The Movie whether it follows the book James Michener's book nor not was excellent. I've watched this several times and enjoyed it every time. As far as wlfgdn's review where he implied that several historians agree that slavery was the central issue for the independence from Mexico is horse pucky at best. The fight to become a Republic of Texas was solely based on the fact that the people who once lived under the Constitution of the U.S and moved to Texas wanted the same freedoms that the government of Mexico refused to give. It was the resentment of the Mexican rule not slavery as the central and main reason for the eventual Republic of Texas.
