Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

An Exercise In Nonsense

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

For anyone who deems this movie accurate, it has many small inaccuracies. But it has one big inaccuracy that someone from Texas will recognize.It talks about Fannin's men being ambushed and not coming. The Alamo fell on 3/6/1836 and Fannin's men were trapped between Goliad and Victoria on March 20, 1836 and then executed on March 26, 1836. Fannin was portrayed as the relief to the Alamo and they were never planned to be.When the soldiers stormed Santa Anna at San Jacinto, their battle cry was "Remember the Alamo, Remember Goliad". They were referring to two massacres and in the order that they happened.

" . . . he was an abrasive, stubborn, hard-headed Irishman," son Colin says of ALAMO and John Wayne's "favorite screenwriter" and "other" chess-partner best friend, James Edward Grant. "Jimmy" was Jeff to Wayne's Mutt, this extra on the 2005 HONDO DVD release--PROFILE: JAMES EDWARD GRANT--says. Apparently, Wayne and Grant were NOT best men at each other's weddings (as were Wayne and fellow Western actor Ward Bond), though Wayne, at least, was married often enough to have had several such best buddies. Though Wayne, Bond, and their off-screen cohorts such as Grant and director John Ford may not strike the average fan as Bobby Fischer types, those who have seen the recent film biography of that American chess prodigy will recognize that this quartet was equally as irrational as Mr. Fischer. For instance, Bond and Wayne thought that RIO BRAVO was comparable to Gary Cooper's masterful Western Classic, HIGH NOON. Similarly, Colin Grant says that his dad was SHOCKED not to be Oscar-nominated for THE ALAMO screenplay, one of the many Wayne vehicles for which Jimmy served as mechanic. Being from Chicago, the Grant Family obviously lacked a grasp of Texas History 101. This movie omits the hallowed "Line in the Sand" drawn by Col. William Barrett Travis, a fault which the Academy knew enough to place at the screenwriter's doorstep.

This is indeed motion picture greatness as seldom achieved. The passion of director/producer/actor John Wayne for his project is as profound as any other auteur in cinematic history. His triumph as a first time director is astounding and his masterful work behind the camera leaves the unprepared viewer breathless. The cinematography, film score, and set design are stunningly beautiful and the performances Wayne inspires from his cast are nothing less than superb. The battle scenes are choreographed with incredible skill and epic in their scope, bringing audiences to the edge of their seats. However, the intimacy and character development are equally amazing and it is in the tension filled time leading up to the final conflict that we come to know and care for those who are about to die. John Wayne captures the glory and tragedy of the Alamo as no other film maker has and this motion picture will be viewed forever as the ultimate depiction of this dramatic moment in history. If Wayne had lived longer and received a bit more encouragement from film critics who badly reviewed him as a director purely because of his conservative politics, he may well have become a film maker of Clint Eastwood or John Ford's stature, perhaps another David Lean, expressing his personal cinematic vision and passion in even greater fashion as his directing career matured. Alas, we lost this wonderful, beloved talent far too soon and the potential so clearly seen in The Alamo would never be completely realized in films never to be made. Yet, students of cinema will study and celebrate the screen performances of John Wayne for many generations to come and eventually his gifts as a director will be recognized as well. For now, The Alamo stands as an artistic achievement of epic proportions, a testament to the sacrifice of true heroes, and a celluloid monument to John Wayne, Director.

Just for the record I like John Wayne and his films, I love The Searchers, The Quiet Man, El Dorado, The Shootist, Fort Apache and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and quite like Red River and Rio Bravo. The Alamo is not Wayne's worst movie, not even close, that dishonour to me is still The Conqueror, but again it's not among his best either.Before I point out what I didn't like very much about The Alamo, I noticed several things I liked and admired. The Alamo is a beautifully made film with great colour, magnificent scenery and strong cinematography. Dmitri Tiomkin has penned some wonderful scores, such as It's a Wonderful Life, Red River and The High and the Mighty, and the score for The Alamo was no exception, with its melodious and rousing themes.Some assets showed some good and bad things. One was the script, the second half in written quality is actually stirring stuff. I wish I could say the same for the first half, sadly I found it rather leaden. Another was the direction, in the second half it shows signs of brilliance however in the first it is somewhat self-indulgent with scenes going on too long. This paragraph especially applies to the cast. John Wayne is charismatic enough and does a better job at acting here I feel than directing and Richard Widmark once again gives a solid performance. One of the most disappointing things of this picture is the performance of Laurence Harvey, who's very stiff with an accent that is both inconsistent and obvious.There are also some assets that didn't do much for me. In terms of story, the second half is much better than the first. The second half has some good writing and picks up the pace, the first half on the other hand is in my opinion unexciting and pedestrian with too many overlong scenes that could've been trimmed easily. The Alamo is perhaps 15 minutes too long, the pace is often dull particularly at the start and for a lengthy movie you'd expect more character development than this. Widmark's is probably the most well developed, Harvey's character is very awkward and perhaps even out of place throughout.Overall, too uneven and just didn't engage me. 5/10 Bethany Cox