Alexander Revisited – The Final Cut (HD-DVD)

 

Picture: A-     Sound: B+     Extras: C+     Film: C+

 

 

A few months ago, we looked at Oliver Stone’s extended Final Cut of his box office failure Alexander, as you can read at this link:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5065/Alexander+Revisited+–+The+Final+Cut:+Two-Disc+Special+Edition+(Widescreen/DVD-Video)

 

 

Now, with a new featurette extra directed by his son Sean called Fight Against Time (running over 76 minutes), new audio commentary by Stone, new audio commentary by Alexander expert Robin Lane Fox (both exclusively for the HD-DVD), 4 minutes on Vangelis’ score, original teaser and original trailer, it is richer in extras.  It should be noted that early press copies of the DVD did not have the Sean Stone material, but final discs apparently did.

 

Warner has issued the film in an HD-DVD set that enhances the film more, if not improving it any.  But the playback is improved.

 

The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image is very impressive despite the use of digital CG visual effects throughout.  The DVD looked very good, so it is no surprise that this is disc offers solid HD presentation.  The Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 mix is better enough than the standard DVD to impress and has more impact in this next-level upgrade than expected.  Makes one wonder how this would have been in Dolby TrueHD or DTS MA.  That is more than enough to make this demo material, even if you do not land up liking the film.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo