Director and writer John Lee Hancock avoids most of the bombast and showy display of the 1960 John Wayne film.
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04/09/04
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The Alamo (2004)
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Reviews Counted:151
Fresh:46
Rotten:105
Average Rating:5/10
Consensus: Too conventional and uninvolving to be memorable.
Theatrical Release:Apr 9, 2004 Wide
Box Office: $22,367,675
Synopsis: An epic that evokes films such as HOW THE WEST WAS WON and DANCES WITH WOLVES, THE ALAMO details the key 1863 battle fought to win Texas from the Mexican government. Originally constructed as a... [More]
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Jason Patric, Patrick Wilson, Emilio Echevarria
Director: John Lee Hancock, John Sayles
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Reviews for The Alamo
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04/09/04
Despite Thornton's yeoman efforts and a remarkable 52-acre set, you're more apt to forget The Alamo than to remember it.
04/09/04
Top CriticA crushing bore.
04/09/04
A mediocre achievement despite the scale of its ambition.
04/09/04
Top CriticThe result is something that feels very much like an overachieving made-for-TV movie -- a history lesson dolled up like an action movie, with the action relegated to the final third, and even then, the battle is over before it really begins.
04/09/04
An ambitious mix of history lesson, politically correct speculation, character sketches of American icons and pretty scenery, but it winds up without much of a point of view.
04/09/04
Top CriticHaving undergone a long and presumably tortuous editing process, the new Alamo, in the end, feels thinned out.
04/09/04
It's a history lesson that's made entertaining because so many of the performances are so powerful and heartfelt.
04/09/04
Struggles to maintain tension with dusty soap opera.
04/09/04
[Hancock's] Alamo may be flawed, but it tells a tale that still has the power to stir our souls.
04/09/04
Top CriticA drama mired in the mundane.
04/09/04
Top CriticAs talented as the cast is, not a one makes this an Alamo worth remembering
04/09/04
Succeeds in taking those pop-culture brand names like Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie and giving them human form.
04/09/04
Top CriticHancock's film immediately and emotionally establishes itself as the definitive version.
04/09/04
A lot of pretty postcards and some nice fellas we don't mind hanging out with -- okay for a historic landmark, but thin soup for a would-be epic.
04/09/04
By creating the only character of depth in an underdeveloped epic, Thornton is the only element of The Alamo truly worth remembering.
04/09/04
Does its best to shake off the baggage of its predecessors.
04/09/04
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04/09/04
Slowly paced, does little to make you care about the people who gave their lives during this bloody time and is, well, just boring.
04/09/04
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