The Alamo

Welcome to the murky middle ground where legend and history meet. I enjoyed this movie as an earnest attempt to tell this iconic legend in a slightly different way. Its variance from the legend may make cinema purists uncomfortable, but I have read a lot about the Alamo over the past 40 years and don't feel threatened by it. History, after all, is written by the winners. I think the last scene with Davy Crockett is based on a book by a Mexican soldier, but I am not 100% sure. Some historians suggest the battle was begun while everyone slept and was over in minutes. The first best selling…

Didn't enjoy this. <em>'The Alamo'</em>, to me at least, is an incredibly slow-paced and rather boring 137 minutes. Not even the free-for-all action sequences bring any true entertainment, due to the chaotic filming nature of them; I get there's supposed to be pandemonium, but the camera work is a mess. Another negative to note is the score, which is one of the poorest I've heard. It's so soppy and full of itself at times it makes it almost unwatchable, though in fairness isn't helped by the direction. I get they were attempting to show the lives of the people involved, but two-second…

Unfortunately, you have to compare this with the John Wayne version from 1960, and it doesn't really hold up very favourably. Patrick Wilson is Colonel Travis trying to command a garrison of Texan freedom fighters holed up in an old Catholic Mission against the overwhelming forces of Mexican General Santa Anna. His task is made the harder by the fact that he is a bit inept, and has some very strong characters to try to lead - not least Davy Crockett (Tommy Lee Jones) and Jim Bowie (Jason Patric). Unlike the earlier version, this story takes us beyond the well told story of the siege, and as…