The legendary true story of a small band of soldiers who sacrificed their lives in hopeless combat against a massive army in order to prevent a tyrant from smashing the new Republic of Texas.
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Reviews
r96sk
5
By r96sk
Didn't enjoy this.
'The Alamo', 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 EchevarrÃa as Santa Anna.
This should be edge-of-your-seat stuff, it isn't - at least for me.
CinemaSerf
6
By 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.
