I think it's about time we told the truth about the Alamo and this is a great movie, very well acted, that almost does it.
The Alamo was as much a Tejano massacre as it was an AngloAmerican slaughter. Either way, It was an incredibly brave last stand that haunts me to this day. William Travis was maybe the most heroic of the commonly known men at the fort. Travis was a titan that would accept death to defend Texas. The fact that he was killed easily by the marauding Mexicans (shot in the face early on March 6) doesn't matter. He was a warrior. Every white man and Tejano there was incredibly brave. These 227 poorly trained soldiers and militia waited in suspense knowing they'd soon painfully die, but they showed no fear at all. Mexican military commander, Antonio Santa Anna had sent word that any native Tejanos could leave the fort and they wouldn't be touched. Many of the women and slaves left, but 44 of the 93 (going by remaining records) native Mexicans stayed to assist their white brothers in the impossible defence. This was not only because they loved Texas and it was their home, the fight was also political, because Santa Anna was also Mexican president. He led a dictatorial and authoritarian regime that the Mexicans loathed. Santa Anna was nothing more than an evil dictator. It's worth keeping in mind that Mexico had only been independent from España 15 years, so many 'Mexicans' were in fact White European Spanish that had set up a life in their former colony. Juan Sequín is a fine example of that. Latin Americans are East Asians, so I guess it was something of a race war. Native Americans come from Siberia, so they fit the East Asian subspecies of homo sapien.
The Alamo was a bomb upon release, losing its studio $149 million. That's truly bizarre, because this is an excellent motion picture. I would rate this as one of the top ten westerns of the first decade of the 2000s. The dialogue is really profound and the battle scenes are pulsating in their energy. The picture is stylishly photographed with a superb use of light and it is also competently directed. As a slight negative, Patrick Wilson is not a strong leading man. There's nothing particularly bad about his performance, but he doesn't really have a powerful screen presence. It might have been better if Wilson played Bowie and Jason Patric (good here) was cast as Travis.
I wrote all these words and no mention of Davy Crockett??? Well, I saved the best for last. Billy Bob Thornton steals every scene that he's in as the mythical former congressman. If the Alamo had bern a success, I could imagine an Oscar nod for Thornton. As a history university graduate, I've spent years researching Crockett's death and I think this film nails it factually. If we mention the fact that Crockett surrendered, many proud Texians get offended by that thought. I think we have to be a bit more realistic. Crockett was a unique individual and even though he was a ginormous self-promoter, he certainly was a brave and talented man. We know from survivor testimony that he fought hard in the early Alamo skirmishes, but when you're facing 2 - 6000 men, what do you expect him to do? He wasn't superman.
What's also worth noting is that if Colonel James Fanning from Presidio La Bahía had gone to the Alamo to support colonel Travis, he would have maybe saved the lives of many of the men that were executed at the Goliad massacre. An army of 700 at the Alamo is a lot harder to defeat that an army of 227. Whilst it's maybe unfair to call it incompetence, many poor decisions led to the massacres at the Alamo and later Goliad.
Remember the Alamo remember Goliad victorious Texian troops shouted when they finally defeated Santa Anna at the battle of San Jacinto. In 2023, no one remembers either of these inspirational battles that truly liberated Texas. The Alamo is a decent film with an incorrect score on the IMDB. This is easy a 7/7.5 rated movie and I truly recommend it if you care about the history of the United States. I have seen it twice now and I enjoyed both.
The Alamo was as much a Tejano massacre as it was an AngloAmerican slaughter. Either way, It was an incredibly brave last stand that haunts me to this day. William Travis was maybe the most heroic of the commonly known men at the fort. Travis was a titan that would accept death to defend Texas. The fact that he was killed easily by the marauding Mexicans (shot in the face early on March 6) doesn't matter. He was a warrior. Every white man and Tejano there was incredibly brave. These 227 poorly trained soldiers and militia waited in suspense knowing they'd soon painfully die, but they showed no fear at all. Mexican military commander, Antonio Santa Anna had sent word that any native Tejanos could leave the fort and they wouldn't be touched. Many of the women and slaves left, but 44 of the 93 (going by remaining records) native Mexicans stayed to assist their white brothers in the impossible defence. This was not only because they loved Texas and it was their home, the fight was also political, because Santa Anna was also Mexican president. He led a dictatorial and authoritarian regime that the Mexicans loathed. Santa Anna was nothing more than an evil dictator. It's worth keeping in mind that Mexico had only been independent from España 15 years, so many 'Mexicans' were in fact White European Spanish that had set up a life in their former colony. Juan Sequín is a fine example of that. Latin Americans are East Asians, so I guess it was something of a race war. Native Americans come from Siberia, so they fit the East Asian subspecies of homo sapien.
The Alamo was a bomb upon release, losing its studio $149 million. That's truly bizarre, because this is an excellent motion picture. I would rate this as one of the top ten westerns of the first decade of the 2000s. The dialogue is really profound and the battle scenes are pulsating in their energy. The picture is stylishly photographed with a superb use of light and it is also competently directed. As a slight negative, Patrick Wilson is not a strong leading man. There's nothing particularly bad about his performance, but he doesn't really have a powerful screen presence. It might have been better if Wilson played Bowie and Jason Patric (good here) was cast as Travis.
I wrote all these words and no mention of Davy Crockett??? Well, I saved the best for last. Billy Bob Thornton steals every scene that he's in as the mythical former congressman. If the Alamo had bern a success, I could imagine an Oscar nod for Thornton. As a history university graduate, I've spent years researching Crockett's death and I think this film nails it factually. If we mention the fact that Crockett surrendered, many proud Texians get offended by that thought. I think we have to be a bit more realistic. Crockett was a unique individual and even though he was a ginormous self-promoter, he certainly was a brave and talented man. We know from survivor testimony that he fought hard in the early Alamo skirmishes, but when you're facing 2 - 6000 men, what do you expect him to do? He wasn't superman.
What's also worth noting is that if Colonel James Fanning from Presidio La Bahía had gone to the Alamo to support colonel Travis, he would have maybe saved the lives of many of the men that were executed at the Goliad massacre. An army of 700 at the Alamo is a lot harder to defeat that an army of 227. Whilst it's maybe unfair to call it incompetence, many poor decisions led to the massacres at the Alamo and later Goliad.
Remember the Alamo remember Goliad victorious Texian troops shouted when they finally defeated Santa Anna at the battle of San Jacinto. In 2023, no one remembers either of these inspirational battles that truly liberated Texas. The Alamo is a decent film with an incorrect score on the IMDB. This is easy a 7/7.5 rated movie and I truly recommend it if you care about the history of the United States. I have seen it twice now and I enjoyed both.