What's missing from "The Alamo" is a palpable feeling of dread, that imminent death looms like a spectre so anything these soldiers do is an act of futility. They're so outnumbered, yet my reaction was ho-hum, as if the Mexican army are ready for a reenactment of the Alamo seige, which is what the film essentially becomes if you don't show any blood. We don't need to walk out of "The Alamo" feeling good, but the filmmakers went ahead and shot what should've been the postscript. Being commercially-minded, someone has to shout, "Remember the Alamo!" this someone being Sam Houston (Dennis Quaid) so the tragedy is brightened by revenge. To remind us to be sad, Billy Bob Thornton, representing himself, like Liam Neeson in "Schindler's List", plays the fiddle to an empty set at the end of "The Alamo". You won't remember "The Alamo". … Expand

An interesting movie although plodding in parts. There is action for those who want action, but after it is all over, you realize that once again a great many men died over the rights to land, which is still happening today. Apparently in reality Santa Ana and Sam Houston had a few good tokes of opium and discussed these battles and Santa Ana signed over the right to Texas to the "Texians". It is interesting to note that 189 or so Texans were killed in this battle and 1600 Mexicans, but Sam Houston lived to be 70 and Santa Anna to be 82. The orchestrators of these land grabs always live and the men who die are memorialized in movies such as this. … Expand

I'm an expatriate Texan who grew up visiting the Alamo every other summer. I have an old photo of my grandfather taken in Alamo Plaza in 1900. I have a shelf full of books about the Alamo. The story continues to grip me because its meaning is so elusive. A story of heroism? A story of foolish stupidity? A small chapter in the history of American imperialism? A sorry chapter in the history of Mexico? Yes! It's all of the above. And that's why this film is so important. It lays bare all those meanings. Thornton is superb as Crockett. Quaid is Houston come to life. All the other characters are believable as well and are played by people who love the story as much as I do. Kudos to Hancock's writing and direction and to Burwell's musical score. … Expand

There’s not enough action for attention spans bred on Sesame Street and MTV, but for thoughtful adults there is plenty to enjoy here. Texians (American and European immigrants as well as native Tejanos) are fighting for what was promised and then taken away, while the Mexican government is trying to reign in what they consider to be ingrates and pirates. Principal characters are portrayed in a mature fashion as never before attempted, resulting in flawed humans who manage to emerge in a heroic light, even in this age of mass cynicism. Where’s the Director’s Cut?… Expand

An example of the whole being less than the pieces. While nothing screams out horrible, in fact, a lot of the acting was very good, the film seemed lackluster, dull and couldn't sustain any interest from me.

Sammy talk about antisemetic are you including yourself? Hello, The Alamo is about Texas independence from Mexico. We stole their land. The Alamo was the rallying cry for Statehood for Texas as was Pearl Harbor against the Japanese in WW II. Mel Gibson did not tell a story about the teaching of Jesus, he instead sold the blame game because that was his ONLY way of selling tickets! Let me know when he does a movie about the peaceful times of The Crusade. Who is he going to blame there? Wake up Sammy and smell the coffee. By the way, this movie was terrible. Avoid.… Expand

For me, The Alamo will always be quite memorable - as one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Horrendous!!! I feel like I've been totally had, paying to see such #$@%!. None of the characters were engaging whatsoever. It was a total bore. The lines and scenes that they included in an attempt to "make a movie" were so blatantly lame that it was insulting. It was drawn out and so unbearably contrived. It was so unmoving, that in an attempt to cover up this fact, they tried to induce emotion and sensationalism with cheesy dramatic music, which only added insult to injury. It was so bad that my friend and I, as well as others in the movie, found it humorous as a result. Pitiful. Atrocious. Insultingly bad. I've been had! … Expand

Dull, boring, lifeless. Like watching paint dry? Worse.

Fantastic , historically correct and visually stunning. understated and beliveable performances give this film the humanity of the real story.

Ouch, can I get a refund? This was brutal. Better yet good luck to Disney if they think they are going to get back what they spent to make this dreck.

No drama! No emotion! No passion! No continuity! DULL...DULL...DULL.

Someone wake me when this crap is over? The answer to insomnia.

I, also, had the BAD LUCK of seeing this movie in an advance screening. It was way too long and terrible! Not to mention INCORRECT! Davy Crockett was found miles away, running AWAY from the Alamo! NO HERO THERE! Let's go back to the Alamo and do some research... The only thing worth watching was Dennis Quaid. They should have covered him more in the story. Terrible!!

The pacing is just way off, and the film as a whole doesn't really come together, but Billy Bob's performance is touching. It's probably worth seeing for him and for Jason Patrick. By the way, we got all the antisemitic reaction to The Passion last month....Where are all the protests that this movie is anti-Mexican? This movie is much more anti-Mexican than the Passion was anti-Jewish.… Expand

Bury this Alamo as it was just awful. Davey and Sam would cringe if they were alive to witness this garbage.

One of American history's most oft-told chapters is once again revisited, this time with the benefit of an intelligent, engrossing, thoughtful script and at least a couple of unforgettable performances. Billy Bob Thornton does some of his richest work to date as a very human-sized Davy Crockett, who understands the power of myth but doesn't feel entirely comfortable with his own. There's more to this Crockett than fightin' Injuns and starin' down b'ars. I was also riveted by the performance of Emilio Echevarria as the incredibly vain, cruel, and preening General Santa Ana. I love that this telling of the story doesn't begin and end with its heroes' martyrdom but pulls back to give more historical and political context, including the military value of the Battle of the Alamo - despite Santa Ana's overwhelming success, his ultimate (and rather swift) defeat soon thereafter owes much to the efforts of Crockett, Travis, Bowie, and the other Alamo legends. Special note to Sling Blade fans: after listening to Billy Bob's most memorable speech, you may not want to eat French fried 'pertaters' ever again! … Expand

I just loved it.

Excellent movie, exciting footage, excellent cast.

Brilliant!!!

Not as bad as critics make it out to be I have watched it 4 times and it gets me every time of what courage was shown by the defenders of this run down mission. I rate this among the best true story films ever made.

Worthless and weak, needed the original director (Ron Howard) and his cast of Gibson as Crockett and Crowe as Houston. To hell with"authenticity"-- vigor, gusto and glorious storytelling is what the real heroes (and audiences) deserve once and for all.

You know, a lot of critics didn't care for "The Alamo". Point in fact, they despised it. I thought it was alright, though. Definetly not award worthy in any way, but it's still a good movie. Great action sequences and interesting screenwriting make it a down-to-the-point history movie. The acting is good and bad. Billy Bob Thorton steals the show as Davey Crocket, and Dennis Quaid couldn't over act more as Sam Houston. Jason Patric (Narc, The Lost Boys) is solid in his role as Jim Bowie and so is Patrick Wilson (HBO's Angels in America) in his role as Colonel Travis. In the end, the film is interesting and entertaining, but nothing close to outstanding or groundbreaking. Thumbs up.… Expand

I watched this movie last night with my 8 yr. old son we both liked it, but it had a few things that didn't match what they thought might have happened once the siege started,but captured what it might have been like for the most part. Not sure why a couple of reviews spilled into another movie,or the anti-Mexican came in, I thought it was portrayed well, for the time period that wasn't as politically correct. As far as D. crocket I thought Billy Bob did him very well(not over the top,like he could have). I have read much about this battle, and David C. being found miles away is a new one on me. I would like to know the source of that story since it is so unique,and probably not true.… Expand

I decided to see this film in order to get a historical perspective on what happened at the Alamo (in San Antonio, Texas). Being a Disney film, however, it unfortunately wallowed too much in sentimentality to be a must-see production. You do get a sense of the hopelessness of the Americans holding out against the Mexican Army, but that?s not how the films ends. Sure enough, in order to attempt to be a crowd-pleaser, the Americans have to end up in victory. Bill Bob Thornton plays Davey Crockett who just a good ol? boy known as a legendary modern day hero. Even the Mexicans know this. Like the Mexican General, the Crockett character grins too much for his own good. Jason Patric plays the famous knife fighter Jim Bowie. You?re just waiting for the classic Crocodile Dundee line, ?That?s not a knife. This is a knife? when Bowie practically pulls out a machete. His character is dour and not very likely. Overall, this film would have benefited from being about an hour shorter. Review by Triniman. … Expand

This movie was SO BAD!!! The pace and the whole movie was DULL! I had to walk out of the theatre for 15 minutes because I got so bored. The only thing that is good about the movie are the special effects, acting and costuming. The rest was just a dull dull dull mess and wasn't historically accurate. 13 Going On 30 Was better than this crap!

Supposedly, this tanked at the box office because moviegoers were unwilling to part with rose-colored memories of the 1960 John Wayne epic. Well, grow up, folks: that one was absolutely NO classic; it was three (or was it four?) soporific hours of jingoistic speechifying with only two real qualities going for it: an excellent, multidimensional performance by Laurence Harvey and an impressive battle finale that rumor says that John Ford ghost-directed. (And given the ineptitude of the action scenes in the Duke's only other directorial effort The Green Berets, I'd strongly bet that the rumor mill is correct.) On the other hand, this version is a solid, well-made meat and potatoes movie that almost becomes a great one anytime Billy Bob Thornton appears. In a performance that's the total antithesis of his hilariously profane Bad Santa, Thornton plays Davy Crockett as a modest, self-effacing gentleman who knows he's a national legend, and understands why, but doesn't buy into the mythology himself...which of course makes him even more of a hero. In contrast to the 1960 film's windiness, this movie has two big speeches that are its highlights: one by Sam Houston (Dennis Quaid) comparing Mexican general Santa Ana to another famous (and equally egotistical) military man, and Thornton's story about why he no longer eats a once favorite food. Even though this film doesn't exactly rupture itself trying to be revisionist or politically correct, its contemporary touches and concerns are quite successful: its treatment of the fact that the Mexican army was willing to offer slaves their freedom if they defected is so fascinating I wish it had been fleshed out a little more. (By the way, I could swear I noticed that the very first three notes of The Alamo's musical score heard onscreen are the exact same three notes of the 1950s TV theme "The Ballad of Davy Crockett". Since both the TV show AND this movie came from Disney, is it a tiny little film-buff in-joke, an accident, a coincidence...or just me?)… Expand

A great movie. Entertaining and historically accurate.

This is very entertaining stuff. I loved it!

More historically accurate but not as entertaining as Duke's film. Choppy due to last minute editing. Needs to be seen as intended. More pre Alamo & development of characters needed. Very good as presented, though.

Very good historical background, but needs more action.