The Alamo (2004)

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 | Siege | Sam Houston | Davy Crockett

Awards:

1 nomination

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 Houston and his men are charging Santa Anna's army there is a shot of a man being shot and falling to the ground. Midway through his fall the shot cuts to another take and the man jumps from one part of the frame to another and the people in the background change.

Quotes:

Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana: [in Spanish] Move this battery forward!
Mexican Lieutenant: Excelencia, with all due respect for your safety, Davy Crockett is in the Alamo.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Alamo Documentary (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

Lament For The Children

Surprised at the negative reviews

I've rarely been as surprised by the reviews I've read here - or disagreed with them more - than I was for this film. Most of the ones here are negative and call this film boring, poorly done and lacking in character development.

I am very easily bored. At just over 2 hours, I found this film captivating. Poorly done? John Lee Hancock's film is one of the most effectively produced I can remember. Not one moment of this film was shot on a sound stage. They took 50 acres in Texas and actually rebuilt the entire city of San Antonio de Behar and the Alamo and shot the entire movie in situ.

But the most amazing aspect of these reviews is the repeated accusation of lack of character development. I came away from this film understanding for the first time who William Barrett Travis, David Crockett, James Bowie and Sam Houston really were. The human underneath the legend as it were. David Crockett (Billy Bob Thornton) has a great line in this movie: "If it were just me, simple David from Tennessee, I might go over that wall one night and take my chances. But this Davy Crockett feller - people are watching him". Lack of character development? I don't think so.

The piece de resistance, though, and the one that made me take fingers to keys and write this review (something I almost never do) was the review which claims there was no tribute given to Tejano assistance in the Texas Revolution. Did this person see the same film I did? Or did he/she take a bathroom break every time Juan Seguin's character was on screen? The PRIMARY thing I learned from this historically accurate-as-possible-when-making-a-movie film was ... ta da .... the involvement of the Tejanos! I had never really considered before that there was a brother-against-brother aspect to the Alamo, but it was very implicit in this film.

Ignore the negative reviews, particularly if you are a history buff, and see this film.