Remember the Alamo, surely but perhaps not this version

Rating: 6/10 (8 July 2005)

The Alamo  as a battle  has been adorned as being the stuff of legends in American history. It brought about the death of American folklore heroes Davy Crockett and James Bowie, allowed Sam Houston to rise in power and fame and came complete with a vile villain in the way of General Santa Ana. So why is it that 21st Century America is so fascinated with the deconstruction of said legends? At times, such realism hurts the story and that ended up being THE ALAMO's downfall.
Leslie Bohem, Stephen Gaghan and John Lee Hancock's script tries to shoot for an accurate description of the events leading up to the battle and the humanity of the major players involved. Perhaps that was achieved, but a middle-aged Crockett reminiscing on the brutal trials of war doesn't make as compelling a tale worthy of the King of the Wild Frontier. The same can be said for Houston's alcoholism and Bowie being a slave owner. Billy Bob Thorton's acting  and fiddle playing  is what helps save his character's reputation.
If anything, it is the Mexicans that come across as being efficient and even noble in their own way. Their uniforms are pressed and they fight as a regiment. No wonder they won the battle. All America had to offer were soldiers more caught up in their own problems! Even the battle at San Jacinto, which was supposed to give the film a positive American ending, merely felt abrupt and tacked on, much like the final war scene at the end of Michael Bay's PEARL HARBOR.
Even with the base story, at least THE ALAMO looked good. Hancock provided great camera moves with a clean, slick look and nice edits, especially when the action kicked in. Most impressive was the total tracking of a cannonball flying into the Alamo itself.
Fans and history buffs might praise, or reject, Ron Howard and the film's other producers on trying to achieve an accurate telling of the Alamo's fall but in doing so all the elements of wonder and excitement these names of legends fabricate instantly become meaningless. John Wayne's ALAMO proved that even though the Alamo was lost, American pride, gumption and that stubborn spirit of ours lives on; that even the worst of times can still bring out the best in Americans. Hancock's version does little more than bring pity to the dead.