Written by Aaron Sarnecky
TEXAS RISING, ‘FROM THE ASHES’ PLOT SUMMARY:
In History’s new mini-series, General Sam Houston (Bill Paxton) must pick up the pieces after Mexico’s General Santa Anna (Olivier Martinez) decimates his men at the Alamo. While many of Houston’s forces are eager to avenge their comrades, Houston knows he must tread carefully if the young Republic of Texas is to survive.
I’ve just accepted that I’ve become the mini-series guy here at Pop-Break. It’s not because I go looking for new mini-series (or “event series” in this case) to watch. They just happen to be the things on TV that spark my interest and/or work with my schedule. And that’s fine. Though, so far, none of these mini-series have been good enough for me to watch them all the way through. So will Texas Rising be any different?
Before I say yes or no to that question, I think it’s best that I give my reasons for that answer. Texas Rising is somewhat of an oddity. For starters, each episode is apparently two hours, and there are ten hours in total. That means we get five two-hour movies in the course of five nights. And on top of that, Texas Rising is shot more like a movie than a TV show. Everything nowadays on TV is shot in a 16:9 aspect ratio, but it appears that Texas Rising was shot in a 2.39:1 aspect ratio, which is typically only used for some movies. That might sound overly technical, but all it means is you’ll see black bars on the top and bottom of your screen if you’re watching the show on a high-definition TV; if you’re watching on an analog TV, it’ll be cropped to 16:9.
Another trait the show shares with movies is its stars. Bill Paxton is the actor most front-and-center, but a few other film actors appear; Brendan Fraiser plays Billy Anderson, a Texas Ranger raised by Kiowa Indians, and Ray Liotta plays an Alamo survivor named Lorca. These two characters aren’t featured that much in the first episode, but it is nice to see Ray Liotta in something other than tequila commercials for a change.
But while Texas Rising tries to look like a movie and has movie stars, its first episode is paced more liked ordinary television. Not that much actually happens in these first two hours, other than Houston deciding not to charge towards Santa Anna and the Alamo. And that happens pretty early on in the first hour, not that it’s all for naught. We get a chance to see how Houston and Santa Anna lead. Houston is quite cautious, and he in fact ordered his men to abandon the Alamo (which they didn’t). Houston plans on honoring his fallen brothers, but he knows that he has to act practically because he has limited resources and few men.
Santa Anna, on the other hand, is very well supplied and has many troops at his disposal. He sees this as an opportunity to squash the revolutionaries (or pirates, as he describes them). He believes that in order to do this he should take no prisoners, literally. Because of this, he comes off as the typical Hollywood villain. There’s even one scene where he snaps a chicken’s neck just to make a point about his brutality. (I’m not necessarily saying that Santa Anna wasn’t like this, because I haven’t studied the Texas’ War of Independence since high school.) I just think it kind of makes characterizing one side as good and one side as bad too easy. Not to sound unpatriotic the week of Memorial Day, but we should remember that every war has at least two sides. That being said, there is a good scene in which Santa Anna reprimands one of his soldiers for raping and looting, even threatening the man with death. Santa Anna at least seems to be civilized.
Still, Houston’s forces are portrayed as more likable than the Mexicans, naturally doing some honorable things like rescuing some women and children. Houston also shows a capacity for mercy by secretly letting a deserter escape after he is tried and convicted; Houston just has him tried to make a point.
However, there isn’t much else interesting about this premiere. Though the good guys are likeable, they don’t do enough this episode, and it drags on really slowly. To be perfectly honest, I probably would have enjoyed watching the NBA Playoffs more than this. It’s not bad, though I might have preferred just a normal documentary. But it is a slow start. And as for whether or not I will watch more, I might check out the next episode. But if that’s as slow as the first, I don’t think I’ll come back for the third.
Rating: 6 out of 10 (Average)
EPISODE 2 AIRS TUESDAY, THE 26TH, AT 9PM ON HISTORY
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