|
“The Alamo”
|
 |
Reviewed
by: |
Wayne A. Klein |
| Genre: |
Drama |
| Video: |
2.35:1 |
| Audio: |
Dolby Digital
Surround 5.1, DTS |
| Languages |
English,
French |
| Subtitles |
English,
Spanish, French |
| Length |
137 minutes
|
| Rating |
PG-13 |
| Release Date |
9/28/04 |
| Studio |
Buena Vista
Home Video |
| Commentary:
|
Commentary
by historians Allen Huffines and Stephen Hardin |
| Documentaries:
|
“Walking
in the Footprints of Heroes” |
| Featurettes:
|
Return of the Legend:
The Making of The Alamo”, “Deep in the Heart of Texans” |
| Filmography/Biography:
|
None |
|
Interviews: |
None |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
None |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
Deleted scenes
with optional commentary |
| Music
Video: |
None |
| Other:
|
None |
| Cast
and Crew: |
Dennis Quaid,
Billy Bob Thornton, Jason Patric, Patrick Wilson, Emilio Echevarria,
Jordi Molla, Leon Rippy, Tom Davidson |
| Written
By: |
Leslie Bohem
and Stephen Gaghan & John Lee Hancock |
| Produced
By: |
Ron Howard
and Mark Johnson |
| Directed
By: |
John Lee
Hancock |
| Music:
|
Carter Burwell |
| The
Review: |
The thing that director/writer John
Lee Hancock forgot about “The Alamo” was to make it an exciting
story. The conflict at the Alamo has been the subject of a
number of films over the years the most popular of which was
directed by and starred John Wayne in the 1960’s. Despite
some significant historical flaws in that classic film, Wayne’s
film worked because of the action set pieces and marvelous
performances by his cast. While John Lee Hancock’s (“The Rookie”)
visit to the same subject has historical accuracy on its side,
the film meanders quite a bit never building up the necessary
emotional and dramatic punch to make the conclusion pay off.
Hancock gets a number of strong performances from his cast
with Billy Bob Thornton, Jason Patric and Dennis Quaid all
turning in stellar powerful recreations of David Crockett,
Jim Bowie and Sam Houston. Despite Hancock’s noble efforts,
“The Alamo” doesn’t quite measure up to Wayne’s classic film
although it’s not for lack of trying or effort on his part.
---
|
| Image
and Sound: |
The transfer
is so-so with the image quality lacking the fine detail one
would expect from a recent film release. The clarity of the
image and sharpness are sacrificed to give the film a “cleaner”
look (i.e. one where film grain is minimal). I’m a bit disappointed
as the rich historical detail that Hancock so carefully strove
to reproduce gets lost in the shuffle of an indifferent DVD
transfer. There’s noticeable halos and “ghosting” apparent around
the performers and the image quality is generally distracting.
On the other hand, the audio quality is exceptional with nice
use of the 5.1 Surround speakers particularly during the climatic
battle of the film. --- |
| The
Extras: |
We get
a fair amount of extras considering how poorly the film did
at the box office. “Return of the Legend: The Making of the
Alama” provides a twenty minute glimpse behind-the-scenes
focusing much more on the production crew and their efforts
to make the film look as authentic as possible. “Deep in the
Heart of Texans” discusses the largest state in the Union
focusing the people and attitudes that helped shape Texas.
“Walking in The Footsteps of Heroes” gives us a glimpse into
the real life figures behind the film. It’s a nice glimpse
into the past that provides context for the characters in
the film. ***
We also
get five deleted scenes from the film. It’s obvious why all
five were cut. They don’t provide any additional background
that would move the narrative forward. I’m thankful that Hancock
also chose not to reintegrate them into the movie as it would
have harmed it even further. ---
|
| Commentary:
|
The unusual
choice of having historians do the commentary track makes “The
Alamo” surprisingly memorable. Putting the cliché of the dry
lecturer out to pasture, both Stephen Hardin and Allan Huffines
do a great job of providing a historical context that is surprisingly
powerful and almost as moving as the movie. Both do a great
job in recreating an era that seems much further in the past
than it is. We also get director John Lee Hancock commenting
on the scenes he deleted from the film. As his commentary points
out, the scenes did nothing to further the story and, in fact,
caused the narrative to drag. |
| Final
Words: |
A moving
film where the writer/director bit off more than he could chew,
“The Alamo” has its majestic moments. The climatic battle is
powerful and there are some fine performances throughout the
movie. It’s a pity it doesn’t have the narrative momentum to
keep audiences interested in the story as it is an important
part of American and Texan history. |
