Waco: American Apocalypse

So many of these reviews are opinions of the events. Rate the quality of the film. I agree there will always be bias but if you reject the assumptions of the filmmakers - tell the reader why.. Dig a litter deeper with factual information. I enjoyed the doc for its access to source material - especially the interviews. The current era interviews, were to me what made this a good (and unique) documentary on what happened at Waco. Their stories now - so many years later - are enhanced by their aged perspectives and are compelling to hear. This was a tragedy on so many levels. My personal feelings about who are to blame are not compatible with the lens of the filmmaker. However, I appreciated this film and felt it was an important perspective worth viewing.

Pretty much definitive proof that the fbi, atf & cia are as sociopathic & insane as David Koresh. Fact 1: Who would order an attack after the element of surprise cover was blown hours before. That's like phoning Hitler & saying we're going to attack your left flank in 2 hours so get ready. What Einstein came up with this idea? Fact 2: Sending home the hostage negotiator while it was still working effectively. Beyond stupid. Command Einstein play 2. Fact 3 Running over the trapped civilian vehicles with tanks. Always a solid plan to antagonize & further inflame the situation. It's like the mind of a 10 year old. "I'm going to punch you out at the monkey bars at recess". Fact 4: Arresting anyone that exits the compound & sending them directly to jail, thus eliminating the chances of anyone else exiting the compound. The list of mistakes made goes on & on. Did none of the government agencies receive any training? Like I wrote earlier...sociopathic, insanity & lets add wildly incompetent. Unbelievable! Be alert April 19th as it now seems to be a flashpoint of the dissatisfied.

"Waco: American Apocalypse" (2023 release; 3 episodes ranging 44 to 51 minutes each) is the latest reassessment of the events that took place 30 years ago in Waco, TX, leading to 90 deaths. As Episode 1 opens, we are immediately in the thick of things as the ATP is trying to execute on a search warrant at the Mount Carmel compound, where a religious cult led by David Koresh is living. Things go wrong from the get-go, and there is an enormous shootout between dozens of ATP agents and the religious cult... At this point we are 10 minutes into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: this is the latest from director Tiller Russell ("Night Stalker"). What could've been a thorough review of these tragic events, instead are brought with a shocking lack of details and context. We literally are given very few details as to the religious cult itself, why ATP decided to get a search warrant, and how exactly things went wrong. What we do get are talking heads who were there: several survivors from the cult, ATP and FBI agents, local TV reporters, lawyers, etc. The lack of coordination and communication within the FBI (the negotiators vs. The Hostage Rescue Team) is shocking. Not that the Branch Davidian folks are much better. Or as one talking head puts it: "Everybody in this touched the ball and fumbled." There are no winners. Back to the lack of details: at the end of the day that April 19, 1993, the mini-series concludes just like that. Not a single word about the YEARS of subsequent legal cases, all the way up to the Supreme Court. Also no information as to what became of the survivors that participated in this documentary. Wow, just wow. This documentary should be titled "Waco: American Tragedy", both as to the events that happened there and as to this mini-series.

"Waco: American Apocalypse" recently premiered on Netflix, and I watched all 3 episodes in a single setting last night. The mini-series isn't completely horrible, but it should have been so much better than this. Of course don't take my word for it so check it out and draw your own conclusion.

Before watching something, I often like to see what "normal" movie/TV watchers on IMDb think, rather than just professional critics. However, for this one, I was glad I relied on TV critics, with the majority saying this was worth watching. I have been amazed to see all the negative reviews being written about this, with the primary criticism of these negative reviews being that the documentary was "too pro-government." I have no idea what these people wanted or expected, although it seems like they wanted an extreme anti-government slant, similar to the people who like to see "documentaries" about Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton that are just bash-fests.

After watching this, but before reading the IMDb reviews, I thought this documentary was not even remotely pro-government. I even questioned how balanced it was, as it shows the government in a pretty negative light. So I think this comes down to the expectations of the watchers and their own biases on this topic.

The other criticism I've seen of this documentary is that it is more descriptive rather than providing in-depth analysis. I think the reason for this is that it leaves it to the viewer to decide what to think, rather than being told what to think.

I was someone who was aware of the Waco tragedy, but not overly familiar with it. Maybe that's why I liked it so much, and if anything, thought that it showed the government in an unfavorable light.

Waco happened at a time of my life when I was becoming aware of the wider world outside of my experience. It's not something that I have particularly obsessed about - it's just something that happened in the media and I remember. This documentary claims that it has never before seen footage and interviews - but one is left with the feeling that all of this information was already known. In 1993, a religious group with apocalyptic views and a large stockpile of illegal weapons was raided by the ATF and the FBI. The initial raid went poorly because the members of the cult were tipped off by a local reporter. Four federal agents were killed. A siege ensued at the end of which the compound burnt down and 80 people were killed. A narrative has developed overtime, among far Right groups in the United States that this is an example of a government overstepping its rights and massacring its people. The details of what happened are controversial because the two main groups in the conflict are a religious cult and a massive Federal bureaucracy with its own conflicting groups, aims and goals. Here is what can be determined by the outside observer. The Branch Dravidians did violate firearm rules and regulations that were in place at that time. If you are pro guns and say that the American government overstepped its bounds - just know that the next raid probably would have been connected to the fact that David Koresh was a pedophile. The American government did have a good reason to start the raid. But it cannot be understated how poorly they handled the situation. It's a special sort of hubris in the American psyche that repeatedly leads to situations like this. Waco is a good example - but so is the invasion of Iraq. We have confident people being blinded by their own competence. There's a great line from one of the interviewees who was on the negotiating team. He said the paradox of power is that when you use power you don't often get the result that you want, you are met with resistance. And it seems like the negotiating team was doing a good job of getting people out of the situation before more aggressive methods were used. But the people who died at Waco, at least the adults who were in that situation, we're not martyrs. It is controversial whether the fire that ultimately burned the compound down was started by the federal agents or was started by the members of the cult. But what is not controversial is the fact that when the fire started, the members of the cult did nothing to get the children out of that building. So in my opinion, that's murder. You could make the argument that they were afraid to go outside because they would be shot by the federal agents - the federal agents had been encouraging everyone all morning to come outside and surrender. And multiple people had left the compound before then and were not massacred. And even if there was a chance, a slight chance, that you could save your children, you should have taken that chance. Why didn't that happen? Because most of those children were the children of David Koresh - the cult's leader. And some of his brides were 11 or 12 years old. Even this documentary ends with a dedication for those who died in those who remained. Which means you dedicating your documentary to David Koresh? Just because the government screwed up doesn't mean that David Koresh wasn't a screw-up.