the sand swept moments during the Battle of Gaugamela and a few of the film´s darker moments, there were no drops in definition. Black levels are also strong and held up nicely throughout the picture. One or two of the darkest sequences looked a little less than true black and part of this was solely due to candle light. Shadow detail is strong. The source materials are as clean as can be and a viewer would be challenged to find a single blemish. The digital transfer does have an instance or two of color banding, but this is again during candle lit sequences or other troublesome moments. "Alexander Revisited" is definitely one of the better Blu-ray transfers out there.

Sound:

With the length of the film and two commentary tracks, I´m not surprised that Warner Bros. opted to not include either a Dolby TrueHD or PCM Uncompressed audio track. There is only so much space on a Blu-ray platter and I imagine a third disc would have been necessary to include a next generation audio track. The disc does include a rather epic sounding Dolby Digital 5.1 multi-channel surround mix that rivals most of the better Dolby Digital tracks out there. The film contains a few enormous battle sequences that are as aggressive as anything else out there. The musical score by Vangelis matches the styles of the conquered lands and sounds warm and wonderful throughout the film and it too adds to the epic nature of "Alexander Revisited." From the swirling winds of Nepal to the quiet serenity of Babylon, "Alexander Revisited" is a sonic treat.

The battle sequences are easily the most stand-out moments of the transfer. Sound can be heard from every direction. The pain and the suffering of those being killed in battle can be heard in not just the front speakers, but the separated rear surrounds. Bass is deep in the .1 LFE channel and the elephants during the Battle of Hydaspes River pushes the subwoofer with tremendously deep bass. The front channels are extremely busy during these action-filled moments, but throughout each sequence, the rear surrounds can be plainly heard. Back in the days of Alexander, there were no gunshots to be heard, but this Blu-ray disc definitely makes the sounds of spears and swords sound impressive. Of course, gigantic elephants are always fun.

The rest of the soundtrack holds up well as well. The environmental sounds that populate the film are strong and plentiful. From flowing streams to swirling winds, "Alexander Revisited" is full of sound. The jungles of India are full of wildlife and the sounds of parrots and monkeys sound great. The narration by Anthony Hopkins is clear and stands out against the backdrop of the film, but it never seems out of place. The dialogue shared by the actors is equally strong and never falls prey to the sounds of the film, even during the most intense battle sequences. The .1 LFE channel is active during more than the battle sequences. A rainy sequence has strong thunder, Vangelis´ score pounds routinely. The contrasting high frequencies are crisp and solid. "Alexander Revisited" is definitely a good example of how good a Dolby Digital soundtrack can be, but sadly, it could have benefited from a higher bandwidth format.

Extras:

"Alexander Revisited: The Final Cut" is spread out onto two discs. Much of the supplements are contained on the second platter, but there are some bonus materials to be found on the first disc. The Introduction by Oliver Stone (3:27) can be turned on when viewing the film and finds the director giving explanation as to why he triple-dipped into his vault and produced a third version of his critically maligned film. The introduction was a nice touch, but not the only supplement found on the first disc. Two commentary tracks spread over both discs. The first, Commentary by Oliver Stone is a brand new commentary for the new high definition releases of his film. Stone had recorded commentary tracks for the previous versions of the film, but he shows his support for his film by providing a very strong and entertaining commentary track for the third version. I found myself listening to much of this commentary and enjoyed his rather candid discussion on the ´flaws´ of the film and reasoning for various versions and cuts. The second Commentary by Historian/Alexander Biographer Robin Lane Fox is another brand new commentary for these new high definition versions, but I could only sit through a few minutes before being turned off by the dry nature of this film. After spending nearly five hours with the film, this was just too much. Fox spends time on the historical accuracies and inaccuracies of the film, but I honestly could only spend about fifteen minutes jumping between different scenes with this commentary on.

The second disc has a handful of features that go further into detail about Stone´s film. Fight Against Time: Oliver Stone´s Alexander (1:16:10) finds Oliver Stone´s son Sean creating a documentary about his father´s filming of this epic telling of an epic historically personality. This is another new feature for the high definition releases and I found Sean Stone´s film about his father to be interesting and fresh. Filmed with a personal video camera, Sean Stone looks at many of the problems that befell the production of the film. He looks at many of the decisions made by his father and how demanding this three continent production was to bring to life. Although Oliver Stone is his father, Sean is not afraid to create an honest look at the production and show his father´s stubbornness and own humanity during this production. I have found a number of video diaries to be dull and ineffective at showing what goes on during a movie shoot, but Sean Stone´s film is a top-notch making of documentary.

The director´s son is featured during a three part look at the making of the film. They may be played separately or together. This documentary uses other footage created by Sean Stone, but nicely bookends the larger documentary already discussed. Pt. 1: Resurrecting Alexander (26:41) finds the younger Stone interviewing his father about the decisions on choosing the Alexander story and the necessary steps to get the project ready for filming. Everything from costumes, to set design to the script are loosely detailed. Pt. 2: Perfect is the Enemy of Good (28:51) is Sean Stone´s look at his father´s fanatical attention to detail and how so many hours are spent just for a few seconds of screen time. Stone is a man who works hard for his visions and this part is a testament to that fact. The third Pt. 3: The Death of Alexander (31:13) looks at the final days of shooting on the film and spends time looking at the historical aspects of the film and problems involved with brining the film to the big screen. They discuss the various delays and how Stone handled each of them. This three part documentary was very good and matched the quality of the first Sean Stone feature contained on the disc. Finally, the Teaser Trailer and Theatrical Trailer are included.

Closing Comments:

"Alexander Revisited" is the third and final version of Oliver Stone´s epic look at one of history´s greatest conquerors. Stone stirred controversy with the homosexual relations that Alexander held and other aspects based upon the historical accuracies of the film. This third version is certainly superior to the theatrical release, but its three and a half hour running time is quite tedious for just one sitting. Stone included an Intermission and that may serve as a good time to break the film down into a two night viewing. Stone wanted to do a DeMille and he succeeded. This is about as epic as a film gets and the sets, scenery and battle sequences are incredible. This heavy film may be hard to sit through because of the amount of story and geography it covers, but in the end, it is worth watching. I could imagine somebody other than Colin Farrell in the starring role, but he helped make the movie happen. This Blu-ray release features supplements only available on the two high definition formats (Blu-ray and HD-DVD) and includes nearly two hours of other supplements that make this a very nice two-disc set. The video quality is among the best titles yet released and although the soundtrack is not next-gen, it is very good. This is definitely a top quality release on Blu-ray and in high definition, "Alexander" may have finally found some redemption for Oliver Stone.

---

Connect to Facebook/Twitter, recommend via email and much more.

---