A re-telling of
the mythic battle of the Alamo where “Texians” stand their ground
in a mission-turned-fort against the Mexican army is brought to
life by Dennis Quaid and Billy Bob Thornton.
CRITIQUE
The Alamo
comes limping out onto DVD after a spectacularly underwhelming
performance at the box office. The extra features that are packed on
the DVD, presumably to aid in selling more copies, outshine the dismal
film.
The execs at Disney
touted their film as the real story of the Alamo, claiming that John
Wayne’s version was not historically accurate. What they delivered
may be somewhat more accurate, but it remains cinematically
unmemorable. War movies come in two breeds, there is the in your
face, no holds barred, this-is-the-way-war-is gratuitously violent
variety, or the sweeping battles of epic proportions while soldiers
manage to find romance in-between dodging bullets type. There is a
reason for this; the first brand of war movie indulges those who enjoy
gun battles and body counts, while the latter satisfies those who like
death served with a side of romance. The Alamo offers nothing
to satisfy either camp. The battles are watered down for the PG-13
rating and the only romance to be found is between General Santa Anna
(Emilio Echeverria) and a woman he picked out of a crowd, with the
only indication of sexual activity occurring being a shot of the woman
on a bed while Santa Anna shuts the door. How’s that for steamy?
The tired acting
does not rescue the movie from its poor execution. Dennis Quaid as
Sam Houston and Patrick Wilson as William Barret Travis barely flesh
out their roles and offer no meat to their characters beyond getting
the southern accent down. Jason Patric fares slightly better as the
sickly James Bowie, and Billy Bob Thornton has a knowing glint in his
eye as the non-coonskin-cap-wearing Davy (he prefers David) Crockett.
The orchestrations
on the soundtrack made me laugh out loud. Every time the Mexican army
comes into view music swells that resembles that of the Mariachi
players at cheesy Mexican Restaurants. At other times the score
consisted of the usual swelling stringed instruments.
The film misses its
mark and revels in pointing out meaningless factoids like Crockett’s
preference for his name rather than dealing with the emotions that
surround men in war. The endless days of tossing cannonballs back and
forth between the Mexican army and the “Texians” seemed like a
vacation instead of the emotionally charged atmosphere that should
have been represented. Do we really want the myths surrounding
legends like Davy Crockett proven wrong anyhow? What’s next Johnny
Appleseed: A Day in the Life of an Apple?
THE VIDEO
The Alamo
is presented in Widescreen (2.35:1) enhanced for 16x9 televisions.
The image is clear and beautiful, a great transfer.
THE AUDIO
The Alamo
is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. THX Certified.
Includes THX optimizer with a French language track, French and
Spanish Subtitles. All this is a way to say that the Mariachi music
will sound fantastic in your home theater system. Aye Carumba!!
THE EXTRAS
Deleted Scenes:
These include four deleted scenes which were taken out to remove a
subplot involving the fake marriage of General Santa Anna. Watching
the Deleted Scenes made me realize that it was been possible for
The Alamo to have been a worse film than it was.
Walking In the
Footsteps of Heroes:
A featurette that takes a deeper look into the four main characters of
Davy Crockett, Sam Houston, James Bowie and William Barret Travis.
Offers some humorous clips from previous takes on the Alamo in film
and includes interesting historical facts on all four men.
Return of the
Legend: The Making of The Alamo:
This is a making of featurette that really gets into how the sets were
created and the logistics of rebuilding the Alamo. Interesting fun
fact: the set for The Alamo is the largest set ever built in
North America. I would actually recommend watching this before
viewing the movie, doing so will offer you the opportunity to marvel
at the amount of work that went into the film and may divert your
attention from some of the poorer moments of the film.
Deep in the Heart
of Texans:
This featurette describes the sentimentality that the Alamo holds for all Texans. Other Texans may appreciate this
featurette, I thought it was campy.
Commentary by
historians Alan Huffines and Stephen Hardin: This commentary is actually better than most of the commentaries with
Directors and their stars. The historians point out every minute
detail of historical accuracy in the film and it is amazing to hear
how many details actually got put into the movie.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The Alamo
is an unexceptional film that I would not recommend to anyone. However
for history buffs, the extra features are interesting and also, for
me, managed to be more entertaining than the film itself. Rent the
film for the extras if history is your thing. If you are a war movie
fan steer clear of this one.
