AMBUSH IN WACO is one in a series of American made-for-TV movies chronicling American police cases and various crimes. The series title is IN THE LINE OF DUTY, and it's not to be confused with the excellent Hong Kong action series of the same name. AMBUSH IN WACO is a straightforward account of the infamous Waco, Texas siege in which ATF agents stormed a stronghold belonging to the Branch Davidian cult.

The main problem with this film is that it was made contemporaneously with the true-life events, so much so that the whole story isn't even told (except in a written coda at the climax). However, it does build to a thrilling ending of sorts, the infamous and bungled siege that saw a number of ATF agents losing their lives as they attempted to storm the complex despite knowing the cult members inside were heavily armed.

The film as a whole isn't bad, although it does feel a little slow with over an hour of set-up before any kind of meaningful action begins. The story is very biased in favour of the authorities which a number of reviewers seem to take issue with. Tim Daly gives a very good performance as the deranged cult leader David Koresh, and old-timer Clu Gulager has a small role as the sheriff. Best of the lot is a youthful Neal McDonough, packing in the intensity even at this early stage of his career.

This is quite a good movie, even though I remember it being started while the siege was still underway. The tension ratchets up throughout as we see Tim Daly do an excellent job as David Koresh ruling over his acolytes, alternately bullying and charismatic. He gives a convincing portrayal of a "sinful messiah" which certainly raised concerns in the straight-laced Baptist community of Waco, Texas. This is what initially attracted the attentions of various law enforcement agencies.

The interest of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is piqued, but never fully explained, as it is to this day. Both sides are then set on a course that ultimately leads to violence, leading up to the climactic attack of the Branch Davidian compound, which caps and concludes the movie. The siege and its fiery conclusion are not seen.

The movie doesn't portray Koresh as a frothing at the mouth religious fanatic but as a true believer in what he says. Thus, the viewer is left with the ambiguous feeling that he may not have deserved his fate. The ATF agents are never fleshed out and we don't feel any real sympathy for their deaths. We end up not totally understanding why this tragedy occurred, which is exactly how we felt then, as now.

Several up and comers appear in this film, including Neil McDonough (Band of Brothers and Medical Investigations) and NYPD Blue's Gordon Clapp. Lewis Smith is wasted as one of the slain ATF agents.

If you want to know the truth about what really happened in Waco, TX between February 28th, 1993 and April 19th, 1993, this IS NOT the film to see. The writers claimed at the movie's beginning that this film was a result of "extensive research" concerning what happened, yet there is hardly any truth in nearly every scene in this film. It not only is a villification of David Koresh and the Branch Davidians but also a portrayal of the AFT as "brave heroes" who risked their lives so as to protect society from these dangerous lunatics. It fails to mention the point that the only reason that the AFT made the raid in the first place was because they had budget hearings pending and they needed a good publicity coup for those hearings.

The only error this film makes concerning the February 28th raid that is worth mentioning here is the fact that it omits the role of the helicopters in the raid. Anyone who has studied the facts of the raid knows that it was the helicopters who fired the first shots when they straffed the building. It was also one of the helicopters that, when making a straffing pass over the building, fired the shots the killed Peter Gent as he was climbing from out of the water tower. In this film, the Davidians (including some late-middle aged women) are shown to ambush the AFT as they approached the front door. It was too bad that millions of people formed their opinion concerning Koresh, his followers and the entire Waco incident from this piece of trash.

If someone really wants to know the truth of both Koresh and his followers and the entire incident from beginning to end, the best references are the books "The Ashes of Waco: An Investigation" by Dick J. Reavis and "A Place Called Waco" by David Thibodeau. Also, the video "Waco: The Rules of Engagement" is a excellent piece of documentary film making.