Alexander: Making of a God

[Pinarius]

“ALEXANDER: THE MAKING OF A GOD” is set to premiere on January 31, 2024, according to the streaming platform’s official announcement.

Much of the filming took place in September 2022 in Morocco. The actors are Mido Hamada, who will play the King Darius, while Buck Braithwaite will play Alexander the Great.

https://greekcitytimes.com/2023/12/1...king-of-a-god/

[Roma_Victrix]

LOL. I thought Mido Hamada was some Japanese name until I looked up the actor and he's just a German national of Egyptian descent. So not terrible.

I've never heard of this English actor Buck Braithwaite, but the guy is such an unknown that he doesn't have a Wikipedia page, and his IMDB page looks pretty light. Gonna reserve judgment on whether or not he will do a good or bad job, because I know literally nothing about him and have never seen him act before.

I do know this, though: Netflix is horrible at making historical series, having a proven track record in that department. My expectations remain low if not at zero percent for this being a decent show, regardless of the acting talent or production values. For that matter the production values look like crap if that's their interpretation of the armor of a Macedonian monarch. LOL. It looks like he stepped off the set of The Scorpion King with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

[Kyriakos]

Tbh at least Alexander isn't black

[mishkin]

or Irish.

[Kyriakos]

The Alexander movie was generally meh, but the battles looked impressive
The storyline... was on the trivial side of things imo. It could have benefited from the pomp of the Alexander romances.

[Roma_Victrix]

Agreed about Oliver Stone's Alexander, although I feel as though critics trash the movie too hard when it was in many respects an okay film.

In terms of historical dramas taking place in ancient times, I thought Netflix's first season of Barbarians was flawed but okay (Romans speaking Latin was a plus). However, the second season was pure garbage and I couldn't even make it past the halfway point. LOL. WTF were they thinking trying to shoehorn in some Carthaginian woman who was somehow immortal? She claimed to have survived the siege of Carthage, but that was in 146 BC; the story of Arminius takes place in first two decades of the 1st century AD. That's like having some Union or Confederate veteran soldier walking around Washington, DC in the year 2020 talking about how they survived the American Civil War. LOL.

All the more reason to have the lowest of expectations for this series.

[mishkin]

I seriously don't know why you expect historical rigor from films. whether they are eminently commercial products or the works of "serious" directors. I understand that it may be a plus for people with an interest in history, but they are not documentaries or works with educational objectives, they are basically stories based on a time with characters and stories that may be familiar to us. It's like complaining that in a neoclassical portrait people are dressed in Renaissance fashion (it's just an example, you know what I mean) or that in that Woody Allen movie set in the Napoleonic Wars he appears with his bottle-bottom glasses. Or like complaining about the appearance given to gladiators in current series (not a gram of fat in the protagonists) and that the women seem exquisitely clean when they would surely seem like sluts with half of their teeth rotten and manes coming out from under their armpits

Directors aren't saying "this was like that"... unless they do. (eg the mentioned Barbarians IIRC)

[alhoon]

I seriously don't know why you expect historical rigor from films.

This is supposed to be a docu-series. It is supposed to be educational and close to history. It won't be, we know it won't be.

[mishkin]

low expectations, perfect attitude

[Halie Satanus]

Hmm... None of the named actors, show runner or the director have 'Alexander: The Making of a God' listed as upcoming projects (on IMDB). Netflix have no adverts for it. The 'trailers' that do exist, on YT, are scenes from 'Gods Of Egypt' with overdubbed robot narration.

The four preview images, are suspicious.

However, on the IMDB page for the show, among the cast and crew, a number of production crew are listed as 'in production' having worked on 1 episode, including 'Tom Whitehouse Concept Artist' - Maybe it's something in the works.

But, it looks like a fake announcement.

[AqD]

It'd be good as long as they portray everyone riding ponies not giant modern horses.

But did they pick the right person? He should be 160 max.

[Laser101]

It'd be good as long as they portray everyone riding ponies not giant modern horses.

But did they pick the right person? He should be 160 max.

Didn't they have bigger war horses by this point? Alexander wasn't a steppe nomad.

[NorthernXY]

Yes, but not the size of horses of the middle ages. Wasn't Thessalian horses some of the largest and fastest at this point in history?

[Laser101]

Yes, but not the size of horses of the middle ages. Wasn't Thessalian horses some of the largest and fastest at this point in history?

I think the largest horse breed of antiquity was the Nisean horse.

The reference to ponies made it sound like the Macedonians should be using Steppe ponies or similar (rather than larger stall-fed horses), which would not be correct.

[Kyriakos]

On that subject, there is the famous war "for the heavenly horses", so one has to suppose the horses here were more majestic than in central Asia/China

[AqD]

I think the largest horse breed of antiquity was the Nisean horse.

The reference to ponies made it sound like the Macedonians should be using Steppe ponies or similar (rather than larger stall-fed horses), which would not be correct.

steppe ponies weren't considered ponies in the beginning, relatively.

Are there any actual-size depictions? It's in Greek convention that a cavalryman should be able to mount his horse during combat without any assistance. I imagine their horses hadn't grown too tall.


Either way it'd be really lovely if they show companions as pony riding midgets.

[Laser101]

steppe ponies weren't considered ponies in the beginning, relatively.

AFAIK Steppe horses were generally smaller than those used in agrarian societies because they had to be able to subsist entirely on grass rather than grain.

Are there any actual-size depictions? It's in Greek convention that a cavalryman should be able to mount his horse during combat without any assistance. I imagine their horses hadn't grown too tall.


Either way it'd be really lovely if they show companions as pony riding midgets.

Were horses in ancient Greece smaller than medieval ones? I remember reading that William the Conqueror (I think) was known for being able to jump on his horse in full armour, which presumably was unusual. Otherwise I have no idea.

[alhoon]

Yeah, if the size of the horses is the main issue with the historical accuracy of these series, I would be glad.

[Kyriakos]

If they don't have the budget to even pretend they can rival the movie's battle scenes, why is this show a thing?
I fear it can be a disaster of Troy tv show proportions.

[conon394]

Were horses in ancient Greece smaller than medieval ones? I remember reading that William the Conqueror (I think) was known for being able to jump on his horse in full armour, which presumably was unusual. Otherwise I have no idea.

Yes the development of the cold blooded horse admixture had not become a thing until possibly later in Roman times and into the Medieval world. Skeletal evidence from Classical Greece is limited - like really limited. But 13-14 hands seems to have been typical. That puts them at the size of my Mustang mare - but she would be too stocky in build. Arabs in the 14-15 hand category would likely be the best fit if you wanted an accurate look (maybe a Barb) but over 15 hands would be unrealistic. I could not jump on my mustang but using her mane I could jump and pull myself up and mount bare back sans stirrups at 5' 11", but than so could my wife a life long rider at only 5'3" (it looks a bit awkward). My other horse was big over 16 and a half hand Jumper and I learned to ride a frisson/thoroughbred cross who was over 17 hands (*). No way I getting on those boys sans a fence or stirrups (**). But William would not have that big of a horse either. Also I wonder what they mean by jump. You can do looking cool - that is grasp the reins and some mane on one hand and jump and swing your self up and over into a riding position from the get go. Less cool is just heaving yourself up and across the horse's back (that is perpendicular to the horse's length axis) and sorta squirm about till you change direction and can sit up. I strongly advise neither with a horse that is not familiar with you trying and also not used to bareback/pad only riding.

* and a keen lesson in why knights had a riding horse and were not spending all day on their war horse (per Hollywood) . Thing is gait was bloody uncomfortable and could rattle your teeth loose. Hyped on adrenaline and fear would I feel really safe fighting from the back of sure. Ride him 100 miles to the battle god no.

** Although Pete the jumper was utterly laid back and was content to let me try and fail over and over again as long I kept handing out mint treats.

edit - also technically pony makes people think of miniature horses/ponies. But formally as far I can recollect any horse under 14.5 hands (? it is something more than 14 but I guessing on the fraction) can be called a pony. Although that is US rules may very across the pond or between Europe and the UK