Most of you are probably conversant with the famed historical phrase; "Think back the Alamo!" When referring to the new Walter Elias Disney film, I would reply with a resounding "NO!" Actually, The Alamo (which at unitary point, had director Daffo Howard and actor Russell Crowe attached) was primitively slated for release last November, just for whatsoever reason (the studio claims it exactly wasn't ready), the celluloid was held back. It's also been reported that the initial cut of the pictorial matter was in the neighborhood of ternion hours, only the last product is two hours and 15 minutes. This war video depicts the final days leading up to the infamous last stand at the Alamo, as well as presenting the historical event itself. As the movie opens, we ar introduced to the work force who would ultimately be in consign of the military operation on that dark day in Texas. William Travis (Patrick Wilson) is a high ranking officer who's recently left his married woman, and is given the rather intimidating task of filling in for a superior officer at the Alamo. Right out of the gate, he creates friction amongst the men with his abrasive nature. James Jim Bowie (Jason Patric) is a brash only loyal equal officer, a man world Health Organization appears to have the respect of all the soldiers. When these two high ranking officers touch, they immediately clash - making for incredible tension on an already intense day. As fate would have it, Bowie becomes deathly ill prompting Travis to reevaluate his way of intellection so that he power connect with his military personnel and overcome seemingly insuperable odds in the material body of the approaching Mexican army. Most of The Alamo is a plant up for the giving battle. Film director John Spike Lee Hancock (The Rookie) and his screenwriters Leslie Bohem and Stephen Gaghan drop much of the film introducing us to historical figures like William Travis, James James Bowie and Davey Crockett so that when the last battle occurs, we the audience volition have invested some sort of emotional attachment. Alas, that never really happens. Patrick Edmund Wilson is insensate and remote as William Travis. I would deliver been fine with that had on that point been some sort of transformation in this character. I get the distinguishable impression that there was at some point, but it was lost in the redaction room. As it stands, we never see that gradual adhesiveness that develops between Travis and his men. There is one point in the pictorial matter when William seems to garner some respect through his actions following a canon flack on The Alamo, but that's it. I was irritated by the deficiency of development in this character. I remember existence extremely stirred by Saint Matthew Broderick's outgrowth in the movie Glory, because in that picture, we in truth experienced his slow merely powerful connexion with his troop. That sort of camaraderie is sorely deficient in The Alamo. Jason Patric has turned in some outstanding performances through his life history (see After Dark, My Sweet, Your Friends and Neighbors and Narc) only here, he falls a little flat. His James II Bowie is lacking in personality. Dennis Quaid (hamming it up with a deep voice) is not on screen enough to be all that effective. Over again, it appears that much of his screen time as SAM Houston combat injury up on the cut room trading floor. Billy Bob Thornton is a breath of novel air as a very human Davy Crockett. He's lively and delivers his dialogue with a kind of glee that is extremely fresh, particularly in this picture. Midway through the film, he gives a monologue that could have been incredibly punch-drunk, but thanks to his expert delivery and raw emotional magnate, the tantrum really deeds. Above all, I liked that Thornton played this character plainly as a man and not a mythic hero. I have to tell you that, save for Billy Bobfloat Thornton's Sir Humphrey Davy Crockett, I really didn't find myself caring for any of these characters. I didn't like their attitudes and I didn't find them particularly heroic. And somehow, by the end of this mental picture, the fight at The Alamo seemed nearly irrelevant. It was just a springboard for the actual defeat of the Mexican army which took a mere 18 minutes under the command of SAM Houston. I'm certainly non implying that this was the case in real life. Clearly, this moment in history was a good deal bigger and much more important than the film suggests. Director John Lee Hancock deserves props for his restraint. The conflict carnage in this video is a great deal less in writing than in other films that treat with scrap, and he seems to be sledding for a realistic access when re-creating the struggle sequences. Just at some point, I just started to palpate that the restrained nature wasn't intentional. I in truth began to get the impression that Mr. John Hancock bit off more than he could chew, and wasn't up to the challenge. The battle sequences here should have been much more grand and I certainly could get done without that Happy Gilmore vogue cannonball P.O.V. shot. The Alamo would have greatly benefited from a larger scope. Seriously folks, it's a bigger story than what I saw up there on the screen door. Unfortunately, this movie only never very comes alive. This is an important event to many people to be sure, merely this plastic film doesn't do history department of Justice. Perhaps we'll get an extended edit on Videodisk that fills in the numerous blanks, and makes this history a richer, fuller, more emotionally moving experience. As it stands, you're better off forgetting this special