Texas wasn’t always the biggest, baddest state in the US.
Its independence from Mexican rule was a hard-won fight by the Texas Rangers, a scrappy (you might say pathetic), disorganized band of underdogs.
They fought against the splendidly outfitted forces of General Santa Anna (Olivier Martinez) despite being heavily outnumbered and having no equipment. Sheer spite kept the Rangers going, even though some of them, like Deaf Smith (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) were dying of consumption.
They were led by General Sam Houston (Bill Paxton), a war vet and former Tennesee governor. The difference between the US and Mexican forces could not be more clear than in the opening scenes of “Texas Rising,” an ambitious miniseries premiering Monday on History.
After the staggering defeat of the Rangers at The Alamo in March 1836, Santa Anna’s forces triumphantly survey the damage done. The place is covered in dust, blood and bodies but the soldiers, dressed in resplendent uniforms, make a fashion statement.
By contrast, the rangers are wearing rags; they seem to blend with the sepia-toned landscape framed by director Roland Joffe, who uses this have and have-not contrast to perk up the battle scenes (of which there are many).
The fall of The Alamo was a giant wake-up call for Gen. Houston, whose men disobeyed his orders to stay away from the fort.
Even so, when one of the survivors, the plucky Emily West (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) — a free woman of color and Houston’s former lover — learns that Santa Anna plans to poison the wells and fields as he advances on Fort Defiance in Goliad, Houston’s challenge is to get his act together.
Like History’s blockbuster Memorial Day miniseries “Hatfields and McCoys,” “Texas Rising” has a huge cast and a lot of moving parts.
Morgan proves he’s become a go-to character actor, having the distinction of playing both the grizzled Smith and Joe DiMaggio — in Lifetime’s Marilyn Monroe miniseries — in the same week.
Christopher McDonald and an unrecognizable Ray Liotta play his diehard compatriots. Brendan Fraser has a role as Billy Anderson, a white man raised by the Kiowa, and former TV star Rob Morrow plays Colonel Fannin.
Houston was not able to vanquish Santa Anna’s forces until The Battle of San Jacinto in April 1836, when he took the Mexican general prisoner and won independence for Texas in exchange for Santa Anna’s freedom.
“Texas Rising” doesn’t have the urgency of “Hatfields vs. McCoys,” but Texas enthusiasts will enjoy the blow-by-blow reenactments of a crucial period in American history.