The Alamo

This is the story of The Alamo and how Jim Bowie, Davy Crocket, and William Travis and their men tried to defend the Mexicans, led by Santa Anna from taking Texas and making it to Sam Houstons camp. The story was a bit too one sided for my blood, although no one truly knows the events that happened that day, I can say the good guys weren't as good as they are shown here. A lot of these old westerns/ war movies showed the heroes out to be almost giants and it takes the reality out of it. This was based on real events and should have been shot as close to the known facts as possible. John Wayne is not a great director and here is a good example of that. I am not a huge fan of his as an actor either, I don't think he has much talent for anything and I will be blunt about it. Richard Widmark did a great job, as did Richard Boone is his small part of Sam Houston.Loved Frankie Avalon here, thought he did a great job too.I didn't care for the music,either. I will admit the movie was not as bad as I expected it to be, it was just way too long and a bit over the top and full of it. I highly recommend the 2004 version over this one, which is something I rarely say, but it is not a remake at all and it tells the story with a more honest approach. If you are a fan of the Duke or these old western/war movies you might love it, or like it, it just wasn't my thing. I love westerns and many period pieces, but this one lacked any kind of reality to me. 3/10 stars

Many people say this movie is terrible. I disagree 100 percent. John Wayne went through a lot of trouble to make this movie, much due to the cost of production. Wayne had to sell some of his property to make this. Despite of the production problems, Wayne turned out a great movie. I'm not sure how accurate it is, but it's good enough. It was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar and that's good. Why all the bad critisisim? It could have done worse, and Wayne has turned out movies that are terrible compaired to this. The supporting cast was good and the sound effects were great for it's time. All of the battle sequences are excellent and Dimitri Tiomkin's music score is good and was nominated for an Academy Award. Give this movie a look, it's worth it.

John Wayne did an outstanding job on this film. It was overlooked at the Academy Awards and unjustifiably so. It was beautiful, costumes were outstanding and very true to type. The actors were wonderful and I believe should have been more acknowledged for the great job they did in protraying those truly brave men at the Alamo! I have this on DVD and watch it probably at least twice a year. The music, just to listen to the music, is an experience; beautiful and haunting. The horses were beautiful, the scenery was beautiful. Everything about this movie was beautiful. John Wayne, an American institution, a lover of this country and a true patriot deserved an academy award for directing this great film. I cant say enough great things about it. One of my favorites of all time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For 13 days these brave men hold the fort... The Alamo is not the film it should be, even after the 2004 remake (a great film that takes a reflective and thoughtful stance) we find ourselves still waiting for a blood pumping and stirring take on the folklore tale of what happened at the small missionary known as The Alamo. It's San Antonio, 1836 and General Santa Anna is marching his mighty armies into the contested territory of Texas, all that stands in his way is a small band of heroes, Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett and their trusty men who are led by the inexperienced William Travis. They must buy time in order for General Sam Houston to get an army together in which to crush Santa Anna's imposing forces. There really is no simpler way of putting it other than to say that The Alamo is an overlong misfire. Various cuts have been made to try and create an epic classic out of what was actually filmed, but neither of the cuts can succeed in making it the flowing genre piece it could have been. John Wayne directs and clearly cared about the project (with his own cash invested that was to be expected), but rumours have persisted that Cliff Lyons had to take up directing duties later in the picture, it's not hard to see why if that was the case, but various sources do poo poo this rumour, and is mostly believed to be Wayne's own work throughout the film. Wayne (having learnt from his mentor John Ford) had a great vision for the picture, and the scope is rather impressive, the recreation of The Alamo building in particular is first rate, whilst the formations of Santa Anna's armies finally rouse the picture out of its slumber. However, the high points in the picture are few and far between, the acting leaves a lot to be desired, with Wayne himself unable to let the Crockett character be anything other than the John Wayne show. Richard Widmark as Jim Bowie steadily holds his own and manages to eek out a bit of bravado interplay with Wayne and Laurence Harvey (William Travers), but outside of that there is not much to write home about. The final third just about saves the film from being a stinker, with the Academy Award for best sound richly deserved, but sadly The Alamo remains to this day a plodding dinosaur that bores when it really should be igniting the spirit. 5/10

I first saw "The Alamo" in 1960 and loved it. I loved it for several reasons, one was because like countless other kids {I was 11} I had been raised on Fess Parker's treatment of Davy Crockett and was fascinated by the story and two I've been a John Wayne fan since I can remember. I have copies of both the theatrical and the uncut versions. I prefer the theatrical because I feel that the scenes that were cut were unnecessary and in some cases tedious and painful to watch. Historically speaking the movie was a hit and miss affair but that's okay with me because as a package it was a direct hit on the action sequences and since that basically was what the Alamo was about I can forgive the inaccuracies. Some of the most glaring; the battle was over just before dawn on a rather cold day {the temperature ranged between the 30's and mid 50's and was probably on the low end of that spectrum at that time of day} and yet the movie shows up bright blue cloudless skies and the participants in less than cold weather attire,; the film portrayed Bowie as being in bed because of a leg injury suffered in a fall from his horse later aggravated by shrapnel during a bombardment when the truth was that he was sick. He had practically drunk himself to death for 3 years because of the loss of his wife and children to cholera and probably had TB. On that note the movie shows Bowie receiving the news during the siege. Another case of license. On the other hand the film was accurate in a lot of cases too, for example, the locations of Travis and Bowie at the times of their deaths and depending on whether you believe that Crockett fell where Suzanna Dickinson and several others said they saw him or that he survived the battle with five others only to be executed we may be able to make a case for his actual location too. But the most wonderful example of historical fact is in the location of the filming. This was a painstakingly assembled replica of the area and is breathtaking in its realistic appearance. There was one fact that was mistreated, though, that took me some time to accept as dramatic license. James Butler Bonham {Patrick Wayne} reports to the garrison that Col James Fannin and his men will not be reinforcing them because the were "ambushed, murdered". This is sort of true but not until after the Alamo had fallen. The fact was that Fannin had started out to reach the Alamo but while still within view of his own garrison at Goliad he had a wagon break down and some oxen run off and by the time he repaired those problems he changed his mind about going and returned to his command. He and his men were captured and about 600 of them, including Fannin, marched into a river and shot down. All things considered though I can still watch this movie again and again 39 years later. Besides, who can deny that the opening credits complete with some of the most beautiful music in cinematic history {Dimitri Tiomkin} constitute one of the most unforgettable movie beginnings of all time? I think I'll go watch it right now.

I love this movie as much as anyone, but the recently released DVD is inexplicably almost half an hour shorter than the version of this film that has been in release on video and laserdisc for years. Why, oh why MGM/UA did this, I don't know, but I know I am not keeping my copy of it. I got worried when this new version didn't have an overture...but I can live without that. However, when Richard Widmark's first scene occurred and over half of it was missing, I could only groan. Shame on you MGM/UA. This movie is more than a classic for a good many of us. You should release the cut that you have been putting out for years now, the one that is 3 hours, 10 mins.

This is awful stuff . An event that shaped modern day America is done with far too much jingoism of the worst sort that only Hollywood in general and big John Wayne in particular would attempt . Never once did I get a feeling I was watching history played out as I did when I watched films like A BRIDGE TOO FAR . Watching this I got the distinct feeling that the Duke instructed the cast to play their roles in an " American hero " way ( Ie Emphasise throwing objects around a room during moments of anger and have them speak in a laughably loud manner ) but I couldn`t help noticing Laurence Harvey never sounds American in this . The script is painfully patriotic with speeches about truth , freedom and what a great country America is because it`s populated with so many real brave men . A good example being Sam Houston giving advice to his command that " Tomorrow when your recruits start whining and belly aching .... " Despite all this stomach churning flag waving there is one very good aspect to THE ALAMO and that`s its action scenes . I remember being very impressed with the battle scenes when I saw this film on television as a child and watching them today they are still very impressive . If you like action sequences then you must watch the last 45 minutes of THE ALAMO . But unless you`re a fully paid up member of the American Republican party you`ll not want to see the rest of the film

John Wayne's directorial tribute to the struggle for "The Alamo" symbolized the spirit of resistance of a small group of determined fighters for Texan independence from Mexico... Texans established a provisional government in 1835 and appointed Sam Houston (Richard Boone) commander in chief of their army... There followed a seesaw battle for control of San Antonio, including the ill-advised defense of the Alamo by a force of fewer than 200 Texas volunteers... General Antonio Lopez De Santa Anna was determined to take this key location in order to impress upon the Texans the futility of further resistance to Mexican ruler... After a 13-day siege, every fighting man perished under the onslaught of 7,000 Mexican troops... Among the fallen defenders were Cols. William B. Travis, James Bowie and the legendary Davy Crockett... Only Mrs. Dickinson (Joan O'Brien), her little daughter and a black boy survive to provide the eyewitness story of the Siege and the Battle of the Alamo... John Wayne portrays Davy Crockett, a frontiersman and politician, who saw the future of an independent Texas as his future and he loved a good fight... Crockett and his brave combatants - the Tennesseans, expert marksmen, held their position until death... Richard Widmark is cast as Colonel Jim Bowie, a reckless adventurer, known for his famous 'Bowie knife'. Bowie has come to fight for Texas independence with a small force of volunteers. He had strong personal friction with Travis which threatens to develop into a private war... The difference in their personalities resulted in the two men sharing a somewhat antagonistic competition for command of the entire garrison... On one point they did agree: "The Alamo" is the most important stronghold of Texas... Laurence Harvey plays Colonel Travis, "the grand Canyon of Texas," who arrives with 25 men to establish the first line of defense against Santa Anna... Travis is a disciplinarian officer who commanded the Texas defenders during the siege and battle of the Alamo, a genuine hero who anticipated a battle to the death, a polite gentleman who gave the men an opportunity to retreat with honor the ill-fated garrison but explained how important their defense of the Alamo is... His appeal from the Alamo of reinforcements becomes an American symbol of unyielding courage, heroism and self-sacrifice... Travis high moment in the film was when he fired his answer to Santa Anna with a cannon blast: Victory or Death! With its seven Oscar nominations, including the Oscar-nominated hit song "The Green Leaves of Summer" and a superb score written by Dmitri Tiomkin and song-writer Paul Webster, and featuring some of the most spectacular battle sequences ever seen, "The Alamo," - a sacrifice on the altar of liberty - becomes the 'Battle Cry' that broke Santa Anna's back...

I have seen both the long Director's Cut and the short theatrical release. The Short version is the DVD release, which was ok, the film goes much faster but it leaves many holes in the plot. The Long Version helps to fill in the plot holes, watch this version if you really like long films and are into history quite heavely, otherwise stick with the short version if you just want entertainment value, plus it still manages to keep your attention. This film is truly a masterpiece that will be enjoyed for Generations to come.

As I learned in the book "Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong", the real reason that Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie and company seized the Alamo was that they wanted Texas to use for plantations. Once Texas became independent of Mexico, the white people expelled all free blacks. But nooooooooooooooo! John Wayne would never show something like that! He elected to tell the story from what one might call "Texas history", meaning that the white people were martyrs who wouldn't give up, while the Mexicans were cruel. And so, anyone who watches this movie without knowing the truth is going to end up believing yet another lie.