Originally Posted By DBitz2 I just heard a report of the news this morning (10/29/03) that Disney has postponed the release of The Alamo from December till sometime in the spring due to the responses they've gotten in the test screenings. While I enjoyed the movie, I think they can benefit from having more time to tweak it before they release it.
Originally Posted By DDMAN26 ^^^^ Since you've seen the film already, was the rating still going to be PG-13 or was it going to be an R? An article in the USA Today last week said the film was going to push how far PG-13 can go.
Originally Posted By DBitz2 In my opinion, there was nothing about the version of the film that I saw that would warrant an "R" rating. For that matter, I can't say that I thought it pushed "PG-13" as far as it could go. While there was obviously violence, as it is the story of a battle, it was not bloody or gory. There was little blood or wounds shown, it was left largely to the audience's imagination, which is fine with me. As far as language, there was very, very few four letter words. Nothing worse than on network television these days. No sex at all. I got the impression that they wanted to keep the film open to as wide an audience as possible without it having a "G" rating. That could all change, of course, as they rework it based on the feedback received at the test screenings.
Originally Posted By JeffG The new release date is in April. The official reason given is that the filmmakers needed more post-production time, but that often is pretty much code for "test audiences didn't like it". Maybe the test audiences thought the ending was too much of a downer... -Jeff
Originally Posted By DBitz2 I didn't think the ending was too much of a downer. Obviously, what happened historically wasn't a happy event, but I think they attempted to end the film on a somewhat "feel-good" note. This IS a Disney movie after all! At least the folks in our panel discussion agreed that it ended in an uplifting manner. Can't speak for the surveys of the rest of the audience. I think going in, if you know anything at all about the story, you know what happened to those defending the Alamo, and expect that to be portrayed. A number of people in the group discussion I participated in felt that the film was too long (at 2 1/2 hours) and included too many scenes that probably didn't contribute directly to the story of what was going on at the Alamo. This extra stuff would be fine for an expanded DVD version, or if it was a tv movie. A number of people, including myself, also felt that some of the exposition at the beginning of the movie that sets up what is to follow was a bit murky and unclear. Having grown up in Texas and perhaps being a bit more familiar with the story than the others, even I found it unclear and hard to follow.
Originally Posted By ToonKirby According to the latest Entertainment Weekly, "The Alamo" will open April 9th.
