Ancient Historian Reacts To The 'Alexander' Movie | Deep Dives | History Hit 

Harsh title, man. Don't be so hard on yourself; you're not THAT old.

I worked on Alexander, Alexander was the best job I'd ever had and it paid so fkn well too, it was a joy. Last year I worked on Gladiator 2, you'll see it when you see it, I dont expect great things from it. What did I do, I made all the crest plumes, everyone of them, every plume, Colin Farrell's and all the background artists plumes were made by me and my workers. That is our speciality at The Plumery.

I may have a million other things to do, but when Tristan Hughes comes on talking about a historic movie I simply have to put everything on hold and watch. Loved it.

One 40 min episode of History Hit is more informative and engaging than 6 episodes of Netflix drama.

Alexander 2004, is one of my all time favorite historic movies. I specially like the longest version "Alexander. The final cut". This movie really portrays greatly the greatness of Alexander, but also his flaws at times. Its a real gem, one of a kind movie.

I worked with Capt. Dale Dye on a recent project. He was the military advisor on Alexander too. He told me that before this movie the accepted wisdom was that an assempled Macedonian phalanx could only move forward and backwards. He was able to show that they could do much more and pivot successfully, and that academics from across the world flew out to see how it actually could be done, in awe at the revelation.

When this film was being made I don't think they realized how little history was being taught in public schools in the USA. When the audience doesn't know ANYTHING about the events being retold it important to lay the scenes out chronologically.

Siege of Tyre can be a movie in itself

Alexander like Napoleon and Julius Caesar is one of those legendary figures from history who would need a 10 hour film to do justice to his deeds. No film maker could do that and no public audience would go and see it.

The Music in this movie is insanely good.

There is a lot Ridley Scott with his Napoleon movie could have learned from this Oliver Stone Alexander classic movie.

Re the red colour at the final battle of the Hydaspes it’s symbolising the immense bloody career of Alexander now coming to its climax where Alexander and his men can go no further. Alexander being wounded his final on screen wound. His beloved Bucephalus dying just as Alexander’s dream of conquering the whole Eastern world is dying. It’s a visual metaphor. I know it’s not accurate but I think the director just wanted to show Alexander and his men had reached their limit. Even Alexander despite his legendary status in his own lifetime could not conquer all.

Finally someone gets the dialects right. When this came out I heard so many total idiots criticise the film for the accents thinking they were smart when it didn’t take a genius to work out what Stone’s point was ie when all characters are going to speak English the accent would denote their class within the Greek empire

Four versions of the film exist, the initial theatrical cut and three home video director's cuts: the "Director's Cut" in 2005, the "Final Cut" in 2007, and the "Ultimate Cut" in 2014. The two earlier DVD versions of Alexander ("director's cut" version and the theatrical version) sold over 3.5 million copies in the United States. Oliver Stone's third version, Alexander Revisited: The Final Cut (2007), sold nearly a million copies and became one of the highest-selling catalog items from Warner Bros (as of 2012).

One of my favourite movies. I know it has lots of issues, but I love it.

I tuned in and only really planned to watch 10 mins or so, but ended up watching the whole thing!😂 I absolutely love the history, it was much more entertaining for me than the actual film. Thank you!

36:53 , Fun fact, When I was 10 years old I cut my wrist to the bone on a glass window, and for a few seconds as result of the shock, everything around me was coloured red while instinct and adrenaline took complete control over my body. That is also why that particular scene and this movie in general always resonated with me.

You forgot to mention, that famous line that was asked by Alexander to Stateira was actually a dialogue between Alexander and Porus.

Vangelis’ score is awesome!!!

One of my favourite films of antiquity. Fantastic battles and grand scenes. Sterling cast and great director. Vastly underrated imo

The wars of the diadochi are a fascinating story in themselves. I can't believe hollywood hasn't touched it, a good 5 epics at a minimum. Ptolemy did well to outwit Perdiccas in the battle to bury Alexander -- thereby soldifying legitimacy in Egypt. His descendant would go on to attain a historical lehacy of her own; mingling with the likes of Julius Caesar, Mark Antony & Pompey the Great. The location of Alexander's grave is one of the world's enduring mysteries.

As an avid history enthusiast, I found this Ancient Historian's reaction to the 'Alexander' movie both insightful and captivating. His deep dives into the historical accuracies and inaccuracies shed light on the complexities of portraying such a legendary figure on screen. It's refreshing to see a nuanced analysis that combines scholarly expertise with cinematic appreciation.

I had a hard time assessing this movie. It's greatest strength was it's source, which was Mary Renault's classic trilogy of novels about Alexander. But I think also that there was a problem in doing a single movie out of three novels. They would have done better I think to make three movies (a la the Lord of the Rings), or a Netflix style mini-series. They had to leave out too many things and I think also this led to the confusing jumping backwards and forwards in the timeline of the story, which didn't bother me too much, but would have been totally confusing to anyone who wasn't familiar with the actual history. Renault's second book, for instance, "The Persian Boy", is told from the point of view of Alexander's Persian catamite Bagoas. In the movie Bagoas appears, not as he did in Renault's book (and I think also in the historical record) as part of the booty acquired by Alexander when he found Darius' body, but for some reason in Babylon. But he doesn't make much of an appearance after that. Incidentally, I thought before seeing this movie, back in the day, that the casting of Anglina Jolie as Olympias was inspired. Olympias was only a teenager when Alexander was born and she was supposed to be (and is certainly portrayed by Renault as) beautiful but somewhat unhinged. I was less impressed with Colin Farrell as Alexander. He's a great actor, but I thought they needed someone with more charisma. I remember seeing a movie about Alexander (on TV) that had been made in the 1960s back when I was a kid which cast Richard Burton in the role and, while I wasn't up to judging its historical accuracy at the time, I remember being impressed by Burton's performance. As an aside, while musing on this just now, I tried to imagine who had the charisma to pull of the role today and briefly thought about Brad Pitt. Then I realised what would have happened if anyone tried to cast Brad Pitt as Angelina Jolie's son! The decision to make the Macedonian's speek with an Irish accent, whuile I can see the logic of it, comes up about the innate associations we all have of different accents. Its a bit like when Tony Curtis, in Spartacus, portraying a Greek slave, describes himself as a "singer of songs" with a Brooklyn accent. Finally, I can only hope that someone makes a movie out of Renault's best historical novel, "The Last of the Wine" set in Athens during the Peloponnesian War. The love story at its core between two men would have macde this impossible a few decades ago (or even as recently as when Troy was made with Brad Pitt as Achilles getting all upset about his "young cousin" Patroclus being killed.

my new favorite channel! never realized how fascinating and compelling deep dives into these types of movies are. Great work!!

Wow, that was great. Lots of fascinating insights. Especially liked the comparison made between the horseman v elephant motif on a certain coin and the imagined battle between Alexander and Porus in the film.

Alexander is one of my all time favourite movies but Oliver Stone didn't do himself any favours by releasing 4 cuts of the film. If I recommend it to people there is a good chance they will watch the directos cut or the theatrical. My personal favourite is the 'revisited cut' with the full movie as a whole - there is an intermission in the movie lol. It's so good!

This was nice. I haven’t watched this movie (just not doing the movies lately, I’ve been doing the actual history part), but this review has it on my leisure list

You didn't talk about Alexander's speech to his troops when they want to go home

Everyone pointing out the movie had problems. True. But not since the 50s had a director made a big romance but also a historical accurate (especially the battle at Gaugamela) one about Greeks. It also may be the one case where Oliver Stone's paranoia makes sense.

This was one of the best movies I’ve ever seen in my life. I don’t know why it’s so overlooked and even criticised, as though everyone was a history master. I found it very captivating, historic, alluring and interesting and I liked the performances very much as well, especially that of Colin Farrell. As far as I’m concerned, they did a very good job with this project. I live in a geographic region in the Mediterranean which is amongst some of the many places that the actual Alexander had conquered and spread the Greek civilisation & culture during his times in the fourth century BC. I’ve done my own humble research. I’ve been to museums and sites. Personally I like this movie very much and will say that it’s a classic.

Watch this then the Netflix doc on him and you’ll say “perhaps I judged you too harshly”.

24:04 sorry, I do have to call this out. The Persians did not see their kings as Gods, in no actual Persian source does an Achaemenid King claim divinity, only that their right to rule comes from Ahura Mazda (no different than many monarchs today). The Greeks thought that the Persians did, but only through a cultural misunderstanding due to the Greeks only ever prostrating themselves as an act of worship, as opposed to the Persians who did it as an act of respect to the King of Kings. Ironically the Greeks would be the ones to actually deify one of their rulers, with the Cult of Alexander appearing after his death in Egypt.

Excellent commentary. I appreciate the comparison of the historical records with the film.

The music... just awesome!

Excellent review- a glorious deep dive into history. I'll watch the movie again.

Would love to see Tristan Hughes react to the film Agora.

Wow!.. many thanks for sharing this podcast with us on RU-vid! This podcast will enable me to rewatch this film with a whole new level of understanding and appreciation! If this is not too inappropriate a question, is there a particular version of "Alexander" - of the three (3) that I am aware of - that is more wholly recommended?..

Great vid, great info, cheers.

Not surprised, Oliver stone is a historian, and unappreciated, one of the great American directors. I say this as an Australian, you can see strong patriotism in his movies, only director to get raw emotion out of tom cruise in born on the 4th of July, say it again unappreciated

The director's cut is shorter than the theatrical version isn't? He should have reviewed the Final cut

personally i love the Hydaspes scene. there's such an intense feeling of dread and desperation to it. Colin did a great job of portraying Alexander as almost manic and insane, almost like the situation is going against him and he can't even conceive of a reality which does not serve his wishes. and being Alexander, his response is to make this audacious and impossible charge *directly* at the biggest, scariest obstacle in his path. as far as I know the battle wasn't anything like that, but it's a great scene

Underrated movie in hindsight now. Everyone does videos on RU-vid about this movie all the time.

The number of anecdotes really made a familiar story much more enjoyable.

27:00 I would appreciate if the historian would inform us about, say, Plutarch's opinion of Alexander. Considering he lived 100 years later and wasn't at the scene he's describing.

Your work is excellent sir. Congratulations!

I legitimately would kill to see a limited series about the life of Alexander the Great. Make it only 4 seasons with the final few episodes taking place post Alexander the Great's Death and we see the crumbling of his empire.

The one flaw of this film is the depiction of the Battle of Hydaspes, it's almost portrayed as if the fight was a draw, in reality it was one of Alexander's most LOPSIDED victories in battle since Gaugamela. With between 21,000-23,000 of King Poruses army killed and wounded, and only 980-1,000 Greek casualties on Alexander's side. Alexander's forces slaughtered the Indian army there. FACT.

They gave Olympia a more Russian/Slavic accent to try and show she wasn’t Macedonian she was an Epirote from Epirus.

One of the best historical films ever made in Hollywood, with the best ancient battle ever filmed (Gaugamela), great care in details and setting; but at the same time overshadowed by poor script and character development decisions, added to a rather chaotic way of showing the chronology (especially for the majority of viewers, who have no idea about the life of Alexander the Great). It is without a doubt one of my favorite movies along with Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, The Last Samurai, 300 (although it is the least historical on the list), Braveheart, Saving Private Ryan (Band of Brothers too), Joan of Arc from 1999, the Man in the Iron Mask, Black Hawk Down, Glory, The Thin Red Line, the Patriot, We Were Soldiers, Pearl Harbor, Gettysburg (1993), the Last of the Mohicans, etc.The 90's and the early 2000's were very good in historical films.

I love this Tristan! Took some time out of my day to watch. I personally love ‘Alexander’. I personally prefer the ‘Ultimate Cut’. It’s a fantastic movie that I believe does Alexander justice, even if it does have a lot of flaws. An Oliver Stone Epic!

This is good movie , I remember watch it in 2004 in cinema and fell in love with Colin Farrell and I’m in love with him since then

Love Tristan, check out the ancients podcast, it's amazing. So cool to see him doing a deep dive on movies. He has mentioned a few of these on the podcast.

The Final Cut is the best version! Really is the one you should be reviewing

A little mistake of Tristan. Stageira (Aristotelis's home, is not near Athens, is near Halkidiki, near Thessaloniki and in turn near Pella. But overall great dive into the greatest Greek of all times.

Very good stuff. Just saw the movie for the first time recently

Amazing review. Love this movie.

Nice narration and evaluation about that movie 🎬 its story belonged to a great Alexander .thank you🙏 (History Hit )channel for sharing

Love the directors cuts so much. Cult classics in my book and some of the best representations of ancient history put on 35 mm celluloid film. This was a great video. Thank you.

I’ve heard people shit on this movie for years, even the razzies (however hypocritical and wrong they are usually), yet being reviewed here this look fantastic, critics apparently complained it is too much like a history documentary, well so be it, this is 100x better than the slapped-together Netflix documentary thats for sure, and the fight scenes and landscapes and sets look awe-inspiring. Will have to watch

Best episode ever. Respect.

I enjoyed this so much.

Brilliant!

Nice reaction, but I miss the bit where Alexander's army revolts and doesn't want to follow him into India... a very powerful moment and actually a real moment in his long military campaign

The set pieces in this movie were amazing ill give it that much

Greatest accurate battles brought to screen

If I'm not mistaken Cassander marries Alexander's half sister Thessalonike, and names the city he founded after her. Thessaloniki now is the regional capital of Macedonia in northern Greece.

Excellent video, but I'm biased - I loved the movie, but boy did it get tons of hate since it came out. Cheers!

I honestly loved this film and remember it well. I loved it more than 300. Vangelis’ score. The stories about the gods and Achilles. Aristotle. The young Alexander riding Bucephalus scenes The battles. The fight Alex has with ol’ Philip and Attalus. Angelina as Olympias. How sexy Rosario was in this 😅. 1:19: I don’t mind that. The flashback is a bread and butter technique of cinema and people probably would’ve complained about a linear structure too. 3:52: One of the most epic scenes ever. Those sweeping shots. The focus on tactics. The sarissas. “Zeus be with us!!!!” The whole battle of gaugamela (very unfortunately) was better than any battle in Ridley Scott’s Napoleon.

Historically is quite accurate, with the great exception being Alexander's last moments, but I can understand why they opted for a more... Mythological, almost godlike exit for Alexander because he was treated as a demigod when he was alive. In reality, he gave a very unclear answer because he said "To the best" when he was asked to whom he leaves the throne. Also it is important to mention that Stageira was not near Athens. It was at today's Chalkidiki region. Philip destroyed Stageira when he conquered the area, but rebuilt it later as part of the deal so that Aristotle would come to teach Alexander.

Brilliant !!

Just one small thing I have to tell you I have been at the ruins of Stageira. It is located east of the Chalkidiki Peninsula near Amfipolis. That makes it part of Macedonia at least as a region at the time and today.

That was excellent

It’s hard to understand how people complain about this movie, they just say mistakes and mistakes bla bla… Bro, Colin Farrell performed more than our imagination of Alexander, battle scenes are full of people, not like street fighting. Just respect

That was awesome!! Please give the poor dude some popcorn next time!

Very strange that we know much about Alexander the Great but who his father was has remained a total mystery.

11:17 - Stageira, Aristotle's birthplace, is not near Athens. It is in Macedon, in particular a place called Chalkidiki

Stageira? Near Athens? At the centre of the Hellenic world? Stageira is as far away from Athens as Aegae is. Stageira to Aegae, maybe 100 miles. Stageira to Athens, at least 300 miles. Actually, by road, Aege is closer to Athens than Stageira.

I have one of the helmets used in the film.

Contempt for a world much older than ours. What a statement 👏

"Aristotle came from near Athens a place called Stageira." Riiiight. Well, in actual fact Aristotle indeed came from Stageira which was and still is in Chalkidiki in what is nowdays called Central Macedonia. So yeah, Aristotle was as Macedonian as they get.

I loved the film, it inspired me to read (too!😂) many books about Alexander and historical fiction about him. He was obviously a complex person and a mixture of visionary and homicidal maniac! He was undoubtedly personally very brave and endured many hardships along with his troops. An incredible individual whatever way you view history.

Wish there was a chronological directors cut

Surprising that this Historian says that Stageira, Aristotle's birthplace is near Athens. In reality, Stageira (original: Σταγείρα) is in Macedon, and Aristotle was a Macedonian just like Alexander was. He only came to Athens to study at Plato's "Academia". Other than that, and his mention of the "greek love" (an unhistorical term made up by some tawdry British), he proved to know a thing or two about ancient Greek history, and sketched a rather relaible portrait of the greatest Greek who ever lived.

"... and the gloooooooory of Greece!" ... (notwithstanding the fact that Macedonia was a vassal of Achaemenid Perisa during the big war, and their military assisted the Persians, actually...)

Nice to see them not using stirrups as far as I can tell.

I didn't see any albo-slavic comments claiming that ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ was albanian or west bulgarian slav...yet.. Thank the Gods...

A lot of people would have shaved it off or gone for a combover but you sir are an inspiration to all balding men.

Ptolemy's "I am the last" is just good marketing. No one comes to talk to the "last except for that guy over in Athens. And that fellow in Crete. And that other bloke who I think is in Jerusalem, maybe...." 😆

Actually Aristotle's hometown Stagira is in northern Greece near Thessaloniki not Athens, it was an athenian collony at the time of Pillip tho.

Thank you for this! I don't mind admitting it's one of my favourite movies, and it's a priviledge to see it from a historian's point of view. It gets such a bad rep, and it doesn't deserve most of it. It's not perfect, but many of the actors did a fantastic job (especially Val Kilmer,) and the script is beautiful. It's built up like a greek tragedy, and you can tell how much inspiration it takes from old epics like Lawrence of Arabia. Oliver Stone excels at irreverent biographies, and Alexander certainly wasn't a saint. The recut versions also flow a lot better than the theatrical version did. I truly believe a lot of it was outrage over the suggestion that Alexander wasn't 100% straight. We have to remember this was back in 2004.

What a great movie. And this video just confirmed it to me. I m not a historian (far from it) but I like history and from my knowledge I felt that this movie is so realistic. Of course there are some creative freedoms but the essence and context is almost perfect. I'd note that somewhere I read that lot of ideas of the movie were taken from Mary Renault's books on Alexander so not all credit can go to Oliver Stone.

Id like to see this type of review for Troy.

The crazy thing is Alexander was only 32 when he died! Amazing what he accomplished by then!

When i first watched the movie in theaters i didnt like it, it just felt like it was missing a lot of context, and most of the movie just felt like it was heavily edited, but when i finally watched the directors cut on dvd it completely changed my mind, i loved the directors cut, reminded me of the kingdom of heaven directors cut, finally all the context was there and it felt like a proper historical movie

I liked the movie but i just couldnt follow it as chronologically it was all over the place lol

11:21 Im sorry but Stagira where Aristotle is from is nowhere near Athens, its in Macedonia near the halkidiki peninsula. Just look it up on google maps. I would know since i grew up around there and theres an ongoing archaelogical site there where part of his town remains to this day.

11:21 , Stageira is not ''near Athens'', actually it is closer to Pella(the capital of Macedon) than what it is to Athens or any other well known Greek-city state of the south. Aristotle moved to Athens when he was around 17-18 years old to study at Plato's Academy, so hes accent wouldn't really be that reminiscent of an Athenian. But who knows really considering he did spend a good chunk of his life there, and the rest in other places before finally arriving at Philip's court. But my main complaint is with you mentioning Stageira as near Athens, I can understand you made a mistake, I just wanted to correct it.

It’s hard to cast an Alexander.

Incredible score in this movie

I thought the Battle scenes were reasonably well. Exciting at least!