Plantiana Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

SoftInloveRox Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Robert W. Any time a film is made to represent a true event...whether it's ancient history, historical epic, or more modern it must be taken with a grain of salt because certainly in some way or another it may be biased or not entirely built around the facts. That seems to be one of the big complaints about Ambush in Waco. When I watch a film I look for it to be well made, well acted, and entertaining and if it really blows me away or teaches me something then I usually slap a huge rating on it. I can't slap a huge rating on Ambush in Waco but I can say for what it was worth and for the first film I've ever seen covering the disastrous situation which I can remember being plastered all over the news many years ago...it was good and well made especially for a TV Film because sometimes TV can pretty effectively kill what could have been a great film. I don't imagine the budget was very high and yet they recreated the compound very well and still dealt with a very interesting and disturbing angle of the story. Many also vote that this film was made by and for the ATF to protect them should something go wrong at Waco (which it did), this film went into production before the event was even over. That all may be true so you can look at it as propaganda, but it's still an interesting well made film.It seems a general consensus that Tim Daly does a great job and I agree. I've always liked Daly and he really does a rather disturbing and moving performance as David Koresh. The guy is maniacal and yet he has this quality about him that makes it believable that he could be followed despite his wild ideas and insane personality and that really is what Koresh and cult leaders are all about. Daly is a powerhouse. The dividian members are all very important to the story although none of them really stand out in their performances. In fact most of them come across as almost zombie like which I think is taking the idea a little too far. They just didn't feel real enough but still they did alright including William O'Leary, Neal McDonough, Gordon Clapp, and Marley Shelton in some of the more significant character roles. I thought Shelton though did a poor job and came across as vapid and robot like in her performance. Dan Lauria, a long time character actor, who I always associate as the emotionally empty Dad from The Wonder Years is pretty good as the head of ATF Unit that first attacks the Waco compound. He is certainly painted as the good guy and has a decent TV movie leading man personality.Really I think Daly's performance makes this film but the story is decent too. Even if it was made for the perspective of making the ATF look better...it is one side to the story and it's done decently. The film moves at a good pace and does a good job of establishing the main character of Koresh before he was even Koresh and the gradual moving towards the battle with ATF. Director Dick Lowry is the king of TV movies which I think is a good thing. Certainly TV movies are not the same as big screen films or even straight to DVD because they tend to be cheaper and thrown together but Lowry has done a lot of them and I think he tells a good story and does a good job of putting together the important pieces. While I certainly don't think the film told a balanced position I think it's interesting and entertaining and a piece of history. 7/10

Longskail This movie was the worst example of what really happened. The other persons comment really angers me. 80 men, women and children were burned alive by our government. Several years later it surfaced that the FED's really did launch incendiary devices at the Davidians church (compound labeled by the FED's to militarize the situation)I have seen the autopsy photos of the children and I cant tell you how much it brings tears to my eyes that no one has done anything to the ATF, FED and Military personal who are responsible. Keep harping on 9/11 and continue to close your eyes to what happen in Waco. I find it funny how the American Indians don't have a problem with believing what really happened in Waco but the rest of America cant seem to believe that our government would ever do such a terrible thing. Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Our government almost killed off an entire race of people (American Indians) and you find this hard to believe that it would murder 80 men, women and children?

frankfob This is a first-rate accounting of the tragic deaths and destruction brought about by the actions and beliefs of a home-grown terrorist named David Koresh and his band of paranoid religious fanatics. Koresh may be (as is evidenced by several of the reviews on this page) worshiped by the lunatic fringe of right-wing government-hating zealots, but he was nothing more than a domestic version of Osama bin Laden and any number of power-crazed killers who cloak themselves in religion as an excuse to unleash their hatred and violence on the world, and this film does a good job of showing Koresh to be exactly that. Tim Daly is terrific as Koresh; I don't know if he was nominated for an Emmy for this, but if he wasn't he should have been, it's that good of a job. Director Dick Lowry stages the final assault in a straightforward manner, giving viewers a chilling and sobering idea of the volume of murderous gunfire that the federal agents were up against. The final result was, besides the murders of several law enforcement agents and the deaths of Koresh and his fellow terrorists, the terrible tragedy of the women and children of Koresh's band who, because of his fanaticism. hatred and insanity, he decreed had to die with him when he blew up the compound. The film has been criticized for taking some liberties with the facts, as most biographies do, and that may be true to a degree, since it was rushed into production so quickly, and it probably wouldn't have hurt if the filmmakers had taken a bit more time in preparation. But all things considered, this is an impressive accomplishment for a project that was put together in such a short time. You should definitely check it out.

Bosco 55th This was released just 3 months after the shootout shown in the film. To make a good movie you need time and research. I don't think they gave much of either on this movie except for the shootout. I like this movie because as you can see. It makes the loony anti-government people mad. Just look at a previous comment and see. If you hate the government, this movie isn't for you. It was made by a company that has done at least 10 films that tell the story of the brave law enforcement officers/agents who have given their lives.