Review of The Alamo (2004) by Oli 9 — 09 Mar 2006

The film does take a good 90 minutes to get to the legendary battle sequences, and Hancock uses his time well to mount a feeling of hopelessness and rapidly-depleting bravery amongst the Alamo's brigade. Fortunately, Hancock isn't one of the growing number of directors who love to suffocate tension through claustrophobic photography. `Alamo' is a wide-open-spaces film, using its big canvas to detail the brutal situation the men faced and the 13 long days it took them to get to history. The drama can get a little pokey from time to time, since there are a great number of characters to tend to, along with the chess-like precision in setting up the spatial relationships inside and outside the Alamo. But as deeply flawed as the film can be from time to time, it's a great evocation of the event, and brings a new perspective to well-known history.

The filmmakers get a little nutty in the final act, which tacks on a `Pearl Harbor' climax that has the film going beyond the Alamo just so it can climax on an American victory. This type of silly ending isn't warranted, and needlessly draws out the film way past its expiration date. The story of `The Alamo' should've just stayed at the Alamo, and let the history books tell the rest of the story ----- 7/10.