The “rushed” movie Oliver Stone admitted couldn’t be saved
Over the course of his career, Oliver Stone has somehow managed to garner both acclaim and controversy in comparable measures. On the one hand, Stone’s Platoon is always mentioned in conversations about the greatest war movies ever made, but the American director is also criticised for some of his strange takes on historical and political subjects.
One prime example of the latter is his 1991 biopic about John F. Kennedy and the infamous assassination that permanently changed the course of American history. Even though it became one of the highest-grossing movies of the year, JFK also faced backlash because many claimed that the film championed dangerous conspiracy theories.
These critiques only served to embolden Stone, who returned to historical subjects many times in the years that followed. While some of them fared well, one movie that was widely panned upon release was the Platoon director’s 2004 epic about Alexander the Great, starring the likes of Colin Farrell and Angelina Jolie.
During a conversation with Interview Magazine, the American filmmaker reflected on the project’s initial reception and claimed that the only reason for that was the studio’s interference, which prevented him from releasing the more extensive vision that he had in mind. This was substantiated by the evidence supporting the increase in DVD sales following the release of extended cuts for Alexander.
When asked about it, Stone explained: “One is from 2007, and then the one from 2014. It’s called ‘The Ultimate Cut’. That is the best version, in my opinion. I was unsatisfied with the original theatrical release. It was rushed. It was my fault. I accepted it. I always felt it should have been done the way Tarantino did Kill Bill. I thought we should release this in two parts with an intermission. But at that time, in 2004, it was impossible.”
He added: “I believe in intermissions. I lived through this experience with JFK and Nixon. JFK should have had an intermission. It should have come right after the Donald Sutherland scene because then there’s just too much information flooding in. You need a break. Same on Nixon. It was a long film, but I couldn’t help it, with that kind of subject. I should have really fought for Alexander.”
‘The Ultimate Cut’ was actually the fourth version of the movie that Stone worked on, having spent years trying to find the right iteration that would prove to the world that he was on the right track with Alexander. Despite the obvious flaws of the work, the final edit released by Stone does do a lot of heavy-lifting to offset the inadequacies of the theatrical version that was justifiably lampooned by everyone.
