Missteps May Have Doomed "The Alamo"

USA Today ^ | 04/11/2004 | SCOTT BOWLES

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

By the time its run ends in theaters, possibly within a few weeks,The Alamo may be remembered by audiences and studio executives after all.

Billy Bob Thornton was no match for Jesus as The Alamo was soundly beaten by The Passion of the Christ.

As a cautionary tale.

[Wally_Kalbacken]

The 1960 version of The Alamo essentially took John Wayne to the poorhouse. He backed a lot of the production with his own $ and it did poorly.

[Betaille]

What a freakin IDIOT! He didn't even mention the revisionist element. It's as though to the entire media, the conservative 50% of the country just plain doesn't exist.
I have never seen the media so blatantly misrepresent the reasons for media successes and failures. They are obviously horrified that people are willing to really stick it to hollywood.

[Socratic]

"...the ads just said 'this is about the Alamo.' That's probably assuming people know more than they do."

Older moviegoers, who were the target audiences for TheAlamo, still probably remember the famous John Wayne epic The Alamo from 1960."

Yeah, there's got to be an explanation SOMEWHERE in there.

[SunStar]

Billy Bob Thornton as the star of a war movie? LOL! This is the reason why it is tanking, bottom line.

[Betaille]

This really makes my blood boil. The reason for the films failure was heavily the left-wing revisionist element of the film. Yet the media willfully ignores that, and instead says "the public just isn't educated enough". Freakin snobs... no wonder they love Kerry so much.

[Paul Atreides]

I remember when the media were gleefully trumpeting the stupendous failure they were sure would be The Passion. They were just salivating all over themselves, at the prospect of the film, and Mel Gibson's career, going down the toilet. It's nice to know that their Easter Sunday meal is another heaping plateful of crow.

[PUGACHEV]

I like historical epics. I like costume dramas. I like that period of Amrican history. I even like Mexican history. This film should have been a no-brainer for me. But I am so fed up with PC Hollywood revisionist history that I have no interest in The Alamo whatsoever; I'd even pay not to see the film.

[Socratic]

"...heaping plateful of crow."

Minus the Russell

[sgtbono2002]

Geez How many time do they think they can sell the Alamo as a movie, must be 5 or 6 of them already made.

[sinkspur]

The reason for the films failure was heavily the left-wing revisionist element of the film.

I doubt that. Most Americans don't know anything about the saga of The Alamo, and likely woudn't care all that much.

It wasn't advertised, and, as the review states, there aren't any top-line stars in it.

The "revisionist" elements are subject to dispute. However, the movie's not popular in Mexico, so it must make the Texicans look pretty good.

[marajade]

I'd see anything Russell Crowe is in. Billy Bob Thornton... forget it...

[whereasandsoforth]

We must all come to the conclusion that money is not Hollywood's god after all. The destruction of our culture is their god.

[ChiMark]

This could be a prophetic sign for Pres. Bush's re-election.
People might be fed up with the liberal clap trap that comes to us hourly from the mainstream media

[Tax-chick]

What you said! I'd be happy to see an Alamo film with a good part for some Mexicans. There were some interesting personalities on the Mexican side, as well as the Tejano Mexicans fighting for their independence.

But I won't see anything with Billy Bob Thornton, and that's that.

John Wayne's movie wasn't that great, frankly, except for watching Wayne and his crew disporting about the Texas landscape (and the flamenco dancers and guitarists, whom we know :-). But this current film isn't going to be the "good one." That will have to wait.

[Paleo Conservative]

I wish Mel Gibson would make a movie about the Alamo! I bet it would fare much better than the Disney PC version.

[Betaille]

I would bet money that most people who go to historic epics are conservatives. Especially when a really cool battle is involved, lol
I don't think you realize how much power we have over hollywood. If Lord of the Rings had been made "politically correct", it would have flopped also. You must remember that while we may not be a majority population-wise... we make up the majority of the Brains and Spirit of this nation.

[Cicero]

I weep for Disney.

Even if the movie is not revisionist, most people would expect it to be, coming out of Disney and Hollywood. ALL of Disney's recent movies have been smarmy liberal pieces of junk at best and lying pieces of anti-Christian bigotry at worst.

I've been boycotting them, and I imagine a lot of other people are too. Especially the people who would make up the natural audience for a movie on The Alamo.

[William Terrell]

It wasn't advertised, and, as the review states, there aren't any top-line stars in it.

No top stars in Star Wars, either.

[stoney]

I have not yet seen the movie, but just from the reviews I have read of the movie, I'm able to draw a few conclusions.

While it is clear that the 1960 version clearly used Lon Tinkle's book - 13 Days to Glory - as it's basis, and Tinkle's book is clearly revisionistic in it's own right, the plot of this movie seems to overcompensate by being revisionist in the other direction. The truth lies somewhere in between.