By David DiCerto
Catholic News Service

NEW YORK (CNS) -- Set in 1836, "The Alamo" (Disney) tells the dramatic story of the 200 men whose valiant last stand against overwhelming odds rallied the cause of Texan independence from Mexico and changed the course of American history.

While the lone-star legend has already been immortalized countless times on screen (including a 1960 film starring John Wayne), most previous versions failed to capture the complexities of the historical events and personalities involved.

A lifelong student of Alamo lore, Texas-born director John Lee Hancock refrains from wall-to-wall action and flag-waving jingoism, in favor of a more character-driven study, which, despite its epic scale, results in a quite intimate portrait of unsolicited heroism.

The Alamo itself was founded in 1718 by Spanish monks as a Franciscan mission in present-day San Antonio. By 1801, the mission had been converted into military barracks and renamed after the Spanish cavalry unit stationed there -- the Alamo de Parras. Mexican troops subsequently settled into the fort around 1821, when Mexico seceded from Spain.

The main action of the movie takes place in February-March 1836, during a time when the political turmoil in Mexico had reached a boiling point. Texas was still part of Mexico, but the move to form an independent republic was gaining popularity among the territory's citizens. A year earlier the newly formed Texan militia had routed the Mexican army and captured the Alamo. Grasping the garrison's strategic value, one militia member states, "As goes the Alamo, so goes Texas."

In a move to crush the rebellion, Mexico's dictator, Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (Emilio Echevarria), personally leads a massive army to take back the Alamo. Assuming that Santa Anna would wait out the winter before making his move, the provisional Texas government mans the fort with only a small contingent of poorly disciplined conscripts.

Santa Anna arrives early, catching the Texans off-guard and ill-prepared for combat. Vastly outnumbered, the defenders -- a mix of Texians (Anglo settlers) and Tejanos (those of Mexican descent living in Texas) -- gallantly hold off the superior forces for 13 days. However, on the morning of March 6, 1836, Santa Anna's troops storm the fort. The siege becomes a slaughter, as every Texan is killed in less than 90 minutes.

Rather than focus solely on the bloody battle, Hancock chooses to view the siege through the prism of perhaps its three most famous participants: legendary frontiersman Davy Crockett (Billy Bob Thornton), demon-driven warrior Jim Bowie (Jason Patric) and brash, young William Travis (Patrick Wilson), whose spit-and-polish idealism is challenged when he assumes command of the ill-fated fort. Each of them arrives at the Alamo from different paths, but all seek the same thing -- a second chance.

Dennis Quaid plays Sam Houston, the zealous George Washington of Texas' struggle for independence, the Wellington to Santa Anna's Napoleon. It is Houston's famous battle cry, "Remember the Alamo," that rallies the Texan army to victory over Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto, six weeks after the Alamo massacre -- a scene that plays rather anticlimactically.

While taking an acceptable amount of dramatic liberty with history, the film succeeds in conveying the factual -- and, more importantly, the emotional -- truth of the events depicted. The characters are not portrayed as cardboard, comic book heroes, but flesh-and-blood men whose heroism flowed from less-than-heroic hearts. Hancock does not indulge in cheap hagiography but shows the characters in all their flawed humanity, separating man from myth. Bowie is portrayed as a drunkard and a slave owner. Travis abandoned his wife after years of serial infidelity.

While falling short of masterpiece status, "The Alamo" is a stunning piece of muscular moviemaking with its sweeping scope, panoramic big-sky cinematography, painstaking attention to historical detail, stirring score and uniformly top-notch acting -- highlighted by Thornton's show-stealing performance. The 51-acre reconstruction of the Alamo and surrounding town of San Antonio de Bexar is billed as the largest free-standing film set ever built on location in North America.

Hancock's decision to divide viewers' attention among four protagonists was risky, and could easily have resulted in a disjointed narrative, but he manages to keep his respective story lines well-pruned and clearly delineated. And though some viewers may feel that its glossy veneer at times lends a romanticizing sheen to the carnage, the movie vividly depicts the horrors of war.

The Alamo symbolizes a place where American history meets American mythology. The reason its story continues to inspire is the valuable lesson it teaches us: that courage and sacrifice are at the heart of freedom.

This "Alamo" is worth remembering.

Due to extended, intense battlefield violence and some crude language, the USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents are strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

* DiCerto is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.