Above Average Epic With Historical Accuracy

Rating: 7/10 (11 May 2005)

Another version of the Alamo battle has been released and this is it. The Alamo recreations of the past in such films as The Alamo: Thirteen Days to Glory and John Wayne's version have both been very popular but just touch base on the facts.
The story is the one we learned in grade school. Davy Crockett (Billy Bob Thornton has come to the Alamo so he can earn a piece of land once the war for Texas independence is won. He is now under the command of Jim Bowie (Jason Patric) and William Travis (Patrick Wilson) and is defending a small, unfinished mission near San Antonio.
Slowly Sam Houston (Dennis Quaid) makes his away across Texas but is not permitted by the government to make an attack on Santa Anna's forces. Slowly the Alamo is surrounded and violent skirmishes occur around it. Eventually an all out night-charge is called on and the Alamo is overrun.
The same story but it is done a little more interesting this time with better acting. Instead of young Alec Baldwin as Travis we get small time actor Patrick Wilson and does a fine job. Billy Bob Thornton does a fine job after his disastrous Bad Santa (2003) and really brings out the character of Davy Crockett never really done before.
The battles are nicely done: not to much gore, believable deaths, and good visuals. Filmmaker John Lee Hancock brings out a fine Alamo film which is just short of being a great film. Now some accuracies brought out. Unlike most films showing the bed stricken Bowie standing up and firing off shots then swinging his knife, Bowie is finally made out to what actually happened, not being able to stand up and barely able to move. It is quite sad actually. No 1459 Mexicans are killed in this which makes it much better than the 1987 version where a bullet is fired and it kills ten guys. In actuality, historians believe that around two hundred Mexicans were killed, double that wounded.
The movie is very good. It has some good action and some fine acting. The plot is thin at a couple of points and Santa Anna is made out to be a Bond villain but it's fine. It is well worth a trip to the video store.
The Alamo. Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Dennis Quaid, Jason Patric, Patrick Wilson, and Emilio Echevarria.
3 out of 5 Stars