Don't listen to the negative reviews

Absolutely the worst movie.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This is an historical epic that fans of accuracy have been a tad miffed about. It starts with the aftermath of The Alamo and General Sam Houston deciding to do tactical withdrawals. We get to meet the main players and they are all based on real historical persons - well mostly – as far as I was able to ascertain. We have Brandon Fraser playing a 'half breed' called Billy Anderson of the Texas Rangers and Ray Liotta putting in a very strong performance as Lorca – who goes Mexican killing mental after El Degüello was played by Santa Anna prior to the over running of the Alamo – meaning that no quarter would be given and indeed none was.Then we have the political machinations of the 'gung ho' brigade who wanted to avenge their countryman and take on the Mexicans as soon as possible – versus the caution and strategy of Houston. We also have the Comanche's and their position in all of this – ostensibly from the war path loving young bucks. The makers also throw in a fair bit of love interest and plenty of action too. The guns are proper muzzle loaders too so they have tried to be authentic but some commentators have complained of the 'colour' of the speech as being a bit grand for some of these back woods type people. The plot follows all the way up to the final battle and beyond and leads nicely to the second season which is going to be about the Comanche wars. Now I really enjoyed this but I was not seeing it as being a history lesson. It falls short in places but fine performances all round manage to keep it from being any where near a car crash. The one thing that is truly awful is the location filming; this was done in Mexico and so wildly misrepresents the topography where the conflict actually took place. So if you want a good period romp with a fair smattering of frontier action, then fill your boots, if you want a history lesson then you may want to avoid, and one last mention Kris Kristofferson plays Andrew Jackson albeit fleetingly and the music is quite good too.

This was nothing more than an opportunity to show just about any graphic killing or bring up about every sex situation they could think of, even a jealous eunuch. It tried to make heroes out of the classless and immoral. There were scenes that meant nothing to the story and just took up space and left the viewer confused. The scenes jumped around and lost place and time. The acting was very good, but the story was mindless and very little was based on any fact. Another show from the history channel that only channels the worst in people. It is no wonder there are so many crazy killers out there when the media makes it look so glamorous and appealing to the immature and unstable. Texas Rising is junk for the brain. There was nothing uplifting about it.

Creating a work of fiction around historical events in inaccurately depicted locations and calling it history is laughable. Mountainous, desert-like terrain in Victoria and Harrisburg? Large rocky outcrops and caves at San Jacinto? Seriously? Both of those locations are on the Texas coastal plain, where the closest thing to a hill is a good 300- 400 miles to the west. Even the depictions of San Antonio and Goliad were grossly inaccurate. No amount of very good acting can compensate for the fabricated melodrama in this series. The representation of Emily West is 99 percent fiction; very little is actually known about her. One Texas hero, Stephen F. Austin, is barely mentioned. The role of the Commanche, among other native peoples, is glossed over.All in all, I was very disappointed with this film. While it's something I'd expect to see on the broadcast networks, it's not up to snuff for the History Channel.

If you're looking for historical accuracy, you will likely not enjoy this series. The inclusion of fictional characters and overall dramatic license tends to turn off many viewers, but it was not a problem with me going in and currently watching.In the first couple of episodes, the pacing incredibly slow with tons of pointless filler. The dialog can also get pretty bad (though the actors make it work the best they can). However by the third and especially fourth episode, the series turns in a dramatic improvement.With Bill Paxton (Sam Houston) as lead, the entire cast is exceptional, with Cynthia Addai Robinson (Emily West) Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Deaf Smith) and Olivier Martinez (Santa Anna) as stand out performers. The agents of these actors must have their phones ringing off the hook now.