The film was in development during 2005 while the Campagna Brothers toured their previous film around europe and America. It was shot in the summer of 2006, primarily in and around the desert town of Drumheller Alberta . Upon completion, the Campagna Brothers went on to tour their film at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival attracting the attention of Entertainment Tonight, raising the profile of the film to a national level. It was at TIFF that the film was discovered by a sales company and the $12,000 film was sold to Thinkfilm in a quarter million dollar bidding war.

Six Reasons Why was commercially released in Canada on August 26, 2007 both DVD and Theatrically^.

Cast and characters

Daniel Wooster plays The Nomad: A ruthless killer, trained from birth in an elite school for children who are pitted against one another for 18 years until a champion is made through survival of the fittest. This champion is set out upon the Badlands by the The Preacher with only the companionship of a horse to guide him, until his eventual death, at which point the horse returns for the next champion. The Nomad manages to become aware of the pattern that will eventually leave him dying alone in the desert, and plots to find his own way back home.

Christopher Harrison plays The Entrepreneur: Orphaned by The Criminal and left with nothing but vengeance in his heart and a need to prove himself. With the death of his father, he has no power left in the Monorail company, and the only one still loyal to him is The Sherpa, who supports him in his plan to enter the Badlands and build the next station for the Monorail.

Mads Koudal plays The Sherpa: Saved at a young age by the father of The Entrepreneur and offered employment to work off his debts, he is a loyal and caring friend of The Entrepreneur who has been there for him most of his life. Where one goes, so does the other, and as a team they urge one another on, for good or for ill.

Colm Feore plays The Preacher: The political and religious leader of a xenophobic city to the west of the deadly Badlands, he presides over the treacherous training of the champions who he sends as companions to the horse as protectors of their secret.

Jeff Campagna plays The Criminal: As the assassin of many officials and dignitaries, including the father of The Entrepreneur he chooses to exile himself in an abandoned coal mine where he conducts his business transactions on his own terms. Originally an aristocrat himself, he was tortured by the government once he was discovered as a rebel and a protestor. He detests any form of authority, now, and enjoys his job to a fault.

Romas Stanulis plays The Zeppelin Scout: An employee of H2 Zeppelin the chief rival corporation to the Monorail. He found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time when he pipes up about the death of the father of The Entrepreneur.

Mike Kolomayz plays The Barkeep: As the owner of the only bar in New Gibraltar, he’s got quite a monopoly on entertainment and drink, which means he also gets most of the trouble coming into his establishment. As much as possible he tries to keep the violence to a minimum, but sometimes there’s nothing he can do but pay off the local law to look the other way.

Matt Campagna plays Milton Joyce: The latest in a long line of trespassers in the Badlands, Milton is looking for a prosperous and just lifestyle, and he has reason to believe he can find it just west of the Badlands. His journey west comes to an abrupt end when he comes face to face with The Nomad.

Plot

Based on the 2005 Western novel by Robert B. Parker, Appaloosa is centered around lawman Virgil Cole (Ed Harris) and his deputy Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen), two friends who are hired to defend a lawless 1880s town from a murderous rancher (Jeremy Irons). Their efforts are disrupted and friendship tested by the arrival of a woman (Renée Zellweger).

The movie shares many narrative similarities with the 1959 Western Warlock, directed by Edward Dmytryk and starring Henry Fonda, Anthony Quinn and Richard Widmark. There is also another Western named The Appaloosa with Marlon Brando, but it shares no relation with Harris’ film.

Production

Appaloosa marks Ed Harris’s second outing as director, following the 2000 biopic Pollock, in which he also starred; Harris co-wrote and co-produced Appaloosa along with Robert Knott. The budget for Appaloosa was $20 million and filming took place from October 1, 2007 to November 24, 2007 in Sante Fe, New Mexico and Austin, Texas. Harris was drawn to Robert B. Parker’s bestselling novel because it was constructed like a classic Western, but included crime themes still relevant to contemporary society. He purchased the rights to the novel and hired Parker to adapt his book into a screenplay. Harris, who also stars as Virgil Cole, wanted to make the film in the old-fashioned style of such films as 3:10 to Yuma, My Darling Clementine and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, rather than a revisionist approach. Harris also acknowledged the challenge of making a successful Western movie, saying, “You can count on one hand, or maybe half a hand, the number of Westerns that were box office successes in the recent past.” Production of Appaloosa slowed when New Line Cinema and producers became concerned with the box office prospects of a Western during a season with such anticipated blockbusters as The Dark Knight. Diane Lane originally signed on to play Allie French, but left the project when the film stalled. The movie got back on track due to the success of the Deadwood series on HBO and the film remake of 3:10 to Yuma. Renée Zellweger was signed to replace Lane.

Harris enjoyed working with Viggo Mortensen in A History of Violence and had him in mind for the part of Everett Hitch. While publicizing A History of Violence at the Toronto Film Festival, Harris handed Mortensen a copy of the novel and asking him to read it and consider playing the part. Harris said it was “a totally awkward proposition, handing another actor a book like that,” but Mortensen agreed to take the part after responding well to the character and the relationship dynamic between the two characters. Harris said he wanted to make the film because he was drawn to the “unspoken comradeship” of Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch. “Though they’ve been hanging out for years, they’re not too intimate, but they know each other. Aside from in sports, or being a cop, I can’t think of any other situation where a friendship like that is called for.” Mortensen felt similarly, saying, “I like to ride horses, and I like Westerns, but there are a lot of bad ones. What set this one apart is just how the characters are a little more guarded.” Mortensen studied Frederic Remington drawings and other images of the American Old West to get into character and master the proper way to stand during a gunfight.

Cast

• Viggo Mortensen – Everett Hitch
• Ed Harris – Virgil Cole
• Renée Zellweger – Allie French
• Jeremy Irons – Randall Bragg
• Lance Henriksen – Ring Shelton
• Timothy Spall – Phil Olson
• Ariadna Gil – Katie
• James Gammon – Earl May
• Gabriel Marantz – Joe Whittfield

Production

In June 2003, Columbia Pictures announced a negotiation with Mangold to helm a remake of the 1957 Western film 3:10 to Yuma, based on a script written by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas. After being apart from the project for several years, Mangold resumed his role as director in February 2006. Production was slated to begin in summer 2006. In the same month, Tom Cruise expressed an interest in starring as the villain in the film. Eric Bana also briefly sought a role in the film.

In summer 2006, Columbia placed the film on turnaround, and the project was acquired by Relativity Media. Crowe and Bale were cast as the main characters, and Relativity began seeking a distributor for the film. By September, Lions Gate Entertainment signed on to distribute the film. Later in the month, Peter Fonda, Gretchen Mol, Dallas Roberts, Ben Foster, and Vinessa Shaw were cast. Filming was slated to begin on October 23, 2006 in New Mexico. On the first day of filming, a rider and his horse were seriously injured in a scene when the horse ran directly into a camera-carrying vehicle instead of veering off as planned. The rider was hospitalized, and the horse had to be euthanized on the set. The animal’s death prompted an investigation from the American Humane Association. By November, the AHA concluded its investigation, finding that the horse did not respond accordingly due to having received a dual training approach and the rider not being familiar with the mount. The organization recommended no charges against the producers. Principal photography took place in and around Santa Fe, Abiquiú, and Galisteo. The Bonanza Creek Ranch represented the film’s town of Bisbee as a “kinder, gentler frontier town” while Galisteo was set up to be Contention (now a ghost town), a “much rougher, bawdier, kind of sin city”. Filming concluded on January 20, 2007.

After filming concluded, the owners of the Cerro Pelon Ranch petitioned to keep a $2 million expansion to the movie set on their property, which was supposed to be dismantled within 90 days. The set of 3:10 to Yuma made up 75% of the overall sets on the ranch. In April 2007, the request was met by the county’s development review committee to keep the expansion, which would potentially generate revenue in the future.

Cast

• Russell Crowe as Ben Wade
• Christian Bale as Dan Evans
• Logan Lerman as William Evans
• Ben Foster as Charlie Prince
• Peter Fonda as Byron McElroy
• Dallas Roberts as Grayson Butterfield
• Alan Tudyk as Doc Potter
• Vinessa Shaw as Emmy
• Kevin Durand as Tucker
• Luce Rains as Marshal Weathers
• Gretchen Mol as Alice Evans
• Luke Wilson as Zeke

Plot

The film is set after the end of the American Civil War. Gideon (Pierce Brosnan) is hiding in the American Rockies, contemplating a fire. A shot pierces the silence and hits Gideon, who is then convulsed in pain and quickly runs away, followed by his pursuers. Soon the audience learns why: Gideon is a hunted man. Colonel Morsman Carver (Liam Neeson), a Confederate officer, has hired several mountain men to trap Gideon so that Carver can avenge a terrible wrong that he once committed.

From the snowy peaks, the story descends into the savannas—full of rapacious traders, vicious railway foremen and overly-welcoming missionaries—and moves finally into the desert, where the two men challenge each other in the face of Mother Nature at her harshest, with surreal visitations (from Louise C. Fair) to guide them to their final confrontation.

Production

David Von Ancken first researched the script for six months before joining Abby Everett Jaques to create the screenplay. The film was originally announced at the Cannes Film Festival with Liam Neeson and Richard Gere in the lead roles. Gere dropped out in August 2005 and was soon replaced by Pierce Brosnan. Shooting on Seraphim Falls started on October 17, 2005 and actress Anjelica Huston later joined the cast the following November. The film was filmed on location for 48 days, primarily in New Mexico; some of the opening scenes were filmed along the McKenzie River in Oregon.

The soundtrack, composed by Harry Gregson-Williams, was produced at Bastyr University’s chapel in Kenmore, Washington. Gregson-Williams wrote the music in three or four weeks, describing it as “very atmospheric”. Oscar-winning cinematographer John Toll was responsible for cinematography work on the film. Toll later noted it was a “great opportunity to work with a director who was interested in visual storytelling.”

Cast

• Liam Neeson as Carver: Like Brosnan, Neeson described being “kind of steeped in that western mythology growing up in Ireland.” He likened his character, Carver, to Captain Ahab in Moby-Dick, “he’s [Carver] totally governed by this idea of revenge where he’s practically lost his humanity.”

• Pierce Brosnan as Gideon: The role was originally to be played by Richard Gere but after he dropped out, Pierce Brosnan replaced him. Brosnan spoke of his love of Western films during production and promotion of Seraphim Falls, which had stemmed from watching them as a child.

• Michael Wincott as Hayes

• Xander Berkely as McKenzy: A railway foreman.

• Ed Lauter as Parsons

• Tom Noonan as Minister Abraham

• Kevin J. O’Connor as Henry

• John Robinson as Kid

• Anjelica Huston as Madame Louise: Huston first joined the cast in November 2005. She appears as a vanishing con artist, who appears at the end of the film. If one watches closely as her wagon rolls away, you see her name upon the back as Louise C. Fair – Lucifer.

• Angie Harmon as Rose

• Robert Baker as Pope

• Wes Studi as Charon

• Jimmi Simpson as Big Brother

• James Jordan as Little Brother

• Nate Mooney as Cousin Bill

No Country for Old Men has been highly praised by critics. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times called it “as good a film as the Coen brothers…have ever made.” Guardian journalist John Patterson said the film proved “that the Coens’ technical abilities, and their feel for a landscape-based Western classicism reminiscent of Anthony Mann and Sam Peckinpah, are matched by few living directors.” The film was honored with numerous awards, garnering three British Academy of Film awards, two Golden Globes, and four Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director (Joel and Ethan Coen), Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Javier Bardem).

Production

Producer Scott Rudin bought the book rights to McCarthy’s novel and suggested a film adaptation to the Coen Brothers, who at the time were attempting to adapt the novel To the White Sea by James Dickey. By August 2005, the Coen Brothers agreed to write and direct a film adaptation of No Country for Old Men, having identified with how the novel provided a sense of place and also how it played with genre conventions. Joel Coen said of the unconventional approach, “That was familiar, congenial to us; we’re naturally attracted to subverting genre. We liked the fact that the bad guys never really meet the good guys, that McCarthy did not follow through on formula expectations.” The Coens also identified the appeal of the novel to be its “pitiless quality”. Ethan Coen explained, “That’s a hallmark of the book, which has an unforgiving landscape and characters but is also about finding some kind of beauty without being sentimental.” The adaptation was to be the second of McCarthy’s work, following the 2000 film All the Pretty Horses.

Shooting

The project was a co-production between Miramax Films and Paramount’s classics-based division in a 50/50 partnership, and production was scheduled for May 2006 in New Mexico and Texas. With a total budget of $25 million, production was slated to take place in the cities of Las Vegas, Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico, as well as in the state of Texas. Filmmakers estimated spending between $12 and $17 million of the budget in New Mexico. A movie set of a border checkpoint was built at the intersection of Interstate 25 and New Mexico State Highway 65. The bulk of the film was shot in New Mexico, and primarily there in Las Vegas, which doubled as the border towns of Eagle Pass and Del Rio, Texas. The U.S.-Mexico border crossing bridge was actually a freeway overpass in Las Vegas. Other scenes were filmed around Marfa and Sanderson in West Texas, and the scene in the town square was filmed in Piedras Negras, Coahuila in Mexico.

Cinematographer Roger Deakins, collaborating with the Coen Brothers for the ninth time, spoke of his approach to the film’s look: “The big challenge on No Country for Old Men is making it very realistic, to match the story. It’s early days, but I’m imagining doing it very edgy and dark, and quite sparse. Not so stylized.”

Directing

One of the Coen brothers’ influences was the works of director Sam Peckinpah. In an interview for The Guardian, they said “Hard men in the south-west shooting each other – that’s definitely Sam Peckinpah’s thing. We were aware of those similarities, certainly.” In an interview in the Sydney Morning Herald, the Coens discussed choreographing and directing the film’s violent scenes: ” ‘That stuff is such fun to do,’ the brothers chime in at the mention of their penchant for blood-letting. ‘Even Javier would come in by the end of the movie, rub his hands together and say, ‘OK, who am I killing today?’ adds Joel. ‘It’s fun to figure out,’ says Ethan. ‘It’s fun working out how to choreograph it, how to shoot it, how to engage audiences watching it.’”

Josh Brolin discussed the brothers’ directing style in interview, saying that the Coens “Only really say what needs to be said. They don’t sit there as directors and manipulate you and go into page after page to try to get you to a certain place. They may come in and say one word or two words, so that was nice to be around in order to feed the other thing. What should I do right now? I’ll just watch Ethan go humming to himself and pacing. Maybe that’s what I should do, too.’”

Cast and characters

• Tommy Lee Jones as Sheriff Ed Tom Bell: A laconic, soon-to-retire small-town sheriff. In September 2008, Jones announced that he was going to sue Paramount Pictures for $10 million, which he claims he is owed for his work on the film. Jones claimed he was not paid the correct bonuses and had expenses wrongly deducted.
• Josh Brolin as Llewelyn Moss: A welder and Vietnam veteran who flees with two million dollars in drug money that he finds in an open field in Texas.
• Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh: A sociopathic assassin hired to recover the drug money. The character was a recurrence of the “Unstoppable Evil” archetype found in the Coen Brothers’ work, though the brothers wanted to avoid one-dimensionality, particularly a comparison to The Terminator. The Coen Brothers sought to cast someone “who could have come from Mars” to avoid a sense of identification. The brothers introduced the character in the beginning of the film in a manner similar to the opening of the 1976 film The Man Who Fell to Earth. Chigurh has been perceived as a “modern equivalent of Death from Ingmar Bergman’s 1957 film The Seventh Seal“.^[35] Chigurh’s distinctive look was derived from a 1979 photo from a book supplied by Jones which featured photos of brothel patrons on the Texas-Mexico border. Describing his “extraordinary moptop haircut,” Bardem said, “You don’t have to act the haircut. The haircut acts by itself.” He also reportedly said after seeing himself with the new hairdo for the first time, “Oh no, now I won’t get laid for two months.” Bardem signed on because he had been a Coens fan ever since he saw their debut, Blood Simple.
• Kelly Macdonald as Carla Jean Moss: Llewelyn Moss’ wife. Despite having severe misgivings about her husband’s plans to keep the money, she still supports him. Macdonald said that what attracted her to the character of Moss was that she “wasn’t obvious. She wasn’t your typical trailer trash kind of character. At first you think she’s one thing and by the end of the film, you realize that she’s not quite as naïve as she might come across”
• Woody Harrelson as Carson Wells: A cocky bounty hunter and retired colonel hired to intercept Chigurh and recover the drug money.
• Tess Harper as Loretta Bell: Bell’s wife, provides reassurance in his darker moods.
• Barry Corbin as Ellis: A retired sheriff shot in the line of duty and now wheelchair-bound. He acts as a straight-talking sounding board to his nephew, Bell.
• Beth Grant as Agnes: Carla Jean’s mother and the mother-in-law of Moss. She provides a little comic relief despite the fact that she is dying from “the cancer”.
• Stephen Root as Man who hires Wells: A mysterious figure who apparently was involved in the financing of the drug deal and the search for the money. He hired Wells, Chigurh and the Mexicans.
• Gene Jones as Thomas Thayer: Elderly rural gas station clerk with good fortune, as his call on Anton’s coin flip saves his life.
• Garret Dillahunt as Wendell: Bell’s inexperienced deputy sheriff, Wendell assists in the investigation and provides comic relief.
• Brandon Smith as INS official: Stern guard in sunglasses who lets Moss through the border once he learns he was in the Vietnam War.

Production

In March 2004, Warner Bros. and Plan B Entertainment acquired feature film rights to Hansen’s 1983 novel The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Andrew Dominik was hired to direct and write the film adaptation, with Pitt being eyed to portray Jesse James. The role of Ford eventually was between Affleck and Shia LaBeouf; Affleck was cast because it was felt that LaBeouf was too young. Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign strategist James Carville was selected to play the Governor of Missouri. By January 2005, Pitt was cast in the role, and filming began on August 29, 2005 in Calgary. Filming also took place in other parts of Alberta, including McKinnon Flats, Heritage Park, the Fairmont Palliser Hotel, the Kananaskis area, several private ranches and the historical Fort Edmonton Park. The historical town of Creede, Colorado was recreated at a cost of $1 million near Goat Creek in Alberta. Filming also took place in Winnipeg in the city’s historic Exchange District; the Burton Cummings Theatre (formerly known as The Walker Theatre) and the Pantages Playhouse Theatre, and concluded in December 2005.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was initially edited by director Dominik to be “a dark, contemplative examination of fame and infamy,” similar to the style of director Terrence Malick. The studio opposed Dominik’s approach, preferring less contemplation and more action. One version of the film had a running time of more than three hours. Pitt and Ridley Scott, producers of the film, and editors Dylan Tichenor (who left the production early to cut There Will Be Blood, and was replaced with editor Curtiss Clayton, who ultimately finished the production) and Michael Kahn (who was brought in for several weeks as the studio’s “go to” editor), collaborated to assemble and test different versions, which did not receive strong scores from test audiences. Despite the negative response, the audiences considered the performances by Pitt and Affleck to be some of their careers’ best. Brad Pitt had it written into his contract that the studio could not change the name of the film.

Cast

Gang

• Brad Pitt as Jesse James
• Casey Affleck as Robert Ford
• Sam Rockwell as Charley Ford
• Paul Schneider as Dick Liddil (or Liddel)
• Jeremy Renner as Wood Hite
• Sam Shepard as Frank James
• Garret Dillahunt as Ed Miller

Women

• Mary-Louise Parker as Zerelda “Zee” James (née Mimms)
• Alison Elliott as Martha Bolton (née Ford)
• Kailin See as Sarah Hite
• Zooey Deschanel as Dorothy Evans

Authorities

• James Carville as Governor Thomas T. Crittenden
• Michael Parks as Henry Craig
• Ted Levine as Sheriff James Timberlake

Plot synopsis

The film tells the story of María Álvarez and Sara Sandoval. María is a poor farm-girl whose father is being forced off his land by a cruel US land baron, Tyler Jackson. Sara is the wealthy daughter of the owner of the nearby properties, and has recently returned from Europe where she attended school. In one fell swoop, both María’s and Sara’s fathers fall under attack by the baron, (Sara’s father is killed, María’s is shot but survives) giving him free rein in the nearby territories. As an act of revenge, María and Sara become bank robbers, stealing and giving back to the poor Mexicans who had lost their lands.

At first the two are catty and quick to fight over the smallest matters, but under the tutelage of famed bank robber Bill Buck they learn to trust each other. María turns out to be a crack shot and, while Sara can barely hold a gun, she shows that she is an expert with throwing knives.

Angered by the recent attacks by the newly infamous ‘Bandidas’ Jackson brings in a specialist, criminal investigator, Quentin Cooke. It doesn’t take long for Sara and María to hear of this, and they quickly capture Cooke and convince him to help them. He has already figured out that Sara’s father was murdered, so realises that his employer is actually a criminal.

Now there are three robbers, each playing their part in bigger, more ambitious heists. As time goes on, each of the girls compete for Quentin’s affections, but he rebukes them since he’s engaged. In a move to make the money they’ve stolen useless, Jackson moves the gold that backs the money on a train up towards U.S. territories. Midway, he decides to steal the gold, betraying the Mexican government. The Bandidas manage to hunt him down, but when they get their chance to kill him, they can’t, feeling it would make them no better than him. Jackson manages to draw his gun and almost gets a shot off at María but Sara shoots first, finishing the villain off. In the end Quentin ends up with his fiancée and María and Sara ride off into the sunset, their eyes set on Europe where the banks are, according to Sara, “bigger”.

Cast

• Penélope Cruz … María Álvarez
• Salma Hayek … Sara Sandoval
• Steve Zahn … Quentin Cooke
• Dwight Yoakam … Tyler Jackson
• José María Negri … Padre Pablo
• Audra Blaser … Clarissa Ashe
• Sam Shepard … Bill Buck
• Ismael ‘East’ Carlo … Don Diego Sandoval

Soundtrack

The film’s soundtrack, titled The Proposition, was released shortly after the film in October 2005. The music was composed and performed by Nick Cave and violinist Warren Ellis.

Critical response

The Proposition has received largely positive reviews from professional film critics, earning an 86% “Certified Fresh” rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Roger Ebert, AM New York, Austin Chronicle and Entertainment Insider gave the film 4/4 stars.

The Proposition and indigenous culture

Two acclaimed Indigenous Australian actors (David Gulpilil and Tom E. Lewis) have supporting roles in the film.

As noted in behind-the-scenes features included on The Proposition DVD, the film is regarded as uncommonly accurate in depicting indigenous Australian culture of the late 1800s, and when filming in the outback, the cast and crew took great pains to follow the advice of indigenous consultants. In an interview included on the DVD, Lewis even compares the depiction of indigenous cultures in The Proposition to the landmark film The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978). In addition, there is a warning before the film which states that it contains photographs of deceased Indigenous Australians, which is a taboo in their culture.

Cast

• Guy Pearce as Charlie Burns
• Ray Winstone as Captain Morris Stanley
• Emily Watson as Martha Stanley
• Danny Huston as Arthur Burns
• David Wenham as Eden Fletcher
• Richard Wilson as Mike Burns
• John Hurt as Jellon Lamb
• Tom E. Lewis as Two Bob
• Leah Purcell as Queenie
• Tom Budge as Samuel Stoat
• David Gulpillil as Jacko
• Noah Taylor as Brian O’Leary

The screenplay is credited to John Lee Hancock, John Sayles, Stephen Gaghan and Leslie Bohem. In contrast to the earlier 1960 film, the 2003 script makes an effort to depict the political points of view of both the Mexican and Texan sides; Santa Anna is a more prominent character.

Production

The film was originally set up with Imagine Entertainment with Ron Howard in the director’s chair and producing partner Brian Grazer as producer. Russell Crowe was originally cast as Sam Houston, Ethan Hawke as William Barret Travis and Billy Bob Thornton as David Crockett. But there were financial and creative disagreements between Imagine and Disney, particularly with Howard wanting a $200 million budget. Disney rejected Imagine’s proposal for the film, and Howard, Grazer, Crowe and Hawke left the project. Disney opted to go with director John Lee Hancock instead with a budget of $95 million. Thornton was the only member of the original team to remain throughout the project.

The film was shot near Austin, Texas between January and June 2003, mostly on a local property named Reimers Ranch. The film’s art direction focused on historical accuracy and verisimilitude; for instance, the mission’s facade does not feature the well-known “hump” at the top, a detail that was actually added years after the battle during a restoration.

The film was shot in 2003 and scheduled for release in December of that year, but was then rescheduled for release in April 2004.

Controversies

This latest version of the Battle of the Alamo was the first to show Crockett being killed as a prisoner of war. All others had depicted his death as occurring during the battle, rather than him having been captured then executed along with six others. This sparked debate and criticism from many Alamo enthusiasts and some historians.  This version of his death came from memoirs written by former Mexican officer José Enrique de la Peña, who was an officer in Santa Anna’s army and who fought in the battle. It is controversial in that de la Peña also described the death of Col. William Travis, the garrisons commander, in his book With Santa Anna in Texas, during which he describes Travis bravely facing his charging attackers.

Cast

• Dennis Quaid – Gen. Sam Houston
• Billy Bob Thornton – David Crockett
• Jason Patric – Col. James Bowie
• Patrick Wilson – Lt. Col. William B. Travis
• Emilio Echevarría – Antonio López de Santa Anna
• Jordi Mollà – Cpt. Juan Seguín
• Leon Rippy – Sgt. William Ward
• Tom Davidson – Col. Green Jameson
• Marc Blucas – James Bonham
• Robert Prentiss – Albert Grimes
• Kevin Page – Micajah Autry

Overview

The movie properly belongs to the epic Western genre and has the feel of Costner’s earlier epic, Dances with Wolves (1990). The movie is set in Montana in 1882 (the year is seen on a new grave marker) though the movie was filmed entirely on location in Alberta, Canada.

The background of the movie concerns the “range wars” that occurred in the American West in the late 1800s. The “wars” pitted those that believed in the “Law of the Open Range” – free access to water and grass for everyone, against the “barbed wire” men – land barons, who used the new fencing to define their empire and block the free-range cattlemen from moving their herds.

Characters

Bluebonnet “Boss” Spearman (played by Robert Duvall) is an aging cowboy and the leader of the free-rangers. He is an experienced horse-rider and cattleman, who appears hard and a staunch traditionalist on the outside, but is in fact a very caring man. He once had a wife and a child, but they contracted thyphoid and died, causing him to abandon his old life. At the start of the movie, he is beginning to realize that the age of free grazing – and thus his way of life – is coming to an end.

Charles Travis Postlewaite (played by Kevin Costner) was a soldier during the Civil War and later a gunslinger. Having killed a man who tried to rape his mother when he was still very young, he soon became accustomed to killing people – and quite good at it. He eventually became a free-ranger, working for Boss Spearman under the name Charley Waite for more than ten years. The terrible things he and others did during the war continue to haunt him in his dreams, making him sometimes dangerous for those around him. When he arrives in Harmonville, his past catches up with him, but he also finds a chance for love and a future.

Sue Barlow (played by Annette Bening) is the sister and assistant of Harmonville’s physician, Doc Barlow, and lives with him in a house just outside the town. She falls in love with Charley Waite when the free-rangers arrive with a badly hurt Button and, although finding him a complicated man with a difficult past, convinces Charley that they could have a happy future together. She is a strong and righteous woman, daring to speak up against the tyrant Baxter and putting herself in danger to protect her patients on more than one occasion.

Denton Baxter (played by Michael Gambon) is a Irish-born land baron who considers Harmonville “his” town. He is arrogant and greedy, using his band of henchman as well as the corrupt Marshall Poole to rule the town and keep off freegrazers. When he orders his men to ambush Boss Spearman’s men and Mose is killed, a brutal conflict begins, in which Baxter shows that he does not have a problem with putting women and children in the line of fire, finally turning most of Harmonville against him. He has one estranged daughter.

Button (played by Diego Luna) is Spearman’s Mexican-born youngest hand and also kind of a foster child to the other free-rangers who found him living on the streets years before. He is badly hurt by Baxter’s men, but recovers and plays an important role in the final gun-fight.

Mose Harris (played by Abraham Benrubi) is another of Boss Spearman’s hands, a large and peaceful man. He gets into a bar fight in Harmonville and is later killed by Baxter’s henchman Butler.

Percy (played by Michael Jeter in his last on-screen role) is a Harmonville townsman who warns Boss and Charley about Baxter’s men and is the only one who stands with the free-rangers right from the beginning.

Trivia

• Herbert Kohler, Jr. played an extra in the final fire fight in the town. He told the filmmakers he would do it if they let him “ride a horse, or shoot a gun”. He was too heavy to get on a horse, so they let him shoot a shotgun.