Remember the Alamo

Rating: Null/10 (12 April 2004)

Having studied Alamo history for many years, I was aware of the complexities involved in recounting an accurate story of the key events in the Texas Revolution.
I will qualify my initial impressions with the following statement: This movie is not for everyone. If you don't enjoy history and yawn at military exploits, then the Alamo is not for you.
But if you, like me, enjoy reading about the exploits of one Davy Crockett from Tennessee, or James Bowie and his famous Bowie Knife, then this movie will bring to life what you might have already read in various text books, biographies and documentaries on television.
The cast chosen for this movie was curious, to say the least: Billy Bob Thornton as Davy Crockett? Dennis Quaid as Sam Houston? Jason Patric as James Bowie? Patrick Wilson as William Travis? I was as skeptical as everyone else!
But everyone does a fantastic job, in particular Thornton. He gives a very convincing performance of the famous man who is unsure of his legacy as the "bear hunter" and "back woodsman" portrayed in legend. The finest example of this occurs during the scene where Davy is recounting a story of the Creek Indian Wars decades earlier. His story and the barbarism he recounts is one of cinematic legend, and will not be soon forgotten, nor will his riveting violin playing atop the Alamo (in countering the Mexican "Slit the Throat" drum beat).
James Bowie is expertly portrayed by Patric as the historical drunkard with a chronic, deadly lung disease. But we also see the human side of Bowie, including his former memories of a love affair and his often strained relationship with his slave.
Patrick Wilson's performance is also exceptional, a rare gem of a performance for such a young actor with so little resume. Although he, at times, appears somewhat dazed and confused, this could be because as he transforms into the confident leader of legend, he is recounting his mistakes as a serial adulterer and dead beat dad.
Quaid also delivers an outstanding presence, casting new light into the real Houston's brass nature, covetous of both land and the bottle. But he rekindles the passions of his history by stirring the emotions of his rag tag army with the now infamous "Remember the Alamo!" call to his troops.
Jordi Molla, as Juan Seguin, shows the conflicting nature by which many Tejano's lived, fought and often died. Although Seguin participates in the first parts of the Alamo siege, he is sent on errand by Travis to deliver a message to Sam Houston, who promptly insists he stays instead of returning to the Alamo. This, no doubt, shows the importance of the Tejanos to the Texian cause. In future years, Seguin also participates in the Mexican-American War (on the Mexican Side), and also becomes mayor of San Antonio.
The Alamo movie is long (over two hours) and drawn out. There is much history to flesh out, and character development takes a good portion of the movie. Much of it is humanizing and de-mystifying the mythology of the core group of defenders who fought and died at the Alamo. But another portion -- and the best, in my opinion -- is the balancing of Mexican sympathies of several generals with the cruel, "take no prisoners" aim of the vilified despot, Santa Anna. It was obvious to all 187 defenders that Santa Anna intended to take no prisoners, even if they surrendered.
Once the final siege begins, we are treated to a very vivid, well-executed battle that point by point hits the perverbial nail on the historical head (with one key exception, which I will mention shortly). The siege is relatively short, true to history and expertly done. Many of the cinematic scenes are truly stunning, giving the audience a good indication of the hopelessness the defenders faced on the final morning of the siege. But it also shows the heavy price Santa Anna was willing to place on his soldiers, referring to them as "chickens". Historically, the Mexicans lost upwards of 1600 men of the original 4,000+ force (Santa Anna committed only one reserve, and possibly two, to the battle).
The siege, however, ends with an historical inaccuracy. Crockett is shown to have survived the siege, along with five or six defenders, and brought before Santa Anna. The movie is basing this on the forged journals of a surviving non-combatant. He was said to have "lunged" at Santa Anna and nearly got him, just before bayonets killed him. This is also in contrast to the real history of Crockett going down fighting with the rest of the defenders -- down to the last man (indeed, at least two non-combatants correctly identified Crockett's body near the church). In truth, the defenders did fight to the last man, often using their weapons as clubs when ammunition ran low, but Santa Anna enforced a "take no prisoners" aim (by the December 30, 1835 decree of treating all foreigners who took up arms as pirates), so perhaps Crockett died as he was portrayed in history.
The movie does not end with Crockett's death, however. It goes on to show the Battle of San Jacinto, in which Juan Seguin is shocked to see the blood-thirsty nature of the Texian soldiers. The battle lasts a stunning 18 minutes, in which Santa Anna's army is routed, he is captured in the field and brought before Houston -- who spares his life (if only to get Texas).
The Alamo is a good movie. In fairness, though, parts of the Alamo could have been better. Very little mention is made of Goliad, it is only hinted at. And the other massacres which occurred during that time are given very little screen time. We are only shown Santa Anna's cruelty in executing 28 or so survivors from a previous battle. We are not shown what significance these massacres had in arousing sympathy across the United States.