The Alamo
Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: April 9, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
47
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 38 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
24
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
It's a well-crafted, intelligent, no-nonsense western epic that zips us through the famous siege and the birth of Texas with style, verve and impressive historical accuracy. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
It somehow succeeds in taking those pop-culture brand names like Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie and giving them human form. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Alamo buffs will be delighted, and everyone else will be treated to something that feels like Old Hollywood crossed with new sensibilities. Read full review
70
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Its egotistical, wishy-washy and otherwise flawed protagonists are no less heroic because they look -- and act -- like you and me. On the contrary, they are more so. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Thoughtful and complex. Read full review
70
TimeRichard Corliss
Politics aside, this is a handsome film with orange skies to die for, or under, and a lovely score by Carter Burwell. The picture has some ponderous and snooze-worthy stretches, but it attains a certain melancholic grandeur, with the actors and crew fighting as desperately as Crockett and Bowie to make the best of a fated adventure. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Except for a handful of scenes, Hancock's film isn't good enough to be memorable. Neither is it bad enough to be entirely forgettable. It's just one of those compromised movies that makes one look forward to the director's cut. Read full review
63
USA TodayMike Clark
Thornton is excellent and now seems genetically incapable of being anything less than great in any role he takes. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
The real struggle in The Alamo is between historic revisionism and Hollywood notions of sacrifice, and it's not much of a contest: Hollywood wins, as it did in John Wayne's sprawling, factually spurious 1960 film. Read full review
60
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
The 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. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
A respectable and at times an exciting film that should appeal to males of all ages, history buffs and -- yes, it's inevitable -- patriots. Read full review
60
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Refreshingly revisionist in the sense that it takes a relatively clear-eyed view of the messy lives and equivocal circumstances of many of the key participants. Read full review
60
Film ThreatRick Kisonak
While the massacre is a wall-shaking and effective bit of high decibel drama, some of the movie's best moments come during the Texans' long brave wait for almost certain death. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Never harmonizes into a cinematic experience any more resonant than the average, manly, why-we-fight pic, or coalesces into a stirring cry for freedom. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianKaren Karbo
Hancock's direction isn't flashy, and the pacing is a little curious...Still, he has the quiet chutzpah to suggest that a man can be both flawed and heroic, cowardly in his personal life and noble in his public one. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The good news first: The Alamo is probably the most historically accurate depiction yet to reach the screen of the famous siege. The bad news is that "historically accurate" does not necessarily translate into "dramatically successful." Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Turns into an edited-for-TV version of Sam Peckinpah's "The Wild Bunch"--flat, bloodless, and utterly bereft of period grit. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyChuck Wilson
Pinned down and smelling death, the men grow into fully realized human beings, which makes for some fine performances, but doesn't exactly propel this epic, richly detailed film forward. The battle, when it finally comes, is brief, admirably non-gory and rather dull. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMark Caro
A professionally made movie, just not an essential one. There's little fresh or provocative here, and if you can't be shaken by this story, why bother? Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
Thornton lends gravity, focus and humor that are otherwise in short supply in this serious-minded but meandering, talky and action-deficient epic. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Tries to be all things to all people and winds up a tedious muddle. Read full review
50
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Thank goodness for Davy Crockett; without him, the Alamo could have proven the blandest heroic siege in movie history. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleCarla Meyer
The brave men who fought and perished at the Alamo believed fervently in their cause. For The Alamo to work, the audience must believe as well. That never really happens. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Rousing? Sort of. Never before, one feels, have so few given so much for so much real estate. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
It’s The Alamo, all right, but will anyone want to remember it? Read full review
50
NewsweekDavid Ansen
Along the way, not just the storytelling but the original intention has gotten muddled. You leave The Alamo uncertain of what you're meant to feel: is this a celebration of patriotic sacrifice or an illustration of war's futility? Read full review
40
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
A misshapen semi-spectacle that seems to be simulating an epic, and getting away with it only occasionally.
40
Los Angeles TimesManohla Dargis
Driven by different agendas, history and movies often tell two irreconcilable stories, which is why, despite some glints of talent, Hancock has given us yet another film and another Alamo to forget. Read full review
40
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
Thornton's performance is lost in a film that is more of a schematic success than a dramatic one. Read full review
40
SlateDavid Edelstein
Thanks to Hancock's evasive storytelling, it's never clear why Houston moved so slowly or why so few Texians came to the Alamo's aid. The middle of the movie is pokey and unfocused--and, given the circumstances, bizarrely lacking in urgency. Read full review
40
Film ThreatPete Vonder Haar
Deserves credit for beautiful sets and the obvious care that went into reconstructing the old town of San Antonio de Bexar, as well as for Thornton’s performance. Unfortunately, the stultifying dialogue and lack of real tension sink the film. Read full review
40
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
As directed by John Lee Hancock, it's dull, talky, and sometimes maudlin. Read full review
40
EmpireWill Lawrence
In spite of two great performances, this is a muddled affair. Read full review
38
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
As Disney-fied as "Pinocchio," barely challenging the images Americans have treasured for 150 years. Read full review
38
PremierePeter Debruge
The studio wimped out, and the result is a lesser production on every level: talent, script, content, and purpose. Read full review
30
Washington PostDesson Thomson
These storied 13 days feel like the Hundred Years War. Read full review
25
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
In short, it's dull, derivative, and as lifelike as a heap of historical figurines. Few will remember this Alamo for long. Read full review
25
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
There is so much that is wrong with The Alamo that it is easier to begin with what the movie gets right: Davy Crockett. As played by Billy Bob Thornton. Read full review
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