# Texas Rising (2015)

> A five-episode docudrama chronicles the Texas Revolution from the Alamo to San Jacinto and the rise of the Texas Rangers.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/55745

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 5
- Episode runtime: 85 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, western, history
- Created by: Roland Joffé
- Network: History
- Cast: Bill Paxton, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Olivier Martinez, Thomas Jane, Max Thieriot, Brendan Fraser, Ray Liotta, Christopher McDonald
- TMDB rating: 6.7/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3598496/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: brutal
- Tone: earnest, sober, epic, gritty, patriotic

## What critics say

Audiences rated the miniseries mixed, appreciating its sweeping Texas Revolution spectacle and cast while finding the history-driven storytelling uneven.

## Synopsis

Texas Rising (2015) is a American docudrama miniseries created by Roland Joffé for History. Across five episodes of roughly eighty-five minutes each, it chronicles the Texas Revolution against the Mexican dictator Santa Anna, moving from the siege of the Alamo to the battle of San Jacinto. Bill Paxton plays Sam Houston, the leader trying to hold together a ragged independence movement, alongside Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the scout Deaf Smith and Max Thieriot as Jack Hays, a young recruit who helps shape the Texas Rangers. Olivier Martinez plays Santa Anna, giving the conflict a commanding antagonist. The engine is the struggle to turn scattered settlers and volunteers into an army that can outlast a larger force, with each episode built around skirmishes, sieges, and the grim logistics of frontier warfare. Set in 1830s Texas, it has the scale of a widescreen historical western, with a sober, earnest tone that foregrounds sacrifice, national identity, and the cost of independence. Fans of Lonesome Dove, Hatfields and McCoys, and Comanche Moon will find resonance in its blend of frontier myth and historical record.

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