The Alamo is a
2004The year 2004 in film involved some significant events. Major releases of sequels took place. It included blockbuster films like Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Passion of the Christ, Meet the Fockers, Blade: Trinity, Spider-Man 2, Alien vs. Predator, Kill Bill Vol...
American
war filmWar films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles...
about the
Battle of the AlamoThe Battle of the Alamo was a pivotal point in the Texas Revolution. Following a twelve-day siege, Mexican troops under the President of Mexico General Antonio López de Santa Anna launched an assault on the Alamo Mission in San Antonio de Béxar . All but two of the Texian defenders were killed...
during the
Texas RevolutionThe Texas Revolution or Texas War of Independence was a military conflict between Mexico and settlers in the Texas portion of the Mexican state Coahuila y Tejas. The war lasted from October 2, 1835 to April 21, 1836. However, a war at sea between Mexico and Texas would continue into the 1840s...
. It is the second major studio film about the battle, following
John WayneMarion Mitchell Morrison , born Marion Robert Morrison, better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and has become an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive voice, walk and height...
's
1960 film of the same nameThe Alamo is a 1960 American War film released by United Artists, starring John Wayne as Davy Crockett, Richard Widmark as Jim Bowie and Laurence Harvey as William B. Travis, and featuring Frankie Avalon, Chill Wills, Patrick Wayne, Linda Cristal, Joseph Calleia, Ruben Padilla, Richard Boone, Ken...
. The film was directed by
TexanTexas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...
director
John Lee HancockJohn Lee Hancock is an American film director. He has directed the films Hard Time Romance, The Rookie, The Alamo, and The Blind Side....
, and produced by Ron Howard,
Brian GrazerBrian Grazer is an American film and television producer who founded Imagine Entertainment in 1986 with partner Ron Howard...
, and Mark Johnson. It was produced and distributed by
Touchstone PicturesTouchstone Pictures, established in 1984, is one of several alternate film labels of The Walt Disney Company. Its releases typically feature more mature themes than those that are released under the Walt Disney Pictures banner....
.
The screenplay is credited to John Lee Hancock,
John SaylesJohn Thomas Sayles is an American independent film director and screenwriter who frequently plays small roles in his own and other indie films.-Early life:...
,
Stephen GaghanStephen Gaghan is an Academy Award and Emmy Award-winning American film writer and director. He is noted for writing the screenplay for Steven Soderbergh's film Traffic, based on a Channel 4 series, for which he won the Academy Award, as well as the Academy Award-nominated Syriana which he...
and
Leslie BohemLeslie "Les" Bohem is an American screenwriter and television writer. He is the son of screenwriter Endre Bohem. Les Bohem's writing credits include the miniseries Taken, Dante's Peak, Daylight, and The Alamo. Bohem also played bass in the 1980s with the pop groups Sparks and Gleaming Spires....
. In contrast to the earlier
1960 filmThe Alamo is a 1960 American War film released by United Artists, starring John Wayne as Davy Crockett, Richard Widmark as Jim Bowie and Laurence Harvey as William B. Travis, and featuring Frankie Avalon, Chill Wills, Patrick Wayne, Linda Cristal, Joseph Calleia, Ruben Padilla, Richard Boone, Ken...
, the 2003 script makes an effort to depict the political points of view of both the Mexican and Texan sides;
Santa AnnaAntonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón , often known as Santa Anna or López de Santa Anna, was a Mexican political leader who greatly influenced early Mexican and Spanish politics and government, first fighting against the independence from Spain, and then supporting...
is a more prominent character.
Production
The film was originally set up with
Imagine EntertainmentImagine Entertainment is a film and television production company founded in 1986 by director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer. Their productions include the television series 24 and Arrested Development and the films A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13, and The Da Vinci Code.Karen Kehela Sherwood is...
with
Ron HowardRonald William "Ron" Howard is an American film director and producer, as well as an actor. Howard came to prominence in the 1960s while playing Andy Griffith's TV son, Opie Taylor, on The Andy Griffith Show , and later in the 1970s as Howard Cunningham's son and Arthur Fonzarelli's best friend,...
in the director's chair and producing partner
Brian GrazerBrian Grazer is an American film and television producer who founded Imagine Entertainment in 1986 with partner Ron Howard...
as producer.
Russell CroweRussell Ira Crowe is an Australian actor and musician. His acting career began in the early 1990s with roles in Australian TV series such as Police Rescue and films such as Romper Stomper. In the late 1990s, he began appearing in US films such as the 1997 movie L.A. Confidential...
was originally cast as
Sam HoustonSamuel Houston was a 19th century American statesman, politician, and soldier. Born on Timber Ridge, just north of Lexington in Rockbridge County, Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley, Houston was a key figure in the history of Texas, including periods as President of the Republic of Texas, Senator...
,
Ethan HawkeEthan Green Hawke is an American actor, writer and film director. He made his feature film debut in 1985, opposite River Phoenix in the movie Explorers, before making a supporting appearance in the 1989 drama Dead Poets Society which is considered his breakthrough role...
as William Barret Travis and
Billy Bob ThorntonBilly Bob Thornton is an American actor, director, musician, playwright and screenwriter. His rise to fame began in the mid-1990s, after writing, directing, and starring in the film Sling Blade, for which he won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.-Early life:Thornton was born in Hot Springs,...
as
David CrockettDavid Crockett was a celebrated 19th-century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician; referred to in popular culture as Davy Crockett and often by the epithet “King of the Wild Frontier.” He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives, served in the Texas...
. But there were financial and creative disagreements between Imagine and
DisneyWalt Disney Motion Pictures Group, Inc. is a corporation which develops scripts and oversees theatrical film production for The Walt Disney Company's production companies and imprints. The Group, one of Hollywood's major film studios, is based at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California...
, particularly with Howard wanting a $200 million budget. Disney rejected Imagine's proposal for the film, and Howard, Grazer, Crowe and Hawke left the project. Disney opted to go with director
John Lee HancockJohn Lee Hancock is an American film director. He has directed the films Hard Time Romance, The Rookie, The Alamo, and The Blind Side....
instead with a budget of $95 million. Thornton was the only member of the original team to remain throughout the project.
The film was shot near
Austin, TexasAustin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 15th-largest in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in the nation...
between January and June 2003, mostly on a local property named Reimers Ranch. The film's art direction focused on historical accuracy and verisimilitude; for instance, the mission's
facadeA facade or façade is generally one side of the exterior of a building, especially the front, but also sometimes the sides and rear. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
does not feature the well-known "hump" at the top, a detail that was actually added years after the battle during a restoration.
The film was shot in 2003 and scheduled for release in December of that year, but was then rescheduled for release in April 2004.
Plot
The film begins by showing the results of the Battle, with Mexican soldiers sorting through the bodies and tending to their fallen friends. Then the film flashes back to 1835, with Sam Houston (Quaid) in Washington at a party trying to pursuade people to migrate to Texas.
There, he meets with David Crockett, fresh out of being defeated for Congress and explains to Crockett that if he goes to Texas, he will receive 640 acres of his own choosing. Crockett, asks whether this new Republic is going to need a president.
The film then switches over to San Felipe, Texas, where the Texas Provisional government is meeting and deciding on what course of action to take after their victory at the Battle of San Antonio De Bexar.
The two parties in discussion are War Party, which calls for the Texas army to continue to Matamoros for victory, and the Opposition Party, which seeks to rebuild the army and start a government to be recognized by other nations of the world.
Sam Houston is removed as commander of the army, and while having drinks with Jim Bowie, tells him to go back to San Antonio and destroy the Alamo.
Travis is in San Felipe reporting for duty, and his character is quickly established as a man who seeks respect (Lt. Colonel, not Colonel), is divorcing his wife for (adultery, abandonment, and barbious treatment), and who is looking for a second chance in Texas. He is sent to the Alamo to reinforce it and while there, meets up with Col. James Neil, who informs him that he'll be in charge of the Regulars (Texas Army) because he is going away for business.
Crockett arrives in San Antonio where he tells the gathering crowd his "I told them folks they can go to hell, I'm going to Texas" speech. After being told that they can't wait for Santa Anna to show up now that Crockett was there, Crockett replies, "I understood the fighting was over...aint it?" For the first time in any Alamo-Davy Crockett film, the viewer is shown the political side of Crockett and possibly his real intentions for traveling to Texas, not so much to fight for freedom, but more for a new chance at life. The movie implies rather that he's caught in the middle and cannot escape.
Santa Anna arrives in San Antonio much to the surprise of the Texans, who were not expecting the Mexican Army to arrive until late March or early April. Caught off guard, they retire to the confines of the Alamo and amid all the chaos, Travis calmly begins to write letters to be sent out asking for reinforcements at the Alamo.
Bowie goes to meet Mexican General Manuel Castrillon to try and talk things out before they get out hand. When Travis is notified that he should take a look at what is going on, he quickly realizes that the entire fort is surrounded and then notices Bowie talking to the Mexican Army. In response, Travis commands that the 18 pound cannon on the south-west wall be fired, which it is.
In response, the Mexican army raises the Red Flag, meaning death to the traitors and no quarter. Bowie notifies Travis that the terms of surrender offered by the Mexican army is surrender at discretion (i.e., whatever conditions Santa Anna cares to impose, once the surrender is effected).
For the next several nights, the Mexican army serenades the Texans inside the Alamo with the Deguello (Slit Throat) before bombarding them with cannon ball fire.
Controversies
This latest version of the Battle of the Alamo was the first to show Crockett being killed as a
prisoner of warA prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a combatant who is held in continuing custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
. All others had depicted his death as occurring during the battle, rather than him having been captured then executed along with six others. This sparked debate and criticism from many Alamo enthusiasts and some historians. This version of his death came from memoirs written by former Mexican officer
José Enrique de la PeñaJose Enrique de la Peña was a colonel in the Mexican Army. Under General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, de la Peña participated in the Battle of the Alamo.In 1955 a book of his memoirs of the battle was published...
, who was an officer in Santa Anna's army and who fought in the battle.
Although Hancock's version was purported to be the most accurate of all the Alamo films, it overlooked simple facts, such as pushing the Alamo chapel forward about 30 to 40 feet. According to the DVD special features bonus, Hancock did this in order to show the Alamo chapel and interior of the fort all in one shot.
Other simple historical facts were overlooked. When Crockett first plays his fiddle to the crowd, the song is "Listen to the Mockingbird", not written until 1855, some 19 years after the fall of the Alamo. The film shows Bowie paying for a drink with a coin carrying Santa Anna's portrait. Mexican silver coins of that era showed a liberty cap. Aside from the short-lived empire of Maximilian (1864-67), human representations on circulating Mexican coins between 1824 to 1905 were entirely allegorical.
Cast
- Dennis Quaid
Dennis William Quaid is an American actor. He became known during the 1980s after appearing in several successful films.-Early life:...
- Gen. Sam HoustonSamuel Houston was a 19th century American statesman, politician, and soldier. Born on Timber Ridge, just north of Lexington in Rockbridge County, Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley, Houston was a key figure in the history of Texas, including periods as President of the Republic of Texas, Senator...
, overall commander of Texan forces
- Billy Bob Thornton
Billy Bob Thornton is an American actor, director, musician, playwright and screenwriter. His rise to fame began in the mid-1990s, after writing, directing, and starring in the film Sling Blade, for which he won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.-Early life:Thornton was born in Hot Springs,...
- David CrockettDavid Crockett was a celebrated 19th-century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician; referred to in popular culture as Davy Crockett and often by the epithet “King of the Wild Frontier.” He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives, served in the Texas...
- Jason Patric
Jason Patric is an Irish American film, television and stage actor, and Jackie Gleason's grandson, perhaps best known for his roles in such films as The Lost Boys and The Alamo .-Family:...
- Col. James Bowie
- Patrick Wilson
Patrick Joseph Wilson is a Tony-, Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated American actor and singer.- Personal life :Wilson was born in Norfolk, Virginia to Mary K. Wilson, a voice teacher and professional singer, and John Wilson, who works as news anchor for Fox affiliate WTVT in Tampa, Florida...
- Lt. Col. William B. TravisWilliam Barret Travis was a 19th century American lawyer and soldier. At the age of 26, he was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Texian Army, and commanded the Republic of Texas forces...
- Emilio Echevarría
Emilio Echevarría is a Mexican actor. Internationally he is perhaps most well known for appearing in a trio of films: Amores Perros , Y tu mamá también, and Babel .Echevarría also had small parts in two American productions, first as Raoul, a Cuban agent in the James...
- Antonio López de Santa AnnaAntonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón , often known as Santa Anna or López de Santa Anna, was a Mexican political leader who greatly influenced early Mexican and Spanish politics and government, first fighting against the independence from Spain, and then supporting...
, Supreme leader of Mexican forces
- Jordi Mollà
Jordi Mollà Perales is a Spanish actor, filmmaker and artist.Mollà's artwork is represented in Carmen De la Guerra Gallery in Madrid, PicassoMio Gallery in Madrid and Barcelona and Cold Creation Gallery in Barcelona...
- Cpt. Juan SeguínJuan Nepomuceno Seguín was a Tejano hero of the Texas Revolution.As a teenager in Mexico he had a strong interest in politics. He was very critical of his contemporary Mexican leader, Antonio López de Santa Anna, and gladly joined the Texas Revolution to rid Texas of Santa Anna's rule...
- Leon Rippy
-Biography:He has worked with Roland Emmerich on seven movies including: Moon 44 , Eye of the Storm , Universal Soldier , Stargate , The Thirteenth Floor , The Patriot , Eight Legged Freaks and also had a role in the 2004 film The Alamo.Television appearances include a guest role on Star Trek: The...
- Sgt. William Ward
- Tom Davidson - Col. Green Jameson
- Marc Blucas
Marcus Paul Blucas is an American actor, known for playing Riley Finn in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He married TV presenter Ryan Haddon on July 25, 2009.-Early life:...
- James BonhamJames Butler Bonham was a 19th century American soldier who died at the Battle of the Alamo during the Texas Revolution...
- Robert Prentiss - Albert Grimes
- Kevin Page - Micajah Autry
Micajah Autry was an American merchant, poet and lawyer who died in the Texas Revolution at the Battle of the Alamo.-Biography:...
- Joe Stevens - Mial Scurlock
- Stephen Bruton - Capt. Almaron Dickinson
Almaron Dickinson was a Texan soldier and defender during the Battle of the Alamo, fought during the Texas Revolution. Dickinson is best known as having been the artillery officer of the small garrison, and for being the husband of one of the only three non-Mexican survivors to live through the...
- Laura Clifton - Susanna Dickinson
- Ricardo Chavira - Pvt. Gregorio Esparza
- Steven Chester Prince - Lt. John Forsythe
- Emily Deschanel
Emily Erin Deschanel is an American actress and television producer, best known for playing Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan in the crime drama Bones.-Early life:...
- Rosanna Travis
- Turk Pipkin - Isaac Millsaps
Isaac Millsaps was one of the defenders killed at the Battle of the Alamo during the Texas Revolution....
- Brandon Smith
Brandon Smith may refer to:* Brandon Smith , Canadian football player* Brandon Smith , Canadian ice hockey player* Brandon Mychal Smith, , American actor...
- Col. James C. NeillJames Clinton Neill was a 19th century American soldier and politician, most noted for his role in the Texas Revolution and the early defense of the Alamo.He was born in North Carolina.-Early life and career:...
- Tommy G. Kendrick - T.J. Rusk
Thomas Jefferson Rusk was an early political and military leader of the Republic of Texas, serving as its first Secretary of War as well as a general at the Battle of San Jacinto. He was later a U.S. politician and served as a Senator from Texas from 1846 until his suicide...
, was Inspector General at the time of the Alamo
- W. Earl Brown
W. Earl Brown is an American character actor who has appeared in many mainstream film and television projects. He is perhaps best known as Dan Dority on the HBO series Deadwood. He is also well known for playing Warren in There's Something About Mary.Brown was born in Murray, Kentucky and is an...
- David G. BurnetDavid Gouverneur Burnet was an early politician within the Republic of Texas, serving as Interim President , Vice-President , & Secretary of State for the new state of Texas after it was annexed to the United States of America.Burnet was born in Newark, New Jersey and attended law school in...
, delegate who was voted President 11 days after the Alamo fell
- Rance Howard
Rance Howard is an American actor who has starred in film and on television.-Biography:Howard was born Harold Rance Beckenholdt in Oklahoma, the son of Ethel Cleo and Engel Beckenholdt, a farmer. He changed his name to "Rance Howard" when he became an actor. He married Jean Speegle Howard in...
- Henry SmithHenry Smith was first American-born Governor of the Mexican territory of Texas and briefly presided over the revolution there..-Early life:...
, Governor of Texas
- Michael Crabtree - Deaf Smith
Erastus "Deaf" Smith was an American frontiersman noted for his part in the Texas Revolution and the army of the Republic of Texas. He fought at the Grass Fight and the Battle of San Jacinto. After the war, Deaf Smith led a company of Texas Rangers.-Biography:Smith was born in Dutchess County, New...
- Cástulo Guerra
Cástulo Guerra is an Argentine actor who found success appearing in American films and television. Film roles include: Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The Usual Suspects, Meet Me in Miami and The Celestine Prophecy. His TV credits include: Riptide, The Fall Guy, Falcon Crest, The A-Team, Remington...
- Gen. Manuel Fernández CastrillónManuel Fernández Castrillón was a major general in the Mexican army of the 19th century. He was a close friend of General and Mexican President Antonio López de Santa Anna.-Early life:Manuel Fernández Castrillón was born in Cuba...
- Francisco Philbert - Gen. Martin Perfecto de Cos
Martín Perfecto de Cos was a 19th-century Mexican general. He was married to Lucinda López de Santa Anna, sister of Antonio López de Santa Anna. General Cos swept across the Texas plains attacking many small towns and defeating Texas commanders like James Fannin during the Texas...
- Flavio Hinojosa - Col. Juan Almonte
Juan Nepomuceno Almonte was a 19th century Mexican official, soldier and diplomat. He was a veteran of the Battle of the Alamo during the Texas Revolution...
Box office
The film was
highly unsuccessfulThe phrase box office bomb refers to a film for which the production and marketing costs greatly exceeded the revenue retained by the movie studio. This should not be confused with Hollywood accounting when official figures show large losses, yet the movie is a financial success.A film's financial...
at the box office, opening on
EasterEaster is the most important annual religious feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to Christian scripture, Jesus was resurrected from the dead on the third day from his crucifixion...
weekend to mostly middling reviews and a low box office turnout. In its first weekend, it was defeated in box office numbers by a resurgent
The Passion of the ChristThe Passion of the Christ is a film co-written, co-produced and directed by Mel Gibson. It is based on the New Testament accounts of the arrest, trial, torture, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus, events commonly known as The Passion. The film’s dialogue is in Aramaic, Latin, and Hebrew, with...
. It cost over $140 million
USDThe United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents .The U.S...
to make and market the film but earned only $9.1 million USD in its first weekend. By its second month of release, the film had yet to muster $30 million USD in domestic earnings. It ended its theatrical run with a worldwide gross of slightly less than $26 million.
See also
- List of American films of 2004
- The Alamo – other uses
- Battle of the Alamo
The Battle of the Alamo was a pivotal point in the Texas Revolution. Following a twelve-day siege, Mexican troops under the President of Mexico General Antonio López de Santa Anna launched an assault on the Alamo Mission in San Antonio de Béxar . All but two of the Texian defenders were killed...
- The Alamo (1960 film)
The Alamo is a 1960 American War film released by United Artists, starring John Wayne as Davy Crockett, Richard Widmark as Jim Bowie and Laurence Harvey as William B. Travis, and featuring Frankie Avalon, Chill Wills, Patrick Wayne, Linda Cristal, Joseph Calleia, Ruben Padilla, Richard Boone, Ken...
- Jim Bowie
James "Jim" Bowie , a 19th-century American pioneer and soldier, played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution, culminating in his death at the Battle of the Alamo...
- David Crockett
David Crockett was a celebrated 19th-century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician; referred to in popular culture as Davy Crockett and often by the epithet “King of the Wild Frontier.” He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives, served in the Texas...
- William B. Travis
William Barret Travis was a 19th century American lawyer and soldier. At the age of 26, he was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Texian Army, and commanded the Republic of Texas forces...
- Sam Houston
Samuel Houston was a 19th century American statesman, politician, and soldier. Born on Timber Ridge, just north of Lexington in Rockbridge County, Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley, Houston was a key figure in the history of Texas, including periods as President of the Republic of Texas, Senator...
- James Bonham
James Butler Bonham was a 19th century American soldier who died at the Battle of the Alamo during the Texas Revolution...
External links