This movie is a lot better than many give it credit for, but it still falls short of the greatness at which it was aiming. John Wayne proves here that he learned from John Ford how to make a beautiful looking film. He unfortunately didn't learn how to tell a great story.
Based on the 1836 battle where less than 200 men fought to the death to defend an old Spanish mission from Mexican general Santa Anna and 7000 of his soldiers, The Alamo is a heartfelt, high-minded and surprisingly cheerful production. It's also really long. The DVD version I watched was 162 minutes long, which apparently leaves out 20 to 40 minutes of footage. Despite it's length, The Alamo never feels slow or ponderous. It just takes a lot of narrative digressions along its way which are entertaining but only kill time between setting the stage and unleashing the movie's big finish.
Though it has a huge cast, the story focuses mainly on three men. Colonel William Travis (Laurence Harvey) was the leader of a small band of regular soldiers from the budding Texas army. He was officious, rigid, imperious and willing to sacrifice almost anything for Texas independence. Jim Bowie (Richard Widmark) was a legendary knife-fighter and leader of a large band of volunteer militia at the Alamo. He was a rough and ready adventurer who found himself a home in Texas and wasn't willing to live under the dictatorship of Santa Anna. Throughout the entire film, Travis and Bowie clash like Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy from Star Trek. Standing alongside and between them was Davy Crockett (John Wayne). A former Indian fighter, congressman and worldwide symbol of the American frontier, Crockett led a couple dozen of his fellow Tennesseans to Texas to join in the fight. Crockett was a silver-tongued son of the backwoods who liked to hide his intellect but could never disguise his love for freedom and righteousness.
Wayne had dreamed for years of making this film and when he finally got his chance, he jammed it full of everything he could think of. There's music, comedy, action and more than a bit of speechifying about duty, liberty, God and the glory of individualism. Wayne was also ridiculously high-minded and somewhat heavy handed in this storytelling. There are a few too many scenes in the film that ring false, like when the defenders of the Alamo remark on the nobility and courage of their Mexican attackers. Wayne tries a little too hard to be fair and respectful of both sides of the battle, something that flies in the face of his ultra-conservative image. However, in cutting out the cruder, jingoistic aspects of the tale, he whitewashes away much of the pathos and tragic glory of the Alamo. The movie 300 tells a similar story, but that one positively revels in both the sadness and crazed bravado of the Spartans at Thermopylae.
Its lack of emotional depth leaves The Alamo more entertaining than touching. But strong performances by Wayne, Richard Widmark and Laurence Harvey along with some good action sequences, genuinely funny gags and magnificent imagery make this a good movie. It's not all that Wayne wanted it to be, but he still deserved to be proud of what it is.
Based on the 1836 battle where less than 200 men fought to the death to defend an old Spanish mission from Mexican general Santa Anna and 7000 of his soldiers, The Alamo is a heartfelt, high-minded and surprisingly cheerful production. It's also really long. The DVD version I watched was 162 minutes long, which apparently leaves out 20 to 40 minutes of footage. Despite it's length, The Alamo never feels slow or ponderous. It just takes a lot of narrative digressions along its way which are entertaining but only kill time between setting the stage and unleashing the movie's big finish.
Though it has a huge cast, the story focuses mainly on three men. Colonel William Travis (Laurence Harvey) was the leader of a small band of regular soldiers from the budding Texas army. He was officious, rigid, imperious and willing to sacrifice almost anything for Texas independence. Jim Bowie (Richard Widmark) was a legendary knife-fighter and leader of a large band of volunteer militia at the Alamo. He was a rough and ready adventurer who found himself a home in Texas and wasn't willing to live under the dictatorship of Santa Anna. Throughout the entire film, Travis and Bowie clash like Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy from Star Trek. Standing alongside and between them was Davy Crockett (John Wayne). A former Indian fighter, congressman and worldwide symbol of the American frontier, Crockett led a couple dozen of his fellow Tennesseans to Texas to join in the fight. Crockett was a silver-tongued son of the backwoods who liked to hide his intellect but could never disguise his love for freedom and righteousness.
Wayne had dreamed for years of making this film and when he finally got his chance, he jammed it full of everything he could think of. There's music, comedy, action and more than a bit of speechifying about duty, liberty, God and the glory of individualism. Wayne was also ridiculously high-minded and somewhat heavy handed in this storytelling. There are a few too many scenes in the film that ring false, like when the defenders of the Alamo remark on the nobility and courage of their Mexican attackers. Wayne tries a little too hard to be fair and respectful of both sides of the battle, something that flies in the face of his ultra-conservative image. However, in cutting out the cruder, jingoistic aspects of the tale, he whitewashes away much of the pathos and tragic glory of the Alamo. The movie 300 tells a similar story, but that one positively revels in both the sadness and crazed bravado of the Spartans at Thermopylae.
Its lack of emotional depth leaves The Alamo more entertaining than touching. But strong performances by Wayne, Richard Widmark and Laurence Harvey along with some good action sequences, genuinely funny gags and magnificent imagery make this a good movie. It's not all that Wayne wanted it to be, but he still deserved to be proud of what it is.