THE ALAMO

"Remember the Alamo!"

General Houston

1836, after an earlier defeat Mexican dictator Santa Ana (Echevarrķa) gathers a bigger army to take back the strategic stronghold, The Alamo. Overly confident after their last victory, a make shift Texican army lead by William Travis (Wilson), backed up a rag-tag militia under the command of legendary knife fighter James Bowie (Patric) are dispatched by General Houston (Quaid) to remove the cannons and bring the remaining troops back. Joined by Davy Crockett (Thornton), they think this an easy mission until the Mexican army arrive.

Epic historical drama with recreations of battles that defined an era have become very common over the past few years, so recreating the last stand at The Alamo must have seems like a good idea. It is just a shame that the studio didn't have the guts to push it as far as they could.

Recreating an epic historical battle for the big screen in modern times means that realism is pushed to the maximum, as the filmmakers take the viewer into the action, as if they where a soldier themselves. The true horror of battle needs to be recreated so that future generations can appreciate the sheer courage and the ultimate sacrifice these people made. War should not be glorified it should be shown as a necessity only in the troubled of times, when liberty and freedom are threatened. The Alamo doesn't really do this.

The decision by financers Disney to reduce the realism of the battle to enable the film to receive a lower classification leads to a movie that suffers from a lack of realism due to the absence of blood or any serious injury been show graphically on screen. Some may argue that gore is not needed to portray the gravity of the battle but when the power of the 18lb cannon only seems to knock the Mexicans over and blow off their hats, realism seems to have taken a back seat. This kind of warfare was extremely bloody but the decision not to show this only degrades the story.

The script is also filled with so many holes that you would think that the writers had turned the cannon on themselves. Many of the characters do not have enough of their backstory explained to do these historical figures justice. The writers seem to assume that the audience already know the history of many of these legendary figures but this assumption produces too many questions for a non-American audience. For example "Why is there tension between William Travis and Jim Bowie?" "Why did Davy Crockett come to the Alamo, as General Houston offered him land just to join him" and "If the Alamo was so important, why didn't Santa Ana leave any troops there after winning the battle?" All these questions and more are completely unanswered.

The cast do there best with the material but only two of them produce really memorable performances. Billy Bob Thornton is tremendous as the legendary Davy Crockett. He plays the part as a man who is struggling to live up to his own reputation. He is a normal man who has been made extraordinary by a play based loosely on his life and everywhere he goes it follows him like a dark, foreboding shadow that he can never loose. Thornton plays this superbly, making Crockett vulnerable, even scared at times but still heroic to the end.

Emilio Echevarrķa is also good as Mexican dictator Santa Ana. He plays the man with a slight hint of madness as he see himself as the Napoleon of the New World but has to surpass French leaders achievements. He is a man who will gain power however many men it costs.

The rest of the cast don't really fair as well. Each of them suffers from vastly underwritten roles that don't reveal enough about the character so that the actor can get to grips with it. Dennis Quaid doesn't have a lot to do as General Houston but give two speeches and utter the immortal line. Jason Patric's Jim Bowie has a few key scenes early on and then spends the rest of the movie in bed ill. Patrick Wilson's William Travis fairs a little better but comes across as an unsure commander who struggled to gain the loyalty of his men. The rest make so little impact that you don't even know their names.

The Alamo is a wasted opportunity that could have brought some realism to the legendary tale. What we have instead is a glossy, Hollywood version that doesn't have the guts to portray the events with any kind of realise.

Will you remember The Alamo? Probably not.

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, the transfer is very good. The grandeur of fabulous sets and the epic spectacle of the battle are brought to life vividly via an excellent quality picture. The sound is also very good, filling the speakers during the battle sequence, engulfing you in a cavalcade of sound.

BONUS FEATURES

Return of the Legend: The Making of the Alamo (18.09 mins)
Director John Lee Hancock, producer Mark Johnson, director of photography Dean Semler, production designer Michael Corenblith, set decorator Carla Curry, costume designer Daniel Orlandi, prop master Don Miloyovich, re-enactment coordinator J.R. Flournoy, armourer Brian F. Maynard, special effects coordinator Larz Anderson and stars Billy Bob Thornton, Dennis Quaid, Jason Patric and Patrick Wilson take you behind the scenes of the making of 'The Alamo'. Showing you the huge set, the costumes and props, the re-enactments, the weapons and the cameras involved in recreating the historic battle, the featurette others a fascinating insight into the making of an historical drama.

Set Tour (4.27 mins)
Take a tour of the 51-acre set that comprises of over 70 buildings. Here we see the attention to detail of both the exteriors and interiors as the production designers tried to accurately recreate The Alamo and the town of San Antonia.

Deleted Scenes (4.59 mins)
With optional commentary by director John Lee Hancock, these four deleted scenes entitled 'Batres meets Tejana', 'A wedding plan', 'Santa Anna marries', and 'A Mexican candle dance' remove a Mexican subplot completely from the movie.

OVERALL

An average film gets an average DVD treatment. The featurette is good, offering a fascinating insight into making of a period film but the absence of a commentary track, especially when the deleted scenes have one, makes this a very average package. Fans will be slightly disappointed but it might be worth a rent for those of you who can't remember The Alamo.

DVD

The Alamo (1960)

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2004