Surprisingly incoherent and boring

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

As a member of the Daughters of The Republic of Texas I am ashamed but not surprised. If you are going to do a film based on true events, GET IT RIGHT. They left out very important people that actually took place in the fight. Look up my great-great-great grandfather, Capt. Jesse Billingsley and you will find out from not only his personal journal but many other resources that his company was the first to ride in. Where is Edward Burleson? Check your geography. I would never, nor will I ever recommend this to anyone. As a proud Texan, this makes me sick!

This is a good show if your not to anal about facts. The acting is decent and it is clear that a strong effort has been made to bring very good action scenes. The story is based around what happens after the Alamo and freely makes up story lines without much obvious research into what actually took place. This is obviously to allow creative freedom when producing future story lines and as a result the first series has led into an exciting subject for series 2, a much neglected part of American history and film making, Indian Wars. This show has been criticized for it's terrible disregard for fact and rightly so, but these critics do not seem to be able to see the bigger picture. It has been made well, it's interesting to watch and most importantly it has massive potential. The potential series 2 is set to tell the story of the cowboys struggles with Indians which has a depth of untold stories with countless battles and endless struggles to be told.Hopefully this program gets the chance to fulfill its potential but if it does what I would say to the producers is more detailed story lines and war scenes please.

I enjoy history. I read history books and I normally enjoy movies, shows, etc. about history but not this time. Such a waste of time, I didn't bother to watch the last two hours of it. It was full of actors that I normally enjoy, like Bill Paxton, Ray Liotta and Thomas Jane (totally wasted) and many character actors that I've seen in lots of movies over the years. Where has Brandon Frazier been - I hope he didn't come out of retirement for just this. Because if he did, he killed any future projects.The writing is pathetic; the lines are delivered just as pathetic. Apparently there wasn't a director on the site. It is historically inaccurate (shame on "The History Channel). It is geographically inaccurate and no effort was made to make it appear that it matched the right time era. It appeared chopped up. Did they cut it, to make it easier to watch? There were gaps without explanation throughout the series. New stories would start and not finish. Don't waste your time and I will definitely be suspicious of any history channel events in the future.

This 5-part 10-hour TV mini-series starts with the defeat at the Alamo. It follows the fight between General Sam Houston (Bill Paxton) and Santa Anna (Olivier Martinez) as well as other stories. Santa Anna would eventually lose the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836 and be captured. The last episode would see the aftermath and the rise of the Texas Rangers.There are some obvious accuracy problems even to a clueless guy like me. The question is whether it matters. The channel is called History Channel afterall. It ain't Lifetime and this is important history unlike "Hatfields & McCoys". One can play around with minor legends and folklore but if you play around with major history, it'd be nice to plaster the entire show with flashing neon signs saying THIS AIN'T TRUE.The second problem is that the opening misdirected me by pontificating that all these various groups have differing goals. One of the first scene is Indians acting and portrayed as Indians from old Hollywood movies. That includes killing them easily and then mourning over the one white guy getting killed. It's very old fashion. At least, the Indians have one early scene discussing the politics and that saved the show at that point.The first episode is very boring. Houston and his group are stuck in camp. I feel like some of his men who are itching to get moving. That idea could have been delivered in a more compelling way. It's not until the second episode that a big battle occur. This is still a show and it should try to hook the viewers right away. The obvious solution is to show some of the battle at the Alamo.Just as the show seems to be picking up steam in the second episode, it loses me for good when the Mexican commander calls Colonel James Fannin a wetback. It is problematic on so many levels and it shows me the care with which the writers take. They think they're more clever than they actually are.The actors in general are very good quality but they're not all necessarily shown in the best light. Bill Paxton is listless, I don't generally like Olivier Martinez and the years haven't been kind to Brendan Fraser. The acting is still generally good. The action scenes are also generally good for a TV miniseries. The production is relatively well made but those are not the problem.