Is Oliver Stone's Alexander worth a watch?

[PainInTheAssInternet]

No. We watched it at university for a class on Classical history and archaeology. Laughs were had, but we had to keep talking to each other about the strangeness of it to prevent ourselves from getting bored to tears. What I remember of it is a very sensual Angelina Jolie talking to her son in what sounded like a Russian accent. Anthony Hopkins also shows up with no attempt at all to sound anything other than himself. Strange stylistic choices, such as turning the red filter on for minutes on end. Alexander being portrayed as a world conquerer who cried a lot. I do mean a lot. Stuff like that is what I remember.

Beyond the strangeness of the execution, I can't remember much about how accurate it was. It was supposed to be an examination of how history is portrayed in movies, especially ones that claim historical accuracy, but even the prof joined in on what was an extended piss-take. If I were to try doing it again, I'd examine the Director's Cut of Kingdom of Heaven or something like that.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

No. We watched it at university for a class on Classical history and archaeology. Laughs were had, but we had to keep talking to each other about the strangeness of it to prevent ourselves from getting bored to tears. What I remember of it is a very sensual Angelina Jolie talking to her son in what sounded like a Russian accent. Anthony Hopkins also shows up with no attempt at all to sound anything other than himself. Strange stylistic choices, such as turning the red filter on for minutes on end. Alexander being portrayed as a world conquerer who cried a lot. I do mean a lot. Stuff like that is what I remember.

Beyond the strangeness of the execution, I can't remember much about how accurate it was. It was supposed to be an examination of how history is portrayed in movies, especially ones that claim historical accuracy, but even the prof joined in on what was an extended piss-take. If I were to try doing it again, I'd examine the Director's Cut of Kingdom of Heaven or something like that.

You are late to the party that was this thread my freind

Seen it already, somewhat warm to it, but still recognize the issues with the movie and think that mabye Olvier Stone was not cut out for this kind of genre of story and moviemaking.

He's more in his element when making movies in a modern 20th/21st century United States background despite whatever historical inaccuracies they might have.

The movie did inspire me to play Rome II Total War however by making Custom battles based on the battles in the film.

 

[SckizoBoy]

The movie did inspire me to play Rome II Total War however by making Custom battles based on the battles in the film.

How did that compare with R:TW's Alexander scenario battles?

In all honesty, I dislike the way the scenario battles are done (not the dev's fault, 'cos there's only so much human psych/historicity they can stick into a representative battle consisting of upwards of 2500 elements) because of the fundamental differences in AI behaviour vs realistic tactical acumen, the impact of battlefield scale, combat duration, troop numbers and the need to remove binary effects from morale. Hence, completely custom battles with little or no link to historic analogues tends to be a better experience.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

The movie did inspire me to play Rome II Total War however by making Custom battles based on the battles in the film.

How did that compare with R:TW's Alexander scenario battles?

In all honesty, I dislike the way the scenario battles are done (not the dev's fault, 'cos there's only so much human psych/historicity they can stick into a representative battle consisting of upwards of 2500 elements) because of the fundamental differences in AI behaviour vs realistic tactical acumen, the impact of battlefield scale, combat duration, troop numbers and the need to remove binary effects from morale. Hence, completely custom battles with little or no link to historic analogues tends to be a better experience.

Sadly I don't own Rome 1: Total War so I don't know how the Historical Battles are.

Rome 2's on ther other, the Battle of Alesia is now impossible to win because the never update it properly as the patches came out. Basically the Gauls never break or die fast enough and are very tanky, and since they come in massive numbers, you will get overwhelmed.

No idea how the rest of the Historical Battles are like in Rome 2 as of its current version with Rise of the Republic.

 

[SckizoBoy]

Sadly I don't own Rome 1: Total War so I don't know how the Historical Battles are.

Pity, I'd recommend getting it, though (perma-cheap on Steam) if only because of the mod-library. A suitably modded Rome: Total War is probably one of the best strategy games ever, and based on what people have said, Rome: Total Realism & Europa Barbarorum is a lot better (& balanced) than Rome 2 (though it doesn't have any historical scenarios, but as stated, I don't place much stock in them anyway). EB2 is available, too, but it's a mod of Medieval 2: TW, not Rome (though it reverts to the Rome setting, it uses M2's graphical assets).

Rome 2's on ther other, the Battle of Alesia is now impossible to win because the never update it properly as the patches came out. Basically the Gauls never break or die fast enough and are very tanky, and since they come in massive numbers, you will get overwhelmed.

No idea how the rest of the Historical Battles are like in Rome 2 as of its current version with Rise of the Republic.

I've not played Rome 2 owing to how badly its initial release was received, and at the time, I didn't have a rig powerful enough to run it (my old machine kinda chugged on Shogun 2), and because of the drip-fed add-ons, though I really dug the look of it (yes, it's very pretty) reported gameplay issues discouraged me from ever getting it. :/