Film / The Alamo (2004)

The Alamo is a 2004 film made by Touchstone Pictures. It was directed by John Lee Hancock and starred Billy Bob Thornton as Davy Crockett.

Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, and the Texas militia try to defend the Alamo from General Santa Anna.

Not to be mistaken for John Wayne's directorial debut, The Alamo (1960).

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This film contains examples of:

• Acoustic License: The scene where Crockett plays his fiddle in harmony to Degüello is a beautiful scene, but sound simply does not allow for it to work in real life. For starters, by the time he heard it, his sound would be behind time compared to the military band. He could be watching the conductor rather than listening (something every musician learns early), but even so, sound is much much slower than light, so by the time the tune made it back to the Mexicans (if it could even be heard over that distance considering it was one fiddle versus a full military drum and bugle corps), it would be very out of time. Heck, it would even be out of time to the Texian defenders down below unless they were close enough.
• Actually Pretty Funny: After Crockett remarks that he thought Santa Anna would be taller, the soldiers around look nervous, but Santa Anna gives a wry smile.
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Several Mexicans are shown desperately trying to communicate with the Texians and surrender in the end, but due to the language barrier (and the heat of the battle) almost none succeed. Travis' slave, as well, once he sees his master fall in battle, retreats to a secluded room, gathers what few belongings he has, and starts reciting "Soy negro, no disparo" in case the Mexicans break in. We never see what happens to him^note Historically, he survived.
  • Averted with Crockett, who doesn't beg even after he is told Santa Anna will spare him if he asks for his mercy. He more or less tells him (in front of all his men and generals) to fuck off.
• Arrow Cam: One shot follows a cannonball as it is fired from a Mexican cannon, before it harmlessly lands in the Alamo grounds, doing no harm to anyone or even exploding as others like it normally do.
• Artistic License – History: The film went out of its way to be extremely accurate, but a few inaccuracies did slip in.
  • While Crockett was a violinist and he would fiddle to drown out Degüello after he tired of hearing it, the tune he plays on his violin at the party before the siege, "Listen to the Mockingbird", was not written until 1855, 19 years after the war had ended.
  • The scene where Crockett takes a shot at Santa Anna. In actuality, this was done by Micajah Autry.
  • Santa Anna is portrayed as greying and implied to be on the far side of middle-aged, but he was only in his early forties at the time in real life and contemporary portraits show him with dark hair.
  • Possibly, regarding Crockett's death. Historians can't seem to agree on how he died. Either he was captured and executed (as the film shows) or he died during the fighting, and there are several supposed eyewitness accounts for either. Complicating matters is that the claim of executing prisoners may have been done by Mexicans to vilify Santa Anna, while Texian accounts have Crockett dying in action, surrounded by enemy corpses, which of course would add to his already larger than life figure. For his part Santa Anna himself never claimed to have executed such a celebrity as Crockett, and supposedly had the mayor of San Antonio identify Crockett among the dead, along with the other Texian leaders.
  • The way Santa Anna was identified after being captured at San Jacinto. Historically, he was identified by a single Mexican soldier, and his identity was confirmed beyond all doubt when it was discovered he was wearing expensive undergarments. Here, he's identified when a group of captured Mexican soldiers impulsively stand at rapt attention upon seeing him with other captured soldiers, and in a private's uniform, no less.
  • General Castrillon was not bludgeoned to death; he was shot. It was also agreed after the fact that this was an accident and that Castrillon should not have been killed, which is alluded to with the horrified look on the Texian soldier's face as he watches.
  • Juan Seguin and his men put pieces of cardboard in the brims of their hats to avoid being mistaken for Mexican soldiers, not playing cards.
  • The ending makes it seem like selling Texas was a desperate decision made to save his own life, but Santa Anna's negotiations over Texas' independence lasted for three weeks, during which time several treaties were signed, which saw Mexico remove all federal military men from the territory and set the borders as everything east and north of the Rio Grande river, and also to allow the territory to self-govern (though they never actually recognized the Texas territory as truly independent; Texas joining the Union was one of many things that led to the Mexican-American War).
• Battle Strip: Sam Houston and James Grant at the strategy meeting start quickly removing clothing when Houston calls Grant a "scottish catamite" and Grant (naturally) doesn't take too kindly to this. They get interrupted by Jim Bowie barging in.
• Bayonet Ya: Particularly in the final battle of the Alamo, the bayonets are used to allow the Mexican army to approach stealthily and kill any sentries that are sleeping at their posts. Bowie gets several to the chest, and Crockett is executed with these rather than be shot.
• Big Bad: General Santa Anna is the one leading the charge to take the Alamo.
• Big Freaking Gun: The 18-pounder cannon at the Alamo was designed to take on ships. The defenders load it with nails and scrap iron and use it to mow down swaths of Mexican infantry, shotgun-style. Houston tasks Bowie with retrieving it, to deny the Mexican army that gun if they take the mission, to have one more big gun for the Texian army, and to give the defenders one less reason to be confident in their defenses and to get out and live to fight another day, but he ultimately fails.
• Bittersweet Ending: All the Alamo defenders die, but their heroic deaths spur Sam Houston's army into action at San Jacinto, and they win the battle in 18 minutes.
• Bling of War: Davy Crockett lampshades this aspect of Santa Anna at one point, calling him a peacock. Notably, William Travis also quite likes his gaudy uniform. His Establishing Character Moment is ordering a showy uniform from a tailor, with gold bullion buttons.
• Bolivian Army Ending: Crockett's last stand ultimately subverts this trope, as it cuts away while the remaining five defenders engage the Mexican soldiers rushing them. Then it cuts to Crockett, the final survivor, kneeling and captive in front of Santa Anna, who wishes to humiliate Crockett and make him beg for his life. Crockett refuses to comply.
• Boom, Headshot!: How Travis dies. It was purely an accident, too. The Child Soldier we've been following in the Mexican army saw said character looking down at him, panicked, and fired his gun without aiming.
• Brick Joke: An early scene shows a stage actor dressed up as Davy Crockett and telling a bunch of whoppers. Later, one of the Alamo volunteers recalls seeing a similar show and is disappointed to learn that the man he saw wasn't the real Davy Crockett.
• Can't Kill You, Still Need You:
  • Presumably why the Spanish general with a pointed beard and mustache is among the living after the battle of San Jacinto—he's the only Mexican commander shown to be able to speak English.
  • Santa Anna too. The Texians want to hang him from the tree they're standing at. Houston knows this is a mistake and refuses to allow it, because he needs Santa Anna to sign over any kind of rights to Texas.
• Child Soldier: One of the Mexican soldiers is a boy or young teen. It is he who shoots Travis - while panicking, not even aiming, as Travis takes aim at him. In the novelization, he gets butchered by Texians at San Jacinto in their bloodlust.
• Combat Pragmatist: Sam Houston's leadership style earns him a lot of criticism, but his methods work.
  • Initially, he felt that defending the Alamo was a mistake, and wanted to remove any reason to be in San Antonio de Bexar, so he tasked Bowie to retrieve the heaviest cannon in the mission and return with it to bolster their armies' artillery and deny the Mexican army the mission's strongest armament. Unfortunately, Bowie and Travis were trapped in the mission before Bowie could ferry the cannon away.
  • Later, rather than face Santa Anna head-on, Houston is baiting Santa Anna to chase his smaller force by staying just out of reach. A letter from David Burnett criticizes him for it, but he explains his plan to Juan Seguin and a few of his trusted generals, showing that there's a plan in place, as he is waiting for Santa Anna to make a crucial mistake. When he does (splitting the army to try and out-flank him), he pounces and seizes victory in less than twenty minutes.
• Deconstruction: David Crockett deconstructs the Living Legend trope. He talks about how most of the legendary elements were only applied thanks to the play that was made about him, which is why he started wearing the cap and leathers, because everyone had come to expect it. In reality, as he says to everyone, he was not much different from anyone else there.
  • By the end, however, he makes the conscious decision to reconstruct it by showing off to the Mexican troops that have him at their mercy after he sees one of the younger soldiers wearing a coon-skin hat. Even before, he nods to it when the Texians in the Alamo ask him about his war experiences, and he admits that he, like them, would love nothing more than to get away if an opportunity presents itself, but because of this legendary status, and because everyone is looking to him, he doesn't.
• Defiant to the End: Crockett, captured by Santa Anna, is given the opportunity to beg for his life. He responds by calling him "Santanna", joking that he was Expecting Someone Taller, asking to take Santa Anna to Sam Houston so that Santa Anna can surrender, and then on the order of his death, screaming at the top of his lungs at the executing soldiers as he is bayonetted to death.
• Dirty Coward: Santa Anna tries to flee on horseback during the Battle of San Jacinto. Castrillon sees this and simply turns to face his death at the hands of the onrushing defenders in disgust. When Santa Anna is caught later, in a private's uniform, no less, his men are shown to look completely betrayed.
• Exactly What I Aimed At: Inverted. Crockett shoots a decorative shoulder-tassel from Santa Anna's uniform (while Santa Anna is dismissing the "exaggerations" of Crocket's rifle skill as a Mexican soldier relays all of Crockett's legendary feats to him). As Santa Anna panics, Crockett turns over to his fellow defender and faux-sheepishly comments "Wind kicked up."
• Face Death with Dignity:
  • The Texians in general. Travis offers to allow any of them to desert if they desired. No one does. Historically, however, one person did desert the siege. Juan Seguin even expresses outrage at Houston for not being allowed to return to the Alamo to die with them.
  • Bowie, hearing the sounds of the final battle, calmly unbuttons his clothes, loads two of his pistols and takes two of them with him.
  • Crockett acts Defiant to the End in front of Santa Anna, despite confiding in Bowie earlier in the film that he really was pretty scared of what was coming, but because everyone was looking to him due to his legend, he knew he needed to set an example.
  • General Castrillon, as the Texians overwhelm the Mexican camp, which contrasts with Santa Anna's cowardice. He sees the approaching Texians, folds his arms, and simply waits until he is smashed in the face with the butt end of a rifle and brutalized.
  • Santa Anna is a total aversion, and lives. He attempts to flee the battle, disguises himself as a private to get away, gets caught anyway, and looks more humiliated than dignified as the Texians call for his blood around him.
• Famed In-Story: Both Crockett and Bowie were already legends by the time they get to the Alamo to defend it.
  • Crockett deconstructs it, talking about how most of his outdoorsman/frontiersman feats were exaggerated by folklore like the play seen earlier in the film, and how he really is just another man like them.
  • In contrast Bowie just shrugs and accepts it, and he and Crockett discuss the "Sandbar Fight" which made him and his namesake knife famous. After Crockett takes a look at Bowie's knife and brings the fight up, Bowie at first chides him for believing everything he reads about (Crockett retorts that he only heard about it) but then he corrects Crockett on the details, saying that he was shot thrice, not twice.
• Feet of Clay: Crockett expresses the sentiment that he, himself, is an example of this trope, being propped up by public opinion and overblown stories about his so-called exploits. He's not, but it makes for a poignant moment.
  Crockett: (on being asked if he wanted to run) "If it was just me, simple old David from Tennessee, I might drop over that wall some night, take my chances. But that Davy Crockett feller... they're all watchin' him."
• Final Battle: For the siege, on the thirteenth day. For the war for independence, at San Jacinto.
• Foil:
  • Bowie and Travis are the most apparent. Both are military men with marriage trouble who love to bring up the other's trouble to antagonize them. Travis is a career uncompromising military man and is very unpopular, very much an Honor Before Reason kind of person, whereas Bowie is much more pragmatic and more well-liked by the general populace. Travis only earns Bowie's respect when he picks up a still-smoking cannonball (that could explode at any moment), carries it back to a cannon, and has it fired right back at the Mexicans, and after that, they start to get along much better.
  • Crockett and Bowie. Both are living legends that are highly respected by their men. Bowie, however, is hot-headed, a drunk, clashes with Travis, and neither embraces nor shrugs off the living legend status, acting almost apathetic about it. Crockett, however, is temperate, humble, never loses his cool, and actively seems uncomfortable with his status. He and Bowie even talk about their respective legends, albeit jokingly, before the conversation turns more serious about their situation.
  • Houston and Santa Anna. Houston even nods to it himself, privately comparing himself to Wellington (though he doesn't consider himself as such) to Santa Anna's Napoleon, as Santa Anna has been calling himself "the Napoleon of the West" (though whether he started it or someone else started sharing the name is never made clear). Both are accomplished military leaders, but both find themselves in contrasting positions. Santa Anna is on the prowl, decimating the Texians left and right, but these victories are little more than massacres. Houston, however, is moving his army deliberately, baiting a chase, hoping Santa Anna will make a mistake. When Santa Anna splits his army to try and outflank Houston, Houston turns right around and attacks head-on. And in the heat of post-battle victory, both men made decisions that countered what their men wanted. Santa Anna ordered Crockett executed despite pleas from Castrillon. Houston demanded the territory of Texas instead of simply executing the general as his men screamed for it.
  • Castrillon and Santa Anna. Both are experienced Mexican military generals in their middle-aged years of life. However, Castrillon shows much more concern for his soldiers, whereas Santa Anna sees his large force as simple resources. They butt heads many times over this. Castrillon even begs Santa Anna to spare Crockett after the siege. Finally, in the Battle of San Jacinto, Santa Anna tries to flee in his undergarments, while Castrillon watches, and Castrillon simply turns back to the battle (looking almost amused as Santa Anna flees), and later stares down his death without making any attempt to flee.
• Foregone Conclusion: The film opens with a messenger running into Houston's camp and proclaiming news of the fall of the Alamo, and we see the Mexican soldiers prowling the fort with the dead lying around. Not to mention it's The Alamo. We all know how that section of the film ends.
• Gallows Humor: The defenders are realistic about their odds of survival.
• Genius Bruiser: Crockett shows himself to be a shrewd tactician and leader in addition to being a badass on the front lines. He also displays a great deal of wit and guile when dealing with his own men.
• Grey-and-Gray Morality: The Mexicans get a lot more sympathy and a scene where their motives are explained, and one very young Mexican private is one of the recurring Everyman characters who witness the action. Jim Bowie and William Travis, the leaders of the plucky defenders, are also accurately depicted as slaveowners, with Bowie even spitefully denying Sam his manumission papers on his deathbed.^note Though the specifics of this incident may be fictional - a man named Sam was owned by Bowie at one point, but his presence at the Alamo is a matter of tradition, not history, and the real man's fate is unknown.
• How We Got Here: The film opens with the aftermath of the Battle of the Alamo, all the defenders dead. Then it goes into a Flashback starting one year earlier until the end of the battle, then continues with the rest of the war, finally ending with the Battle of San Jacinto.
• Humble Hero: Crockett, in stark contrast to both Bowie and Travis, and especially Santa Anna. Where Bowie and Travis argue over the leadership of the Texians at the beginning, and where Santa Anna does not tolerate his plans being questioned by his generals or other subordinates, Crockett is a Father to His Men, constantly refers to himself by his actual name and not his larger than life persona's nickname, always downplays his own fame, and is always willing to hear them out, but when someone suggests he be the one to lead the Texians, he shoots that suggestion down.
  Crockett: "No, I'm with you fellers, not above you."
• I Gave My Word: Seguin is not thrilled that Houston orders him to stay with his main army instead of returning to the Alamo as promised. He does end up fulfilling his promise in the end, returning to bury the fallen defenders.
• Iconic Item:
  • Crockett's raccoon-skin hat that he admits to Bowie he only started to wear after the actors in heavily dramatized plays about Crockett's life made it an iconic part of his look. Crockett also wears his Iconic Outfit, a buckskin coat along with the coonskin hat, only when he arrives at the Alamo. But earlier he is watching such a play about himself and the actor portraying him wears the full outfit.
  • The original Bowie knife. As Bowie is bayonetted to death, he reaches out to grab it at his bedside, but fails, in contrast to other depictions which have him getting a last stab or two in. Alternately, he tries to grab the picture of his wife next to it instead in the novelization of the film (from the script?).
• Improbable Aiming Skills: A Mexican soldier is pleading with Santa Anna to believe the rumors of Crockett's touted rifle-aiming skill, while Santa Anna just gives him Skeptical looks. Crockett then shoots the epaulet off Santa Anna's shoulder.
• In Medias Res: The film opens after the battle, before flashing back to show How We Got Here.
• Incurable Cough of Death: Bowie. He starts coming down with a sickness on arriving in San Antonio, and it goes a bit further than most examples of the trope because we see him coughing up blood into a handkerchief and it progressively getting worse and worse. According to him when speaking with Crockett, it could be one or all of consumption, typhoid, or pneumonia (historically, it was most likely tuberculosis). It finally causes him to become bedridden, where he remains until his death. In the real world, it is unknown if he died from this disease before the final battle, but in this movie, he is still lucid enough and capable of taking two attackers with him.
• Insistent Terminology: Crockett prefers David to Davy.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Bowie is a blunt Deadpan Snarker who never holds back when it comes to people he doesn't like, such as Travis. Travis has a multitude of vices that he is dealing with that he gets very prickly about when they're brought up. The two of them bickering make for most of the Texian drama in the film. But when they start to respect each other, they both show a much more likable side underneath. Travis even tries to save Bowie's life by getting him out of the Alamo, but Bowie refuses to allow it to happen.
  Travis: We could try to get you out with an escort. If you're captured, perhaps given your condition, mercy would be extended.
  Bowie: I don't deserve mercy. I do deserve a drink. You got anything stronger than water? (he grins)
  Travis: I don't drink, Jim, you know that. I gamble, go to whores, run off on wives... but drinking, I draw the line.
  Bowie: You know, if you live five more years, you might just be a great man.
  Travis: I think I will probably have to settle for what I am now.
• Kick the Dog: Santa Anna has a captive Crockett bayonetted to death instead of simply shooting him, and it is implied he does this because Crockett refused to let himself be humiliated in front of the Mexican army, simply telling Santa Anna to take Crockett to Houston so that the Mexicans can surrender.
• Last Stand: The final battle in a nutshell, but there are smaller, minor ones in it.
  • Earlier, the defenders dig "fallback trenches" in case the walls are breached. About halfway through the battle, several seconds of footage show just how many Texians fell back to said trenches only to find themselves backed against a wall, and just be massacred by the Mexicans, averting this trope.
  • A shot toward the end of the final battle of the Alamo shows Crockett and five of his men, backed up and fighting to the last man as the Mexican army rushes toward them. All but Crockett die, and Crockett ends up taken prisoner, before ultimately being put to death himself.
• Leave No Survivors: The Mexican army allows no quarter, even when it is tradition to spare at least some of the prisoners. Part of this is because Santa Anna is hoping to enforce his will. At San Antonio de Bexar, it is mainly as a result of Travis firing on the Mexican troops while Bowie was trying to negotiate allowing the Mexicans to take the Alamo, which Santa Anna does not take kindly to.
  Santa Anna: If we follow tradition, these women will remember that it was fate who took their loved ones from them. But now, they will remember that it was Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.
• Let's Split Up, Gang!: After the Battle of the Alamo, Santa Anna begins his pursuit of Houston's army, though they are unable to catch up to him. So Santa Anna splits up his army in an attempt to catch up to him, and also to try and flank. This proves costly, as now with weaker numbers, the Texian army turns right around and takes them completely by surprise, overwhelming them in the Battle of San Jacinto in just 18 minutes.
• Living Legend:
  • Davy Crockett was a well-known frontiersman, sharpshooter, and Congressman.
  • Jim Bowie had survived an infamous brawl known as the Sandbar Fight where he took on three other men with only his knife to defend himself. Bowie's knife was as legendary as he was.
• Lyrical Dissonance: More like Title dissonance, but we have this exchange on the first night.
  *The Mexican army begins playing a drum and bugle number*
  Crockett: Mighty nice of them to serenade us like this.
  Travis: It's a cavalry march, but I'm told Santa Anna fancies it for other uses. He borrowed it from the Spaniards, the Spaniards from the Moors. It's called "Deguello."
  Crockett: Kinda pretty.
  Travis: Deguello means "slit throat."
  * beat, Crockett gives Travis a look*
  Crockett: *softer, clearly put-off* Ain't that pretty.
• Meaningful Echo: The play actor praises Crockett and announces his presence at the play, before gesturing to him and saying "Good evening, Mr. Crockett." David rather bashfully stands up and lets everyone applaud, before grinning and replying "Good evening, Mr. Crockett," to the actor, much to everyone's amusement.
• Mirroring Factions: The Texian and Mexican soldiers, who are all equally terrified of the bloodbath they know is coming.
• Mr. Vice Guy: Bowie and Travis both have some serious issues even if you look past how they own slaves. Bowie is a drunk, hotheaded, and according to Travis, he married a woman to try and inherit her father's money. Travis, meanwhile, gambles, is sexually promiscuous, and abandoned his wife and son to pursue his military career. All of these issues are serious Berserk Buttons for both men, and they are not afraid to push each other's.
• Music for Courage: The Mexican army would always play a fanfare called "Degüello" (Slit Throat) before they started their bombardment. Hours before the last stand, Davy Crockett steps up the rafters and plays in harmony with them on his fiddle to boost morale. It even causes the Mexican army to not fire a shot in that evening's bombardment.
• My God, What Have I Done?: A rebel officer notices General Castrillon getting undeservedly butchered during the battle of San Jacinto and gives a look of pure shame and disgust.
• Never Bring a Gun to a Knife Fight: Discussed in Bowie's backstory, as he got into a gunfight/brawl and survived despite being seriously wounded (including getting shot several times and stabbed in the chest with a Sword Cane), and killed his attacker with his knife. The movie actually downplays this a bit, leaving out that it was a group brawl of several men devolving/erupting from a formal one-on-one duel, so Bowie had faced multiple opponents with guns while only using his knife, that he not only killed one man but also maimed another, and that Bowie was not even one of the two original duellists.
• Nice Mean And In Between:
  • Nice: Crockett, well-liked by both men and their subordinates, and acts as a mediator between Travis and Bowie.
  • Mean: Bowie, the irrepressible, hotheaded, charismatic volunteer not afraid to speak his mind.
  • Inbetween: Travis, a young leader trying to prove himself a capable military leader and trying to do what's right, but angering everyone in the process.
• No Name Given: The young woman that seems to fancy Santa Anna early on reappears in bed with him later with a morose look. Based on the context, it is possible she is meant to allude to Emily D. West, the "Yellow Rose of Texas", who was forced to travel with Santa Anna from San Antonio and, according to legend, distracted Santa Anna at San Jacinto with sex, which is why he was caught unawares.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Crockett is visibly unnerved when he first arrives at the Alamo and is told that Santa Anna hasn't been repelled from the area and may return.
  • Travis, when he looks upon the Mexicans surrounding San Antonio de Bexar for the first time.
  • Crockett notices something is off as he's plucking his violin on the night of the last battle, and you can see his expression change as he realizes what's going on, before he peeks over the wall, before hurriedly reaching down, grabbing his gun, and firing a shot.
• One Sided Battle: Only a few hundred men defend the Alamo versus over a thousand Mexicans. The defenders hold out well, until they're overwhelmed in final battle during the climax, but it is never portrayed as anything other than a matter of when, not if.
• Please Spare Him, My Liege!: General Castrillon begs Santa Anna to spare Crockett's life. It doesn't work.
• Pyrrhic Victory: While the Battle of the Alamo was a tactical and strategic victory for Santa Anna, several shots show just how many men he lost trying to take it in the end.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: The Battle of San Jacinto, for both the Alamo and the Battle of Goliad that happened earlier. Until one Mexican general formally surrendered, the battle might have been called a massacre.
• Rousing Speech: Sam Houston gives one prior to the battle of San Jacinto.
  Gen. Sam Houston: You will remember this battle! You will remember each minute of it! Each second! 'Til the day that you die! But that is for tomorrow, gentlemen! For today... REMEMBER THE ALAMO! The hour is at hand!
• Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Travis in spades. It drives Bowie up the wall.
  Travis: Colonel, I became a little heated with you in front of your men. It was ill-advised and not terribly professional.
  Bowie: Don't worry about it. Most of my men didn't even understand the words you were usin'.
  Travis: It's important that you and I agree. For me, though we are poorly supplied, surrender is not an option. I submit that we engage and delay until reinforcements arrive.
  Bowie: Sometimes it's just the way you say things, Travis. I swear to God.
• Shrouded in Myth: Davy Crockett had a BIG reputation. Lampshaded when Crockett admits to the temptation to bolt if given the chance, but knows that everyone (including history) is looking at him to be a hero.
• Slobs Versus Snobs: The Regulars (career military men) vs the Volunteers start this way, though it's more pronounced in their commanders, Travis and Bowie. Once they're all in the mission, people stop caring, especially once Travis carries the primed cannonball bomb back to a cannon and sends it back to Santa Anna.
• Smug Snake: Santa Anna. At one point, when asked about the legitimate concern of how many soldiers he's willing to lose, he simply brushes it off with a comment about how soldiers' lives are little more than chickens'.
• Shown Their Work: The film took Artistic License with some things but overall was very accurate, especially compared to the 1960 version. To wit, they built a full-scale recreation of San Antonio de Bexar and the Alamo fortress as it was during the siege to do all of their filming in.
• Taking You with Me: Bowie shoots two soldiers dead with a pistol in each hand seconds before he's killed in his sickbed. He died reaching for his knife.
• Tempting Fate: "The Mexican Army would have to march 500 miles in the dead of winter to get here before I return." They do.
• This Is Gonna Suck: Once the Mexicans signal they won't be taking prisoners, Travis suggests only the officers will be killed. Crockett's response to this?
  Davy Crockett: I think we all just got promoted.
• Token Good Teammate: Mexican General Manuel Castrillon. He wants to reduce Mexican casualties, shows some amount of sympathy for the Texians, begs Santa Anna to spare Davy Crockett's life, and is visibly disgusted by Santa Anna's cruelty and arrogance. Sadly, it doesn't save him from the Texians' wrath at San Jacinto.
• Villain Song: The Mexican army plays Degüello, which translates to 'slit throat', to tell the Texians that they wouldn't be taking prisoners. Subverted, as they do (temporarily) take Crockett prisoner in the end.
• War Is Hell: A prominent theme when seen from the defenders' point of view. Most notably seen by Crockett as he comforts a dying Mexican soldier who was desperately trying to crawl back away, and thereafter affecting his mood for the rest of the film, and also discussed by Crockett. When asked about his experience in the Red Stick War. Crockett tells them the story of his experience, where they trapped several Creeks in a house, before deciding to simply burn it down with everyone in it. He describes how everyone inside was cooked alive, and the natural oils of their burning bodies cooked a cache of potatoes, which the hungry militia men then devoured, something that has stuck with Crockett ever since.
  Crockett: Since then, you pass the taters... I pass them right back.
  • A Mexican soldier is also shown grieving over his brother, one of the few "Tejanos" (in modern terms, Hispanic-American Texan) among the mostly "Texian" (Anglo-American Texan) defenders.
• We ARE Struggling Together: The Regulars and Volunteers do not get along at first. It also helps that nobody likes Travis being in command of the fort. The only people everyone likes is Crockett and his men. Following an incident where Travis picks up a cannonball that could explode at any moment and carries it to a cannon to be fired back at the Mexicans, everyone starts respecting each other a lot more.
• We Have Reserves: Santa Anna says to an underling concerned about casualties that he shouldn't worry because soldiers are nothing but "so many chickens".
• Worthy Opponent: It's implied this is part of the reason General Castrillon asks Santa Anna to spare Crockett, in addition to knowing that if they did kill him, it would no doubt add fuel to the fire that the Battle of the Alamo had lit in the rest of the Texians. A deleted scene even shows Castrillon and the Mexican army leaving San Antonio de Bexar to the jeers of the Texian army, and while he looks shamed, he also looks quite impressed with said defenders.
• You Shall Not Pass!: Crockett and his men put in for defending the palisade, the weakest section of the Alamo wall (literally a wooden fence stuck between high stone walls). By the end of the battle, their wall is the only wall that did not fall, until they are forced to abandon it after the rest of the walls are overrun.
• Zerg Rush: Santa Anna's entire strategy in the final assault. It works, but there are multiple wide shots that show how heavy a price the Mexicans paid just getting in.

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