Trailer
Plot summary
In 1835, Texas has rebelled against Mexico, and its president, Santa Anna, leads an army to retake San Antonio de Bexar and crush the rebellion. Sam Houston, removed as commander of the Texas army, orders Jim Bowie to San Antonio to destroy its fortifications and retreat. The provisional government instead sends William Travis to Bexar, where he takes command of the Alamo and calls for reinforcements. Davy Crockett arrives in Texas hoping to revive his political career and is surprised to find the fighting ongoing. Santa Anna's forced march brings his troops to San Antonio sooner than expected, and the Texans withdraw into the Alamo compound. A siege begins. Travis fires on the Mexican camp, and Bowie meets with Manuel Fernández Castrillón. Santa Anna offers surrender, but the defenders choose to stay.
Cast
- Robert Prentissas Albert Grimes
Show all 20 cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Alamo (2004)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
SPOILER
The Crockett scenes drew on memoirs written by José Enrique de la Peña, an officer in Santa Anna's army; accepted by many historians, this was the first film to show Crockett executed as a prisoner of war, where all others had him die during the battle.- Russell Crowe was in talks to play Sam Houston and Ethan Hawke signed on as William Barret Travis, while producer Brian Grazer wanted Sean Penn for James Bowie; after Ron Howard stepped down as director, Crowe and Hawke both exited the project.
- The film's sets, built primarily at a ranch near Austin, covered 51 acres, making it the largest set ever built in North America at the time.
- Ron Howard wanted a tougher, more graphic Alamo, "a closer cousin to Saving Private Ryan", shot in the style of Sam Peckinpah's work with an R rating and a budget of about $130 million.
- Snow-making machines were used to create the scenes of the march through the snow, and four days later an actual snow storm blanketed the set.
- First weekend earnings were only $9.1 million, and the film closed with $22.4 million domestically and $25.8 million in total against a $107 million budget, remaining one of the biggest box office bombs of all time.
