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Alexander, the King of Macedonia and one of the greatest army leaders in the history of warfare, conquers much of the known world.

Conquering ninety percent of the known world by the age of twenty-five, Alexander the Great (Colin Farrell) led his armies through twenty-two thousand miles of sieges and conquests in just eight years. Coming out of tiny Macedonia, Alexander led his armies against the mighty Persian Empire, drove west to Egypt, and finally made his way east to India. This movie concentrated on those eight years of battles, as well as his relationship with his boyhood friend and battle mate, Hephaistion (Jared Leto). Alexander died young, of illness, at the age of thirty-two. Alexander's conquests paved the way for the spread of Greek culture (facilitating the spread of Christianity centuries later), and removed many of the obstacles that might have prevented the expansion of the Roman Empire. In other words, the world we know today might never have been if not for Alexander's bloody, yet unifying, conquest.—austin4577@aol.com

This movie traces the short, but adventurous life of the Macedonian conqueror, Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.) (Colin Farrell), who conquered almost the entire known world of his era. From his childhood as the son of King Philip II (Val Kilmer), to ascending the throne at age twenty in 336 B.C. upon his father's murder, and starting in 334 B.C., Alexander crossed into Asia on his eleven-year conquest of the known world. From his conquests of Egypt, to battles with the Persians and the capture of Babylon, operations near Maracanda and in Afghanistan, and pushing all the way to India where he reigned unchallenged before his sudden death at the age of thirty-two. Though Alexander made use of the well-oiled army created by his father, he pushed the limits of Macedonian and Greek power to levels of which King Philip II (Val Kilmer) could not have dreamed.

Historical, glamorous biopic (with mystical and religious elements) about the life of famous Macedonian ruler and conqueror Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.) (Colin Farrell), mainly concentrating on his youth and his conquering of Persia and India. The son of Macedonian King Phillip II (Val Kilmer) and his wife Olympias (Angelina Jolie) became King when he was twenty-years-old and died at the age of thirty-two, by this time having conquered ninety percent of the world as it was explored by the time he lived, ruling over parts of three continents and several countries.—smoothhoney1265

The story begins around 285 BC, with Ptolemy I Soter (Anthony Hopkins), who narrates throughout the film. Ptolemy narrates that history made Alexander better than he was. The Persians ruled to the East. Greece was in decline and the Persians bribed Greek kings to fight as mercenaries in their army. King Phillip changed this by uniting Greece under a single King. He built a professional army. The Persians assassinated Phillip, and Alexander came to power. Alexander wanted revenge and conquered all cities of Western Asia and Egypt, where he crowned as Pharaoh. Finally, Alexander took on the Persian empire with the battle at Babylon.

In 334 BC, 45,000 Greeks against 100,000 Persians led by King Darius. Hephaestion is Alexander's lover. The Persians have cavalry and chariots, which Alexander counters with legions of phalanxes. Alexander is a skill-full commander in battle. He opens up a hole in the Darius lines by luring one part of his army by offering himself as the bait. The Greek army attacks into the hole, and Alexander almost kills Darius, forcing him to withdraw from the battlefield. Persian empire was destroyed and at the age of 25, Alexander was the King of all.

Alexander (Colin Farrell) grows up with his mother Olympias (Angelina Jolie) and his tutor Aristotle (Christopher Plummer), where he finds interest in love, honor, music, exploration, poetry and military combat. Olympias was a sorcerers and Alexander was considered by some to be a son of Zeus. Philip hated Olympias, who never let Philip touch her. Hephaestion & Alexander trained together. Aristotle teaches Alexander that a gay relationship is not natural. Men can be friends. A Man cannot love a woman as she is purely driven by passion. These ideas were taught to him in childhood. Aristotle showed him the way to India and back to Greece. But he also warns that the East has a way of swallowing men's dreams and lives. Which is why Greece has never conquered the East yet.

His relationship with his father, Philip II (Val Kilmer) of Macedon, is destroyed when Philip marries Attalus's (Nick Dunning) niece, Eurydice (Marie Meyer). Olympia tells Alexander that the son of Philip and Eurydice will be a pure Macedonian, unlike Alexander, and hence will have first right to the throne. Olympia wants Alexander to marry a Macedonian, or declare civil war against Philip. Alexander calls her mad. She tries to convince Alexander that Zeus is his real father and Philip never wanted him. Alexander insults Philip after disowning Attalus as his kinsman (Attalus had toasted Eurydice as the legit queen and her future sons as the legit Macedonian sons at Philip's wedding), which results in Alexander's banishment from Philip's palace.

After Philip is assassinated in 336 BC, Alexander is proclaimed the King of Macedonia in the ensuing chaos. His supporters move quickly, take advantage of the public mood and crown him King, even though Eurydice had a son. Alexander suspects Olympia of being behind the assassination. That was the last time Alexander saw Olympia. He had Attlus, Eurydice and her son killed. Ptolemy mentions Alexander's punitive campaign in which he razes Thebes, also referring to the later burning of Persepolis, then gives an overview of Alexander's west-Persian campaign, including his declaration as the son of Zeus by the Oracle of Amun at Siwa Oasis, his great battle against the Persian Emperor Darius III (Raz Degan) in the Battle of Gaugamela, and his eight-year campaign across Asia.

Back in the present, Alexander enters the rich city of Babylon. Alexander meets Bagoas in Babylon and is attracted to him. He treats Darius's queen with respect and grants her the status of his own family. Olympia wants to be brought to Babylon as Queen, but Alexander is not too keen on it. Alexander continues to chase Darius across Persia in 329 BC, and finds his dead body at a riverbed where Darius had been betrayed by his own commanders. Alexander then chased the commanders until he killed them all. All cities that stood in his way were burnt down and destroyed. He marries a commoner from Bactria, a woman of no political significance. The woman was Roxana.

After 7 long yrs away from Macedonia, Alexander's commanders don't understand what they are doing so far away from home, building roads and cities for barbarians. Alexander seeks an Asian empire with him as king. They are upset with Alexander marrying Roxana and want a Macedonian heir. The commanders can see that Alexander lusts for war.

Also seen are Alexander's private relationships with his childhood friend Hephaestion (Jared Leto), Bagoas (Francisco Bosch), and later his wife, Roxana (Rosario Dawson). Hephaestion compares Alexander to Achilles, to which Alexander replies that Hephaestion must be his Patroclus (Achilles' lover). When Hephaestion mentions that Patroclus died first, Alexander pledges that, if Hephaestion should die first, he will follow him into the afterlife (as Achilles had done for Patroclus). Hephaestion shows extensive jealousy when he sees Alexander with Roxana, and deep sadness when he marries her. Roxana sees Alexander embracing Hephaestion and does not trust him. Olympia warns Alexander not to chase his dreams further east and asks him to return to Babylon or Macedonia to strengthen the empire. Philotas (Joseph Morgan) is found guilty to be leading a conspiracy against Alexander and is executed after trial. Alexander orders his loyal father Parmenion (John Kavanagh) to be executed as well, as Parmenion was in charge of guarding his supply lines to the East. Alexander is shown to sleep with Bagoas.

Alexander marches his army of 150,000 soldiers through the passes of Hindu Kush into the promised lands of India. Roxana bore no sons even after 2 yrs of marriage. He reaches India in 327 BC. He finds monkeys, sadhus, rain and forests. He found no gold. The army became restless as even conquered lands were returned to their kings to make them allies. Hephaestion attempts to keep Roxana away from him after Alexander murders Cleitus the Black (Gary Stretch) in India. Cleitus got drunk and started by saying that he wanted to be back in Macedonia. He then insulted Alexander by calling him a lesser King to previous Greeks. He then insults his love for Asia and the barbarians, a woman who cant bear sons. He calls him the son of Zeus, and thus a bastard of Philip and thus his mother a whore. At this point an enraged Alexander kills Cleitus. Cleitus was a trusted general of Philip.

After initial objection from his soldiers (40,000 had died in the quest to the East), Alexander convinces them (Alexander killed the commanders of the mutiny and this divided his army) to join him in his final and bloodiest battle, the Battle of Hydaspes against Porus. Porus deploys an army of elephants that trample the core of Alexander's army. Alexander personally leads a charge to rally his troops against the enemy. He is severely injured with an arrow but survives and is celebrated. Alexander orders a return back to Macedonia. Alexander chose the shortest route back through the Arabian desert. This was the worst blunder of his life and many more thousands died on the way back. Back home, he took 2 more wives. Alexander's army was made of Persians and Macedonians. His generals questioned his every decision. While his regional Satraps had dubious loyalties. He orders the construction of Alexandria.

Later on, Hephaestion succumbs to an unknown illness either by chance or perhaps poison, speculated in the film to be typhus carried with him from India. Alexander, full of grief and anger, distances himself from his wife, despite her pregnancy, believing that she has killed Hephaestion. He dies less than three months after Hephaestion, in the same manner, keeping his promise that he would follow him. On his deathbed, Bagoas grieves as Alexander's generals begin to split up his kingdom and fight over the ownership of his body. He died on 10th June, 323 BC in Babylon. He was 33 yrs old. Within 40 yrs, the empire was split into 4 parts. Cassander (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) kills Olympias 7 yrs after his death. He then executes Roxana and her 13 yr old son, 6 yrs after that.. Alexander's bloodline was finished.

The story then returns to 285 BC, where Ptolemy admits to his scribe that he, along with all the other officers, had indeed poisoned Alexander just to spare themselves from any future conquests or consequences (mixed races with the Asians). However, he has it recorded that Alexander died due to illness compounding his overall weakened condition. He then goes on to end his memoirs with praise to Alexander.

The movie then ends with the note that Ptolemy's memoirs of Alexander were eventually burned, lost forever with the Library of Alexandria.