The Alamo (2004)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

John Lee Hancock

Writers (WGA):

Leslie Bohem (written by) and
Stephen Gaghan (written by) ...

Release Date:

9 April 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | War | Western

Tagline:

You will never forget

Plot:

Based on the 1836 standoff between a group of Texan and Tejano men, led by Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie, and Mexican dictator Santa Anna's forces at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas.

Plot Keywords:

Texas | Alamo | Davy Crockett | Siege | Sam Houston

Awards:

1 nomination

US TV Schedule:

Thur. July 23

7:45 AM

AMC

Cast

Dennis Quaid	...	Sam Houston
Billy Bob Thornton	...	Davy Crockett
Jason Patric	...	James Bowie
Patrick Wilson	...	William Travis
Emilio Echevarría	...	Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana
Jordi Mollà	...	Juan Seguin
Leon Rippy	...	Sgt. William Ward
Tom Davidson	...	Colonel Green Jameson
Marc Blucas	...	James Bonham
Robert Prentiss	...	Albert Grimes
Kevin Page	...	Micajah Autry
Joe Stevens	...	Mial Scurlock
Stephen Bruton	...	Captain Almeron Dickinson
Laura Clifton	...	Susanna Dickinson
Ricardo Chavira	...	Private Gregorio Esparza (as Ricardo S. Chavira)

Also Known As:

The Alamo (Philippines: English title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sustained intense battle sequences.

Runtime:

137 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS-ES | Dolby Digital EX | SDDS

Certification:

Netherlands:12 | Germany:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Finland:K-11 | Iceland:12 | Ireland:12 | Italy:T | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | UK:12A | USA:PG-13 (certificate #40620) | Norway:15

Filming Locations:

Texas, USA

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivia:

Ethan Hawke was up for the role of William Barett Travis but eventually dropped out.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Jim Bowie returns to his home in San Antonio, he enters the courtyard and stands for a moment. While standing there a light turns on illuminating part of the back wall.

Quotes:

James Bowie: [about Crockett's coonskin cap] What happened to your cap? Crawl away?
Davy Crockett: No, I only wear it when it's extra cold. The truth is, I only started wearing that thing... because of that fella in that play they did about me. People expect things.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Alamo Documentary (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

Opus 76-5 -- String Quartet No. 79 in D Major Final Presto

Flawed but Entertaining Epic...

John Lee Hancock's THE ALAMO is often sluggish, mired in his effort to provide 'detail' in an attempt at honesty, and it is nearly 90 minutes before action fans get their money's worth (and they do; the Alamo's siege and 'last stand' are mesmerizing), but all that being said, the film is a remarkable re-evaluation of one of America's best-known legends.

While each of the story's principals (David Crockett, James Bowie, William Barret Travis, Sam Houston, and Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana) are de-mythologized, it is Crockett (brilliantly conceived by Billy Bob Thornton) who captures and holds your attention. Neither the folksy backwoodsman (as portrayed previously by Fess Parker and Arthur Hunnicutt), nor the hero answering an oppressed people's call for help (John Wayne's 'take' on Crockett), Thornton's Crockett is a well-dressed country 'sophisticate', who plays the violin and the political game in Washington very well. As the film opens, he attends a Washington production of "The Lion of the West", based on his fictional exploits, with a leading man dressed in what we today consider the 'Official Crockett Uniform' of buckskins and a coonskin cap. The character on stage, and the legends surrounding him which would ultimately incorporate the Alamo as it's final act, is the 'DAVY Crockett' we all know, but the 'real' David Crockett, according to Hancock, is an opportunist who sees political rebirth in Texas, and arrives hoping the battle is already over. Thornton is masterful, showing Crockett's ambition, his fear of having to 'live up' to the legends surrounding him, and his gradual emergence into a true hero, who would defy Santa Ana with his last breath.

The other leads aren't given as much screen time for character development, with the exception of Dennis Quaid's Sam Houston, a heavy-drinking pragmatist with a political agenda and ambitions of his own. Patrick Wilson's Travis is a failure as a father and husband, hoping to rebuild his life and reputation in Texas; Jason Patric's Bowie is a glowering, unsavory adventurer/businessman, involved in slave trafficking, and terminally ill during the siege (Hooker does, however, bow to legend, allowing the dying Bowie a chance to fire his pistols at the Mexicans before being overwhelmed). Emilio Echevarría, the first Mexican to ever play Santa Ana in an American film, has gotten bad press for his portrayal of the leader as a loud-mouthed, insensitive, lecherous egotist, but from all accounts, that WAS what the real Santa Ana was like.

While the slow pacing of most of the film is a problem, the film's final half hour appears rushed, as the Alamo's fall jumps quickly into Sam Houston's victory over Santa Ana, at San Jacinto (an event that occurred after a momentous six weeks of defeat and tragedy barely touched upon by Hancock). While it is understandable that the film makers wanted an 'upbeat' ending, it comes across as jarring, nonetheless.

If you like your heroes and history 'bigger than life', the 2004 ALAMO will disappoint, and you should stick to John Wayne's version. If, however, you want a new perspective, and are willing to dispense with the preconceptions of the past, this film has a LOT to offer!