Barnes & Noble

One of American history's most colorful (and increasingly controversial) episodes is dramatized on the big screen yet again in this lavishly appointed epic, which combines fact and fiction in a genuinely engaging manner. The year is 1836, and American-born settlers in Mexican-controlled Texas stage a revolt against military dictator Santa Anna (Emilio Echevarria). Holed up in an old Spanish mission outside San Antonio, squabbling Texans Jim Bowie (Jason Patric) and William Travis (Patrick Wilson) are joined by legendary frontiersman Davy Crockett (Billy Bob Thornton) and a small band of fortune-seeking Tennesseans, only to be outnumbered and besieged by an army of thousands, while awaiting reinforcements lead by General Sam Houston (Dennis Quaid). Director John Lee Hancock (The Rookie), perhaps overly encumbered by the script's wealth of factual material, doesn't always maintain a strict timeline in depicting the 13-day siege. The complexities of the Texan-Mexican quarrel are never really addressed, and key historical figures -- such as Stephen Austin -- are either given short shrift or ignored altogether. But the Battle of the Alamo is vividly staged and incorporates both recently discovered facts and hotly contested suppositions -- among them the belief that Davy Crockett survived the battle. At times The Alamo is confusing, mostly due to choppy editing and inadequately elucidated motivations, but on balance it's a rousing historical drama depicting an event that even today continues to have surprising relevance to Americans. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

Re-teaming Dennis Quaid with John Lee Hancock, the director of 2002's The Rookie, The Alamo retells the story of the historic 1836 battle in the Texan War of Independence. Facing 4,000 Mexican troops, 186 Texan soldiers and volunteers -- including William Travis (Patrick Wilson), Davy Crockett (Billy Bob Thornton), and Jim Bowie (Jason Patric) -- retreat within the walls of the Alamo, a Franciscan mission that was converted into a military fort. Once inside, the men prepare themselves for what will be a bloody battle to the death, as General Sam Houston (Quaid) leads the charge from the outside. Emilio Echevarria and Jordi Molla co-star. Matthew Tobey

Product Details

• UPC: 786936229035
• Source: WALT DISNEY VIDEO
• Region Code: 1
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Time: 2:17:00
• Sales Rank: 3,030

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Hidalgo/the Alamo

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