Review of The Alamo (2004) by Ale L — 29 Sep 2013

The Alamo oozes with so much uber-patriotic drek it makes The Patriot seem like a sober, objective take on the Revolutionary War. That's not to say this is all bad, though. There should be some admiration for the meticulous detail that went in to re-creating the Alamo and the history of this battle.

I also thought most of the leads, notably Thornton, Wilson & Patric, performed well & delivered interesting roles. Dennis Quaid, as he has since the turn of the century, remained disappointing.

The Alamo is mostly build-up, with the last 20-25 min. or so dedicated to the battle. There seemed to be a decision against glorifying war, but this movie IS about that battle, and what ultimately appeared was a hasty letdown.

There was little drama in the fight to anchor our sentiments to the final fates of Crockett, Bowie and Travis. They fought, they died, the end (except Crockett, who went out screaming as a captive, but you don't see anything after the start of the execution).

It's a thin line, wanting accuracy with entertainment, war without graphic, almost pornographic brutality, but in a war movie there has to be some brutality - heartwrenching to remind us of who fought for what and why, and to remind us of the horrific reality of war.

This movie shows some guys egging on the Mexican army to fight, apparently unaware of the pants-shitting terror to come. But when that terror does come, it's toned way down. Guns fire, people fall, noise, but no blood, no grime, all cut with shots of women crying and a couple men cowering.

Then came that final battle with Gen. Houston. It was even worse than the Alamo because it was more rushed with a minimal amount of thought put in to Houston's strategy to trap Santa Anna. When the moment comes, it happens in a confused rush with a bunch of Texans shooting fleeing Mexicans and a couple of worried faces.

Then, as if the producers realized how long the film was running, they throw in a couple of captions to explain Santa Anna's face. All nicely wrapped up. I'm nerdy enough to say I enjoyed the history lesson leading up to the Alamo battle, and gaining some new understanding of the key players.

It got boring, but held my interest early enough that I couldn't say this is a bad movie. I don't know if The Alamo needed 90+ minutes to explain nearly everything, including the film's hero Travis, before getting to what we all really paid to see.