NEW ULM — The New Ulm Film Society’s America at War film series takes a stand with a screening of 2004 film “The Alamo.”

The screening is 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, January 12 at the New Ulm Public Library.

“The Alamo” was released in 2004 and tells the true story the Battle of the Alamo during Texas’ revolution from Mexico in 1835.

The film makes the reasonable assumption that most audiences remember what happened at the Alamo, or at least are aware of the battle’s legacy of defiance in the face of certain defeat.

The movie opens by making it clear the Texas defenders at The Alamo will not survive against Mexico’s superior forces led by General Santa Anna. “Remember the Alamo!” became a rally cry for a reason. In the immediate aftermath of the battle, the fort’s defenders became symbols of resistance and inspired other Texans to ultimately fight back to claim independence from Mexico.

Previous films that have depicted the battle have chose to do it as a larger-than-life event with the greatest heroes making grandiose speeches about freedom.

The 2004 adaptation decided to bring the defenders back down to earth and depict them as humans. One of the strongest reviews of “The Alamo” came from famed critic Roger Ebert, who said the movie succeeded by taking pop-culture brand names like Davy Crocket and Jim Bowie and humanizing them.

This is no easy task considering one of the defenders was Davy Crockett, who was already a living legend before the battle.

In the film, Crocket is played by Billy Bob Thornton, and he is introduced as a man trying to rebuild is reputation after he lost a re-election bid in congress. Crocket had traveled to Texas as he sees an opportunity to redeem himself by helping Texas win its independence. The irony is his involvement with the conflict will raise his profile at the cost of his life.

Fellow Alamo defender, Jim Bowie (played by Jason Patric) is typical portrayed alongside Crocket in his heroic defense of the Alamo. In real life Bowie was dying of tuberculosis during the siege. The film does not gloss over this fact and makes a plot point as to why William Travis (played by Patrick Wilson) takes on the leadership roll at The Alamo.

The film even makes in clear that the reason The Alamo fell is because reinforcements were never sent as part of Sam Houston (Dennis Quaid) grand strategy. Houston had originally ordered The Alamo be evacuated, to bring soldiers east away from the approaching Mexican army. The goal was to lead Santa Anna’s army on a chase east across the state in hopes of splitting the army. However, Santa Anna and his men arrived earlier than expected trapping the men still station at The Alamo mission.

The film focuses the attention on the growing dread of the Alamo defenders as they realize they will not be saved.

The Alamo was ultimately lost, but Houston’s original gambit pays off. After the Alamo battle, Santa Anna continued to pursue Houston’s army east and eventually split his forces. Houston was able to capitalize on this and capture Santa Anna and end the war.

“The Alamo” is a war film that works hard to avoid being overly sentimental in favor of realism, but in the end this makes the story more poignant to remember.

The New Ulm Film Society’s screening of “The Alamo” is free to the public. Before and after the film, there will be a discussion about the film’s place in film history.