DVD Reviews

Alexander the Great (1956)

Epics are a tricky type of film to do well. Dealing with long historic stories can result in truly accomplished films, but more often than not the directors are way out of their league. For every Lawrence of Arabia there are at least 10 Heaven’s Gates. Unfortunately, this latter case appears to represent the result or director Robert Rossen who brings little excitement to the incredible story of Alexander the Great.

Alexander the Great tells the tale of Alexander's reign over Europe and Asia. With such a broad canvas to work from it’s sad that aside from Alexander (Richard Burton) and his father Philip (Fredric Marsh) I can’t recall any other character in this film. The supporting cast exists only to pop up occasionally and provide long-winded speeches. This is the primary form of interaction in the movie and I often felt like I was attending a history lecture. Alexander the Great fails to create an exciting emotional world. It’s hard to care about someone’s death when I’m still trying to figure out who the person is. I could forgive this movie’s fault if there was a lot to look at, but visually the film is bland. Alexander’s empire looks like it has been created on a Hollywood soundstage. The uninvolving camera work makes the most epic of moments feel like they exist in a glorified stage production. Alexander the Great only comes to life during some interesting battle scenes, but these kinetic, albeit short, scenes are not enough to compensate for what has come before.

The only characteristic truly worthy of praise is the performance of Richard Burton. He at least brings a sense of passion to his speeches. It’s a powerful portrayal of the great ruler and I only wish it had been used in a more involving movie.

I was also surprised at how terrible the film looked at many key moments. I know that Alexander the Great is an old movie, but many scenes were very soft and looked particularly jarring next to the crisp images preceding them. Fortunately the audio sounded decent for the most part, although I did notice jarring audio effects during sound transitions. Room tone would change in the middle of conversations creating an audible difference in background noise. It only occurred a few times, so it didn’t distract. As far as special features are concerned the lone theatrical trailer presented is better than nothing.

Review By Corey Brown