Both History/A&E mini-series were entertaining, informative but also exciting! Definitely one of the best re-enactments and historical mini-series to be featured by History, “Texas Rising/Sons of Liberty” Double Feature on DVD is recommended!
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DVD TITLE: Texas Rising/Sons of Liberty Double Feature
AIR DATE: 2015
DURATION: Texas Rising: 7 Hrs., 30 Minutes; Sons of Liberty: 270 Minutes
DVD INFORMATION: Texas Rising: 2:40:1 Widescreen Presentation, English 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio, Subtitles: English SDH and Spanish; Sons of Liberty: 1:78:1 Widescreen Presentation, English 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio, Subtitles: English SDH and Spanish
COMPANY: Lionsgate/History/A&E Networks
RATED: N/A
Release Date: November 22, 2016
Texas Rising
Directed by Roland Joffe
Written by Darrell Fetty, Leslie Greif, George Nihil
Produced by Herb Nanas, Joanne Rubino
Co-Producer: David Marion Wilkinson
Executive Producers: Leslie Greif, Adam Reed
Co-Executive Producer: Barry M. Berg
Supervising Producer: Jose Ludlow
Music by Bruce Broughton, John Debney
Cinematographer: Arthur Reinhart
Edited by Don Cassidy
Casting by Fern Champion
Production Design by Salvador Parra
Art Direction by Francisco Blanc, Chris Gallipoli, Nicolas Scabini
Costume Design by Karri Hutchinson, Michele Michel
Sons of Liberty
Directed by Kari Skogland
Written by Stephen David, Kirk Ellis, Zachary Herrman, Jordan Rosenblum, Kari Skogland, David C. White
Produced by Peter Feldman, Mitch Engel, Mathew Stillman
Executive Producer: Stephen David, Elaine Frontain Bryant, Matthew Gross, Dirk Hoogstra, Russell McCarroll
Co-Executive Producer: Tim W. Kelly, Kari Skogland
Associate Producer: Brandy Crawford, Jeff Robinson
Associate Producer: Brandy Crawford
Music by Lorne Balfe
Cinematography by George Steel
Edited by Sean Albertson, Paul Trejo, Jonathan Soule
Casting by Laura Grosu, Amy Hubbard, Avy Kaufman
Production Design by Rob Gray
Art Direction by Vraciu Eduard Daniel, Servan Porupca, Vlad Roseanu
Set Decoration by Andreea Hillerin, James Wilcock
Series Costume Design by Donna Zakowska
Texas Rising
Starring:
Bill Paxton as Sam Houston
Jeffrey Dean Morgan as “Deaf” Smith
Olivier Martinez as Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna
Thomas Jane as James Wykoff
Crispin Glover as Mosley Baker
Jeremy Davies as Ephraim Knowles
Rhys Coiro as Vern Elwood
Christopher McDonald as Henry Karnes
Max Thieriot as Jack Hays
Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Emily West
Robert Knepper as Empresario Buckley
Chad Michael Murray as Mirabeau Lamar
Jeff Fahey as Thomas Rusk
Sarah Jones as Pauline Wykoff
Joe Egender as Beans Wilkins
Robert Baker as Big Foot Wallace
Stephen Monroe Taylor as Gator Davis
Trevor Donovan as Kit Acklin
Rob Morrow as Colonel James Fannin
Kris Kristofferson as Andrew Jackson
Brendan Fraser as Billy Anderson
Ray Liotta as Lorca
Gerardo Taracena as Manuel Flores
Raul Mendez as Juan Seguin
Jacob Lofland as Colby Pit
Antonio de la Vega as Almonte
Darrel Fetty as Doc Ewing
Sons of Liberty
Starring:
Ben Barnes as Sam Adams
Marton Csokas as General Thomas Gage
Ryan Eggold as Joseph Warren
Henry Thomas as John Adams
Michael Raymond-James as Paul Revere
Rafe Spall as John Hancock
Jason O’Mara as George Washington
Dean Norris as Ben Franklin
Shane Taylor as Thomas Preston
Emily Berrington as Margaret Kemble Gage
Kevin Ryan as John Pitcairn
Diarmaid Murtagh as Tim Kelly
Darren Connolly as Seargeant Urquhart
HISTORY(R) brings to life the true story of how the people of Texas fought for freedom against the mighty Mexican military that had overtaken the Alamo. The legendary Texas Rangers assembled for the first time against General Santa Anna’s massive military might. United under the leadership of Sam Houston (Paxton) and with the help of his ragtag army, they passionately battled for life and country and the Lone Star State.
Anarchy rules in 1776 as a secret group of radical young Americans join together in the fight for independence from the sovereign roll of a king and his empire. They test authority. They incite protest. They create the blueprint for modern democracy… as they Sons of Liberty.
In 2015, HISTORY/A&E released two thrilling mini-series, “Texas Rising” and “Sons of Liberty”. And now, both will be released on DVD as a double feature!
“Texas Rising” is a 10-hour television mini-series based on the Texas Revolution against Mexico and a backstory of how the Texas Rangers were created.
Directed by Roland Joffe (“The Killing Fields”, “The Scarlet Letter” and “The Mission”), the miniseries was co-written by Darrell Fetty, Leslie Greif and George Nehil.
The series would feature an all-star cast which would include Bill Paxton (“Titanic”, “Apollo 13”, “Edge of Tomorrow”), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (“Watchmen”, “The Losers”, “The Possession”), Olivier Martinez (“Unfaithful”, “S.W.A.T.”, “Taking Lives”), Thomas Jane (“The Mist”, “Deep Blue Sea”, “Dreamcatcher”), Crispin Glover (“Back to the Future”, “Alice in Wonderland”, “Charlie’s Angels”), Jeremy Davies (“Saving PRivate Ryan”, “Lost”, “Secretary”), Christopher MacDonald (“Happy Gilmore, “Thelma & Louise”, “Harry’s Law”), Max Thieriot (“Jumper”, “Bates Motel”, “The Pacifier”), Cynthia Addai-Robinson (“The Accountant”, “Star Trek: Into Darkness”, “Colombiana”) and many more.
After the defeat and executions of those defending The Alamo on March 7, 1836 by Mexico’s Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (portrayed by Olivier Martinez) and his soldiers, having executed all men, Santa Anna allows a few of the women to survive: Emily D. West (portrayed by Cynthia Addai-Robinson) and Susana Dickinson (portrayed by Alixandra von Renner).
At the outpost in Texas, Sam Houston’s (portrayed by Bill Paxton) men grow weary that they do not go to the Alamo to fight against the Mexican army, but hearing the grave news, he decides to keep his soldiers in Texas and not fight just yet, which many of the men start to resent Houston as they want revenge.
As a few soldiers go to check on the Alamo, they discover a few Mexican soldiers being pursued by Karankawa Indians and the soldiers go to rescue the women from both the Mexican Army and the Indians. When they bring the women back to camp, the women reveal what happened at the Alamo and why they were the only survivors.
Because Houston feels his army is still limited and not ready to fight against Santa Anna’s army, and abandon their stronghold in Goliad and join forces with others in Victoria. But Colonel Fannin and his men refuse to listen and end up being ambushed by General Urrea and are all massacred by Colonel Po0rtilla’s soldiers.
When will Sam Houston allow his restless men to fight against Santa Anna’s army?
Meanwhile, Houston’s Texas Rangers which include hero “Deaf” Smith (portrayed by Jeffrey Dean Morgan), half white/Indian Billy Anderson (portrayed by Brendan Fraser) and other men try to fight the Indians and rescue others in need.
“Sons of Liberty” is a three part miniseries about the start of the Revolutionary War, the negotiations of the Second Continental Congress in Boston, Massachusetts and the signing of the 1776 United States Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The series follows people from the British Colonies and British America who shows their allegiance to Great Britain. But others in the Colonies are not supportive of the British and with their resistance, the Sons of Liberty are created.
Directed by Kari Skogland (“White Lies”, “The Stone Angel”, “Fifty Dead Mean Walking”) and co-written by Stephen David, Kirk Ellis, Zachary Herrmann, Jordan Rosenblum, Kari Skogland and David C. White, the series would star Ben Barnes (“The Chronicles of Narnia” films, “Stardust”), Marton Csokas (“Lord of the Rings” films, “The Equalizer”), Ryan Eggold (“The Blacklist”, “90210”, “Bloom”), Henry Thomas (“E.T.”, “Gang of New York”, “Legends of the Fall”), Michael Raymond-James (“Jack Reacher”, “Black Snake Moan”, “The Finest Hours”), Rafe Spall (“Prometheus”, “Life of Pi”, “Shaun of the Dead”), Jason O’Mara (“Resident Evil: Extinction”, “One for the Money”), Dean Norris (“Breaking Bad”, “Little Miss Sunshine”, “Terminator 2: Judgment Day”), Shane Taylor (“Band of Brothers”, “The Day of the Triffids”) and Emily Berrington (“The Inbetweeners 2”, “The Last Showing”).
The mini-series is a rough telling of the American revolutionary and focusing on Samuel Adams (portrayed by Ben Barnes), John Adams (portrayed by Henry Thomas), Benjamin Franklin (portrayed by Dean Norris), John Hancock (portrayed by Rafe Spall), Paul Revere (portrayed by Michael Raymond-James), George Washington (portrayed by Jason O’Mara) and British General Thomas Gage (portrayed by Marton Csokas).
The series begins in 1765 and showing how the colonies are living under British oppression. As local gangs fight in Boston and Samuel Adams, a tax collector and pub owner is not paying his own taxes, the Crown puts a warrant out for his arrest. But when a young boy is killed during an altercation between the British loyalists and the Colonists, the conflict is further escalated when the Redcoats begin massacring colonists.
As the Colonist fight back and destroy 600,000 pounds of tea in the Boston Harbor in 1773, King George sends General Thomas Gage to Boston to restore balance. But the Colonists are unaware of how much a tyrant General Gage truly is and are forced to fight back. But can the Colonists succeed?
VIDEO, AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“Texas Rising” is presented in 2:40:1 widescreen aspect ratio and “Sons of Liberty” is presented in 1:78:1 widescreen presentation and in English 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio.
The film is presented in DVD format but for those who want the best picture quality, may want to seek out the Blu-ray release. But on DVD, the picture quality is very good, as best as it can get on DVD. Audio quality via its dialogue and sound effects (gunshots to explosions) are crystal clear through the front and surround channels.
Subtitles are presented in English SDH and Spanish.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Texas Rising” comes with the following special features (on the final disc of the mini-series):
- Capturing the Revolution: Filming Texas Rising – (14:33) The making of “Texas Rising”.
- Sam Houston: A Man of the Revolution – (13:57) A featurette on Sam Houston. Actor Bill Paxton playing Sam Houston and how he is related to the real Sam Houston and more.
- General Santa Anna: Leading Mexico – (12:19) A featurette about General Santa Anna.
“Sons of Liberty” comes with the following special features (on the final disc of the mini-series):
- Lensing Liberty – (9:36) A featurette on the making of “Sons of Liberty” and how to incorporate many people and scenes.
- Choreography of War – (9:08) A featurette on creating the battle scenes and special effects for “Sons of Liberty”.
- Men of Independence – (16:31) A featurette on the historical figures featured on “Sons of Liberty”.
Having been a fan of History Channel re-enactments, in 2015, A&E/History Channel did a magnificent job in creating two mini-series from two different era’s in American history.
“Texas Rising” is possibly the most ambitious and most exciting miniseries from the network yet. From a talented cast featuring a plethora of stars, the amount of different storylines featuring various characters running concurrently and everything from direction, writing, production and set design, costume design and of course, the acting lent to the success of the miniseries.
Epic in scale and so much featured in the various episodes of the miniseries, I was absolutely astonished by how well-done “Texas Rising” was created.
Featuring romance, tragedy, violence but also showing various perspectives from Sam Houston and his men, General Santa Anna and his soldiers and the many different characters and how their lives interwine among one another and capturing the despair but also the politics of that era. It was a well-done miniseries!
“Sons of Liberty” is also a series featuring a lot of talent. Unlike “Texas Rising” which runs about 7 hours and 30 minutes, this series which focuses on Paul Revere, Sam Adams, John Adams, Ben Franklin, Paul Revere, George Washington and others, may run only 270 minutes but the writers did a wonderful job trying to tie everything together, although many scenes were inspired by the events of that time, it is not 100% historically accurate, as the writers aim were to incorporate a lot of these events into one.
But the storyline of the colonists under an oppressive British ruler and how the plans to create a nation separate from the British was actually quite fascinating to watch and there are characters and situations that I was not even aware about until I watched the series.
Similar to “Texas Rising”, the writing, the acting and production and costume design are well-done. But could have probably have been better with several more episodes to build character dynamics and relationships than the few episodes featured.
As for the Blu-ray release, it’s important to emphasize that this release is only a DVD release but if you want the best picture quality, the Blu-ray release for both miniseries released in 2015 can still be found online.
Nevertheless, both History/A&E mini-series were entertaining, informative but also exciting! Definitely one of the best re-enactments and historical mini-series to be featured by History, “Texas Rising/Sons of Liberty” Double Feature on DVD is recommended!
