Factual errors Colonel Travis was shot in his forehead, not in his chest as portrayed in the film, and died on the north wall early during the final battle. The opening scene of the movie shows Sam Houston giving orders to William Barrett Travis to hold off the Mexican army until he could build an army.

Both the 1960 John Wayne version and the 2004 The Alamo movie contain significant historical inaccuracies. The 1960 film famously portrays Davy Crockett (played by Wayne) dying in a heroic, self-sacrificing explosion as he blows up the powder magazine; in reality, most historical accounts (including those from Mexican soldiers) suggest he was either killed in the final moments of the battle or captured and executed shortly after. The 2004 version is more accurate but still misses the mark on William Travis's "Line in the Sand"; most historians now agree this event never happened and was a myth created decades later. Additionally, both films often downplay the role of Tejanos (Texas Latinos) who fought alongside the Americans, and they largely ignore the fact that a central cause of the Texas Revolution was Mexico's intent to abolish slavery, which many Texan colonists were determined to preserve for their cotton plantations.