It should be no surprise that our Slavic friends to the north are coming out of the woodwork to spread their propaganda and claim Alexander as their own, but it does rankle. There are historical inaccuracies in this docu-drama series, but the assertion that Alexander is Greek is not one of them. After all, the Macedonians spoke Greek, worshipped the Greek gods, and spread Greek culture throughout the known world. Alexander's dynasty also claimed descent on his father's side to Hercules and the royal family of Argos (hence Philip and Alexander's royal house was referred to as the Argeads). On his mother's side, Alexander claimed to be descended from Achilles. So, definitely Greek.
As to the production itself, the acting was actually quite well done and the dialogue not bad either (usually both are mediocre at best in these types of productions), although it glosses over Alexander's life, leaving out a lot of important information and life events. It also feels a bit disjointed when the series cuts away to the historians, and although they are certainly knowledgeable, I would have preferred to stick with the drama. As to the historical inaccuracies, I would say that the worst of it involves the costuming - in particular, the Macedonians' battle armor. I did, however, appreciate that the producers attempted to shed some light on Darius and the Persians, and would have appreciated even more of that, given what a rich and advanced culture the Persians had.
In a nutshell, once again I feel as though Alexander's story would be much better served by a multi-season drama series. A two or three hour movie is not sufficient to tell such a grand tale, and the docudrama format is also not the best way to do justice to it either. Give us a great HBO-style three or four-season, 10 episode per season drama series. I guarantee it would be a blockbuster.
As to the production itself, the acting was actually quite well done and the dialogue not bad either (usually both are mediocre at best in these types of productions), although it glosses over Alexander's life, leaving out a lot of important information and life events. It also feels a bit disjointed when the series cuts away to the historians, and although they are certainly knowledgeable, I would have preferred to stick with the drama. As to the historical inaccuracies, I would say that the worst of it involves the costuming - in particular, the Macedonians' battle armor. I did, however, appreciate that the producers attempted to shed some light on Darius and the Persians, and would have appreciated even more of that, given what a rich and advanced culture the Persians had.
In a nutshell, once again I feel as though Alexander's story would be much better served by a multi-season drama series. A two or three hour movie is not sufficient to tell such a grand tale, and the docudrama format is also not the best way to do justice to it either. Give us a great HBO-style three or four-season, 10 episode per season drama series. I guarantee it would be a blockbuster.