BruiseLee
Enlightened
I was lucky enough to enjoy one of the first screenings of The Alamo.
Warning: major plot spoilers ahead!!!
Let me begin by saying that even after The Alamo falls, the movie is only 2/3 over. It also shows the defeat of Santa Ana's army by Sam Houston at the battle of San Jacinto(sp?).
Billy Bob Thornton does an amazing job portraying Davy Crockett. It is mind boggling to think at one time in this country's history a congressman would actually fire a rifle and give his life for what he believed in. There is a scene in the movie where he snipes at Santa Ana and blows the General's shoulder patch off. Makes you think about the value of one skilled marksman, doesn't it?
I'm sure you all want to hear about Jim Bowie. Jason Patic plays him in the movie. He makes a big show of pulling out his HUGE bowie knife at least twice in the movie, once in an arguement with Sam Houston, another time to show it to Davy Crockett. I was hoping he would score some successes with it fighting from his sick bed, but alas he is skewered reaching for his trusty companion.
The actor who played Col. Travis looked way too young to me. He looked like a kid, but my knowledge of history isn't the best so maybe he was quite young in real life.
The Hispanic actor who played Santa Ana was a great villian. He portrays a real evil guy, leering at women, throwing temper tantrums, and not caring about the lives of his men. Again, I'm not sure how factual this is, but it certainly made for a good movie.
I was glad to see that in this version of The Alamo, there are Mexicans fighting inside The Alamo on the sides of the Texans, which is historically accurate. I was also happy that the stories of the African-American slaves that occupied the Alamo were included.
I will say that the scene of the final Mexican assault was INTENSE. You really got the sense of being totally overwhelmed. There is an aerial shot where you could literally see thousands of Mexican soldiers swarming all four walls of the Alamo.
There are a lot of shots of the Alamos cannon's firing what I assume is grapeshot, tearing house size holes in the Mexicans ranks. There is also a really cool shot where the audience gets the point of view of a Mexican cannonball arching into The Alamo.
I thought the movie moved along at a good pace, although I heard a few people say it was a bit slow at the start. I have to say that I did enjoy it overall. Come to think of it, there was one shot that really bothered me. The Commander of The Alamo is telling Col. Travis that to get to the Alamo the Mexican army would have to travel 300 miles in the middle of winter. The movie cuts to the Mexican army marching through a snow storm like it was Valley Forge! Now I've lived in California over 40 years, which is obviously north of Mexico. Other than in the mountains, I've never seen an actual snow storm in San Francisco or Los Angeles. Does it actually snow around the Rio Grande?
Bruise
Warning: major plot spoilers ahead!!!
Let me begin by saying that even after The Alamo falls, the movie is only 2/3 over. It also shows the defeat of Santa Ana's army by Sam Houston at the battle of San Jacinto(sp?).
Billy Bob Thornton does an amazing job portraying Davy Crockett. It is mind boggling to think at one time in this country's history a congressman would actually fire a rifle and give his life for what he believed in. There is a scene in the movie where he snipes at Santa Ana and blows the General's shoulder patch off. Makes you think about the value of one skilled marksman, doesn't it?
I'm sure you all want to hear about Jim Bowie. Jason Patic plays him in the movie. He makes a big show of pulling out his HUGE bowie knife at least twice in the movie, once in an arguement with Sam Houston, another time to show it to Davy Crockett. I was hoping he would score some successes with it fighting from his sick bed, but alas he is skewered reaching for his trusty companion.
The actor who played Col. Travis looked way too young to me. He looked like a kid, but my knowledge of history isn't the best so maybe he was quite young in real life.
The Hispanic actor who played Santa Ana was a great villian. He portrays a real evil guy, leering at women, throwing temper tantrums, and not caring about the lives of his men. Again, I'm not sure how factual this is, but it certainly made for a good movie.
I was glad to see that in this version of The Alamo, there are Mexicans fighting inside The Alamo on the sides of the Texans, which is historically accurate. I was also happy that the stories of the African-American slaves that occupied the Alamo were included.
I will say that the scene of the final Mexican assault was INTENSE. You really got the sense of being totally overwhelmed. There is an aerial shot where you could literally see thousands of Mexican soldiers swarming all four walls of the Alamo.
There are a lot of shots of the Alamos cannon's firing what I assume is grapeshot, tearing house size holes in the Mexicans ranks. There is also a really cool shot where the audience gets the point of view of a Mexican cannonball arching into The Alamo.
I thought the movie moved along at a good pace, although I heard a few people say it was a bit slow at the start. I have to say that I did enjoy it overall. Come to think of it, there was one shot that really bothered me. The Commander of The Alamo is telling Col. Travis that to get to the Alamo the Mexican army would have to travel 300 miles in the middle of winter. The movie cuts to the Mexican army marching through a snow storm like it was Valley Forge! Now I've lived in California over 40 years, which is obviously north of Mexico. Other than in the mountains, I've never seen an actual snow storm in San Francisco or Los Angeles. Does it actually snow around the Rio Grande?
Bruise
