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Remember the Alamo, but not the movie
by Brandon F (movies profile)
Jul 14, 2005
41
of
71 people found this review helpful
The Alamo, a film by John Lee Hancock, starring Dennis Quaid, Jason Patric, Billy Bob Thorton, and Patrick Wilson has all the ingredients of being the best film of 2004. But alas it is not to be. In November the film recieved negative reviews from a screen test, this screen test gave us a little bit of knowledge on what was to come. So finally, after months of re-editing the film and all the other good stuff the editing room does to a finished film, The Alamo is released in theaters. We can draw a conclusion on this version of that great siege in 1836: Remember the Alamo, but not the movie.
With crappy dialouge that appeal to the history buff instead of the "Entertainmen Factor" (Gods and Generals anyone?) this film turns out to be a sloppy, boring, and unentertaining film that seems to only excite the few that actually are obsessed with this. Now make no mistake, I am an obssesed Civil War buff myself, and appreciate what the men of the past tell us in their own, unique, stories. But what the Alamo lacks is ACTING. Dennis Quaid, Jason Patric, and Patrick Wilson fail in bringing these legendary people to life.
Dennis Quaid (Sam Houston) is really the film's main character, because the director seems to focus more on Houston's army, than it does on the defenders of the Alamo. Jason Patric (Jim Bowie, and a recent jail bird) is to barbaric for his own good, seemingly wanting to kill everyone and everything that crosses him and his trusty knife's path. Now Billy Bob Thorton (Davy Crockett) is the only actor who succeeds in bringing his character to life. He is the only cast member that seems to have gotten the point that this is a movie about ORDINARY men who do not become extraordinary until after their deaths. Patrick Wilson (William Barret Travis) also fails in this respect. He seems stiff and confused in every shot he is in, and fails to recognize that Travis, being from Alabama, had a very thick southern accent. Wilson seems to ignore this fact.
NOW THE STORY LINE. The movie starts out with the Revolution in Texas already well underway. And we spend the first 30 minutes in our seats being introduced to the main players. After that, the film takes us right to the Alamo and within a short time, the siege of the Alamo begins. This siege lasts for about 75 minutes. The last 10 minutes of the siege proves to be an acheivement in cinema. The Mexican Army's final assault on the Alamo is probably some of the best war footage ever brought to the screen, although virtually bloodless, the last 10 minutes of the Battle for the Alamo are striking realistic and very well done. In the end all the defenders die.
Now the story shifts to Dennis Quaid's character, Sam Houston. From there we see the battle that avenges the Alamo and also see the triumphant capture of the "ruthless" Mexican General, Antonio Miguel Lopez de Santa Anna, (played by Emilio Echevarria) the victor of The Alamo.
The Battle Cry during the final battle of the movie is of course one of the most famous cries in history, "REMEMBER THE ALAMO."
This film is a historically acurate depiction of that Great Battle in 1836, but the enjoyment factor is what brings this movie down. The Battle of the Alamo will indeed be long remembered, but this movie will be LONG forgotten before that time.
THE ALAMO (2004)
Buena Visto Films presents
An Imagine-Touchtone Pictures Production
A Film by John Lee Hancock
Dennis Quaid, Jason Patric, Billy Bob Thorton, and Patrick Wilson in...
THE ALAMO
Also starring:
Emilio Echevarria
Jordi Molla
Laura Clifton
Leon Rippy
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