Cheap The Alamo (Widescreen Edition) (DVD) (Dennis Quaid, Billy Bob Thornton, Jason Patric, Emilio Echevarría) (John Lee Hancock) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Alamo (Widescreen Edition)

A Must-See
For an historical film to succeed it must vividly recreate the setting, conditions, people, conflict, and chain of events for its subject. Without question director John Lee Hancock--along with producers Mark Johnson and Ron Howard--meets all criteria with his sweeping film, THE ALOMO. Walking into the theater with less than enthusiastic expectations, along with some disquieting reservations (Billy Bob Thornton as Davy Crockett? Give me a break!), I was immediately impressed with Hancock's unwavering commitment to detail--from a Texan volunteer's marking each day of the siege onto the Alamo's wall with his knife, to the Mexican army's band playing the haunting "Deguello" each night before Santa Anna unleashed his artillery. Such craftmanship enhances the entire viewing experience, and effectively pulls the audience back in time to the winter of 1836, when a foolhardy group of about 180 men held off more than 2,000 Centrist soldiers for days in a tiny compound overlooking San Antonio.

An historical epic can only be as good as the people involved in the event, and THE ALAMO furnishes a feast of colorful characters. General Sam Houston (Dennis Quaid) frets and agonizes over sending reinforcements to the aid of his Texas brethren, but ultimately decides he must not jeopardize his gathering army by confronting Santa Anna at the Alamo. Colonel William Travis (Patrick Wilson) commands the Texas Regulars at the Alamo; he is viewed as a martinet by many of the men, so he must earn their respect, and he does. Famed knife fighter James Bowie (Jason Patric) is at odds with Travis and in conflict with his orders from Houston to confiscate the fort's cannon and move them back to the Brazos; succumbing to illness, he spends the bulk of the siege on his cot, which indeed becomes his deathbed. General Santa Anna (Emilio Echevarria), the eogomaniacal "Napoleon of the West," hopes to attract Houston's forces to San Antonio, and when it becomes apparent no reinforcements are coming he decides to attack and "take no prisoners."

Yet, to my utter surprise and astonishment, Billy Bob Thornton dominates this cast as frontiersman and former Congressman Davy Crockett. Thornton gives a down-to-earth, even humble, portrayal of the Tennessee Mountain Man. Crockett was in Texas not as a mercenary but as a land speculator; his arrival at the Alamo two weeks before the siege was more a matter of bad timing than a duty to serve. But Crockett inspires the men, entertains and comforts them, and Thornton brings this character to fascinating life.

Some reviewers have lamented the film is "too slow" or "boring." I maintain the movie is not meant to be an X-box game of gratuitous violence but a re-enactment of a siege that took 13 long days; I further maintain that when the actual fighting starts, it is powerful and at times even overwhelming. And yes, there is an element of Hollywood "creativity," but nothing that interferes with the historic authenticity, with the scope and the magnitude, of the Alamo's tragedy, and its subsequent inspiration. THE ALAMO is first-class entertainment--a must-see movie and a must-have DVD when released.
--D. Mikels

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David Crockett doesn't match up to Davy Crockett
The new version of the historical tale of the 13 days of Alamo is a fair movie. I admit, two years ago when the rumors surfaced about a new, R-rated Alamo movie directed by Ron Howard and starring Russell Crowe, I was pumped. Then, those rumors faded and so did the anticipation. Yet, I still went and saw it.
Ok, spoiler alert. Santa Anna's army defeats the men in the Alamo. If by some reason you didn't already know this, it is pictured in the opening scene of the movie. Then, the film takes us back in time one year earlier. Within moments, we meet many of the famous legends that lost their lives at the Alamo. Davy Crockett (Billy Bob Thornton), Jim Bowie (Jason Patric), and William Travis (Patrick Wilson) all had roads of fate to come together for their heroic bravery.
Once there, we learn that Davy Crockett actually prefers to be called David. I will say that I somewhat admire the difference in this new-age Crockett in that he is humble and an in-between feller' that is mixed up in rumors and tall tales about himself. I also like the scene, in which, he shares a melody with the Mexican army by playing the fiddle while they are playing a war command. "A little harmony never hurts," David says.
"I got pulled over by the cops" or uh..Jason Patric's Jim Bowie isn't as believable. It actually seems more fit if he had been cast as William Travis instead, but that is just my opinion. Speeking of Travis, Patrick Wilson's turn as the commander of the Alamo is almost as convincing as Patric's Bowie pperformance.
Enough about the characters, now the movie. The movie wasn't terrible, just wasn't a great feat. At times, it was slow, and some of the dialogue was cliche' war movie stuff. There were also parts of the movie that one could not believe were historically accurate. Even the part I admired about the shared muscial performance fits in to this category. There was also a moment when Crockett took a little target practice at Santa Anna while the Mexican soldiers just happened to be talking about how Crockett never misses a target. Another part is the demise of Crockett. Nobody really knows how he met his end, but the film has chosen a Hollywood ending for our hero (not gonna go in to detail). The film seemed to keep the same pace the whole way through. Even the main battle sequence seemed to keep up with the rest of the film. Maybe it was because it was at night, and it was a PG-13 film. Who knows? Again, maybe it was just me. After the battle, there is one more little skirmish shown between a less equipped Santa Anna army and Sam Houston's (Dennis Quaid) group of men. Then, the film gives us a history lesson in words and one more fiddle playing experience from Billy Bob, sorry, David.
Perhaps, I am being too hard on this film. It may be because of John Wayne's 1960 Alamo, when DAVY Crockett wore a coonskin cap. If to see an Alamo film, that would be the one to see, with more convincing characters and a better battle sequence. Just because new technology and bigger budgets are spent on movies now, it doesn't mean they are going to be better.

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amazed
this movie is very good. critics hated it, alot of people hated it too. i loved it. how you could hate this movie is impossible for me to understand. this is one movie that did everything perfectly. it gave great action, a great story, and wasnt burdened by trying to make a love scene/story. unlike alot of people i thought denis quaid was wonderful. after the battle of the alamo i was really hoping theyd continue with that last charge and they did. dennis quaids speech was awesome. also this is one of the first movies to get the sound of gunfire right. i am very impressed