Film Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Film Review - Essay Example he film highlights the battle of the Alamo and the 189 Texians (American-born Texans) and Tejanos (Mexican-born Texans) who â€Å"gave their lives† so that â€Å"a nation might live,† central to the film is Sam Houston and his role in the founding of an independent Texas. In 1835, the Texans had achieved partial success in capturing San Antonio de Bexar from the Mexicans. Federalists, among them Sam Houston, were optimistic that as more Americans settled in Texas, it would survive as an independent republic, but not without a professional army. An â€Å"illustrious† and popular Congressman from Tennessee, Davy Crockett was among those who responded to Sam Houston’s impassioned call. However, Sam Houston was relieved as commander of the Texas army by the provisional government, in opposition to his proposal to raise a genuine military force (Bohem). The Alamo which served as a fort on the outskirts of San Antonio de Bexar was a neglected mission. Colonel James Clinton Neill, who was mainly responsible for maintaining the fort, knew, only too well, how vulnerable the Alamo was. Convinced that volunteers alone could not defend San Antonio, Sam Houston wanted the Alamo abandoned and ordered Colonel James Bowie to destroy the fort. Contrary to this plan, the official government sent Lieutenant Colonel William Travis and a number of soldiers as re-enforcement, with little else, to defend San Antonio. Ironically, the Alamo became the last â€Å"stronghold† of the people of San Antonio from the advancing Mexican army under the dictator General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. From February to March of 1836, an army of 2,000 men laid siege against the mission, killing all defenders, taking no prisoners. The film details the siege and the final assault on the mission, showing the humanity, the courage and the heroism of Alamo’s defenders, led by the Col.William Travis, James Bowie and David Crockett. A month later (April 21, 1836), inflamed by the massacre in the