Showing this film for a Texas History Class

I am a 7th Grade Texas History Teacher, and I have shown part of this film for my class. It is a good review of the 15 years of Texas History for the years between 1821-1836. Most of the key points of our unit are covered in deatil or at least mentioned. I do have some thoughts on the film for those who might be considering a showing for a class.

The Negatives
1. The film is three hours long and cannot be shown in a single sitting. The Mexican surrender following the Battle of San Jacinto is roughly 2:15 into the movie. Much of the development dedicatied to fictional characters makes for a good movie, but it disrupts the historical relevance the film. I skipped over a good deal of these scenes.

2. There is some brief or partial nudity throughout the film. This was unexpected because I thought this was a "Made-For-TV" movie. In the part of the film that works well as a companion piece to my unit on the revolution, there is a side shot of a partially covered female breast, and a full Rick Schroeder butt shot that caught me by surprise. (I skipped over these.) The last 45 minutes of the film, which I watched alone and did not show my students, there are multiple shots of nude female breasts. This may be a suttle difference between what was shown on TV in 1995 and the DVD I rented from Netflix.

3. For a "Made-For-TV" movie, there was a good deal of "moderate" cursing. There were just too many repetative "damns" and "asses" for my group to handle. While I know that sometimes Sam Houston has to throw in a fout letter word to get his point accross, when you're discouraging students from using that language, this can be counterproductive.

4. The battle scenes are not great. The majority of the Battle of the Alamo is stock footage from a much older film. It is quite visable when the speed and quality of the film change back and forth several times. Also, the battle at Gonzales and the Massacre at Goliad are recycled from a 1986 film called "Gone to Texas." (More on this film later) The Battle at San Jacinto is shown in super slow-mow and for some reason, Santa Anna's Half-Naked Hoochita is seen watching the battle from his tent three times in 5 minutes. I think this takes away from the seriousness and intensity of the action.

5. It is incosistently inaccacurate in terms of geographic locations. There are many scenes of a Southeast Texas river ferry that featured the icey blue water of a river surrounded by picturesque hilltops. Niether the river or the hill tops exist in Southeast Texas. I have lived in the area my entire life, and I've never seen it. Although this was annoying, I did find myself wishing I knew where it was so that I could vacation there. It is beautiful.

The Positives
1. The scenes with Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin are outstanding. I grew up idolizing these two men. There is a 60ft tall statue of Austin in my hometown (Angleton) and a taller one of Houston in the town that I live in now (Huntsville). So much of what we focus on in class is the military campaign, but this film gives real insight to the tensions that went on while the Men of Texas were unsure of which course of action to take. It really serves to reinforce their legacies.

2. Although, it makes for along film, watching the backstory on Otto and Benito gives geat insight to both the Tejano and Mexicano perspectives during the war. I teach at a school that is about 70% hispanic, and my kids were very interested in this part. Giving the kids multiple views on the subject is not something our text does a great job at, so this was refreshing.

3.It really does cover alot of our content. Everything from vocabulary words like "empresario" to Austin going to prison. Although the battle scenes are less than stellar, the back stories and strategies are discussed with descent historical accuracy. Crockett's story about killing 100 bears, Jim Bowie's knife, and how Santa Anna is discovered after the last battle are all there. Very Helpful.

I would recommend this film with caution. Watch it on your own before you show it in class. You may or may not want to show it after a screening. Ignore the last 45 minues of the movie; it doesn't really pretain to anything historical except the forming of the Texas Rangers and Annexation. Mostly it ties the story of Otto and Benito, plus there's the nudity.

You may want to consider "Gone to Texas." The second half of that film covers the same time period, but with its own advantages and disadvantages. It introduces you to alot of the minor historical figures involved in the conflict, but doesn't devote any time to anyone except Sam Houston (Played Awesomely by Sam Elliot). It only shows the aftermath of the Alamo, but the other battles are much better in their original context (these are the ones reused in "Texas"). I give it an edge because there is no nudity or cursing to fast forward through.