User Rating 
John Lee Hancock's lavish epic western The Alamo struggled to recoup its cost at the worldwide box office, but "it isn't a total turkey." A solid cast including Billy Bob Thornton and Dennis Quaid help record the events that took place before, during, and after the siege of the Alamo and the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836, which eventually led to the establishment of Texas as an independent state.
Bigger Is Better
Everything in Texas is bigger and better and, if you want proof of that, look no further than the 'making of' featurette Return Of The Legend. "There's not a small shot in the movie - they're all big," boasts director John Lee Hancock. Note the glint of pride in Dennis Quaid's eye as he states, "This is the largest set ever built in North America... It's breathtaking." Aside from the inevitable misty-eyed patriotism, there's also plenty of behind-the-scenes footage here and fairly detailed notes on matters ranging from production design and costumes to battle re-enactments.
In case you're not already suitably impressed by the scale of this production, there's also a narrated set tour that takes you around 70-odd buildings spread across 51 acres - a lovingly observed recreation of the town of San Antonio c1836. Once again we're reminded that this is "the biggest set ever" erected in North America. Yesiree Bob, no CG trickery here.
Tex Mex
Four deleted scenes round off the package and come with optional director's commentary - although Hancock doesn't stick around for the main event. The missing footage comprises what he calls "frivolous" moments initially designed to lighten the impending sense of doom, but eventually excised because they lightened the impending sense of doom. These include Colonel Jose Batres' (Mauricio Zatarain) clumsy courtship of a local Tejana girl and the wedding of Santa Anna (Emilio EchevarrÃa).
While the 'making of' featurette is better the average, the old Texan 'bigger is better' philosophy certainly doesn't apply to this DVD.
EXTRA FEATURES
The Alamo DVD is out to buy on Monday 27th December 2004.
