Dennis Quaid

Billy Bob Thornton

Jason Patric

Patrick Wilson

Emilio Echevarría

Edwin Hodge

Emily Deschanel

Jordi Mollà

Leon Rippy

Marc Blucas

Robert Prentiss

Kevin Page

Joe Stevens

Stephen Bruton

Laura Clifton

Ricardo Chavira

Steven Chester Prince

Estephania LeBaron

Brandon Smith

Elena Hurst

Rance Howard

Nathan Price

Tom Davidson

Afemo Omilami

John Lee Hancock

Dean Semler

Eric L. Beason

Stephen Gaghan

Todd Hallowell

Carter Burwell

Leslie Bohem

Philip Steuer

Ron Howard

Mark Johnson

Lauren E. Polizzi

Edouard F. Henriques III

Dan Bronson

Mitchell Ray Kenney

Elaine Ramires

Ronna Kress

Dan Webster

Daniel Orlandi

Carla Curry

Michael Corenblith

Randy Severs

Kip Larsen

Phil Neilson

Randall D. Wilkins

Mark O'Kane

Ken Rogerson

James J. Gilson

Deana Newcomb

Ana Martinez

David E. Fluhr

Patrick Thornton

John Roesch

Craig Barron

Al Hobbs

Kenneth Garrett

Jon Johnson

Van Redin

Dewey Rash

Charisse Cardenas

Kevin Cross

Christian P. Minkler

John L. Lewis

Tom Ward

Larz Anderson

Bryan Lawson

C.P. 'Phil' Schriber

Gina Grande

Adam Milo Smalley

Stephany Baskin

Laura Hodges

Jerry Evans

Laura Gary

Yvonne Wilburn

Eric A. Williams

Austin Anderson

Louisa Velis

K.C. Hodenfield

Craig Byrom

Chelsea Carpenter

Mateo Barnstone

Trevor Doyle Nelson

Gloria Ciraolo

Andy deBruyn

Nanrose Buchman

Raul V. Carrera

Anna Abbey

Carol F. Doran

Tony Rivetti Sr.

Kim Santantonio

Brown Cooper

Annette Hoffman

Steve Allen

Erick Garibay

Steve Drake

Chris Silver Finigan

Shane Patrick

Fred L. McLane

Joel Poage

Wendy Bonn

Ross Macdonald

Meg Beatty

Sonny Kompanek

Vern Crofoot

Troy Anderson

John Pritchett

Simon Walton

Roger Basquette

Thomas Real

Mika Saito

Charles Coulter

Lonnie Nelson

Ernie Malik

Monica Zierhut

John Arszyla

Richard E. Chapla Jr.

Kevin Lin

Greg Faucett

Thomas V. Johnson

Jeff Schweikart

History

Drama

The Alamo

Imagine Entertainment

Touchstone Pictures

United States of America

Peter McGinn

Welcome to the murky middle ground where legend and history meet. I enjoyed this movie as an earnest attempt to tell this iconic legend in a slightly different way. Its variance from the legend may make cinema purists uncomfortable, but I have read a lot about the Alamo over the past 40 years and don't feel threatened by it. History, after all, is written by the winners. I think the last scene with Davy Crockett is based on a book by a Mexican soldier, but I am not 100% sure. Some historians suggest the battle was begun while everyone slept and was over in minutes. The first best selling biography of David Crockett (his descendants say he never went by Davy, that that was a Walt Disney concept) may have made up some of the legend now accepted as nearly factual.

I like the line Billy Bob Thornton as David Crockett gives about the burden of being Crockett, the legendary Crockett, that is, rather than the private Crockett he is not allowed to be. It is just as well that the battle turned out to be such a rallying cry for Sam Houston's army, because it doesn't feel like it accomplished much else. Well, except for providing material for an entertaining movie, that is.

Didn't enjoy this.

<em>'The Alamo'</em>, to me at least, is an incredibly slow-paced and rather boring 137 minutes. Not even the free-for-all action sequences bring any true entertainment, due to the chaotic filming nature of them; I get there's supposed to be pandemonium, but the camera work is a mess.

Another negative to note is the score, which is one of the poorest I've heard. It's so soppy and full of itself at times it makes it almost unwatchable, though in fairness isn't helped by the direction. I get they were attempting to show the lives of the people involved, but two-second dialogues and dramatic music doesn't attach you to characters.

The cast don't do anything majorly wrong, but I couldn't find a connection with any of them. Billy Bob Thornton is probably the best in this, as he portrays Davy Crockett. Dennis Quaid doesn't get enough to work with as Sam Houston, while none of the others standout - not even Emilio Echevarría as Santa Anna.

This should be edge-of-your-seat stuff, it isn't - at least for me.

CinemaSerf

Unfortunately, you have to compare this with the John Wayne version from 1960, and it doesn't really hold up very favourably. Patrick Wilson is Colonel Travis trying to command a garrison of Texan freedom fighters holed up in an old Catholic Mission against the overwhelming forces of Mexican General Santa Anna. His task is made the harder by the fact that he is a bit inept, and has some very strong characters to try to lead - not least Davy Crockett (Tommy Lee Jones) and Jim Bowie (Jason Patric). Unlike the earlier version, this story takes us beyond the well told story of the siege, and as such better completes the story of the birth of Texas as an independent state. Better, but as to the acting - well that is all pretty mediocre, sterile even. The dialogue is wordy and lacking in much humour and these undoubted characters are underplayed by all concerned. The production is of an high standard - it looks good, but all told it comes across as a television movie frequently peppered with large scale re-enactments that would not be out of place supporting a country fair.

English

Español