Product Details

• Actors: Tim Daly, William O'Leary, Neal McDonough, Lewis Smith, Marley Shelton
• Directors: Dick Lowry
• Writers: Phil Penningroth
• Producers: Dick Lowry, Ann Kindberg, Kenneth Kaufman, Wendell Rawls
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Lions Gate
• VHS Release Date: November 17, 1993
• Run Time: 98 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302906601
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #270,070 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Facist Garbage, November 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: In the Line of Duty:Ambush in Waco [VHS] (VHS Tape)

After reading such books as "A Place Called Waco", and watching the excellent "Waco: The Rules Of Engagement", All I can say is that this is nothing but propoganda to demonize David Koresh and the Davidians, and portray the ATF as heroic dragon slayers. Do yourself a favor, stay away from this one and buy "Waco: The Rules Of Engagement", available on Amazon.com

29 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Even the screenwriter disowned this film, November 4, 2005

By 

Dusty (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In The Line Of Duty: Ambush In Waco (DVD)

This made-for-TV film was quickly put together to exploit the deaths of so many ATF agents and Davidian men, women and children, barely after the smoke had cleared in Waco. Years later, the screenwriter who wrote this film, Phil Penningroth--much to his credit--confessed that he had been pressured by television executives to forget about researching the facts, and to instead use the film as a forum for promoting the government's spin on events at Waco. Do a google search for Penningroth's article, "Righting Waco", and you'll soon learn, as he eventually did, that this film was an utter sham from the beginning, and never even sought the truth. But such is the awesome power of propaganda in a nation of corporate-dominated media: when even the people who write the stories we're told don't know they are lying, how are the masses supposed to know?

When the Davidian "compound" burned on April 19, 1993, I was horrified by the carnage, but felt like so many others that the Davidians had brought it on themselves, and the ATF/FBI had done the best they could. After all, that is what this film portrays. But after researching the matter for myself, traveling to the site, speaking with survivors, and kneeling at the tiny plaque which marked the location of the concrete room that became the oven that burned so many women and children alive, I will live the shame of my former beliefs for the rest of my life. The U.S. government killed those people, used the enormous power of the mass media to lie about it, and we all believed them.

Watch "Waco: Rules of Engagement" instead. Or better yet, travel to the site yourself and stand where those flames once reached into the sky. Then you'll understand what really happened. This film is classic only in the sense of its value as a powerful propaganda piece that diverted an entire nation's attention away from the rogue power of its own government--an atrocity that Timothy McVeigh attempted to avenge with yet another senseless tragedy in Oklahoma City. But that's another story....

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars What was the rush?, December 9, 1998

By 

Zonie ([e-mail]) (Arizona) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In the Line of Duty:Ambush in Waco [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I saw this made-for-TV movie when it was first ran on TV back in the spring of 1993. Production values are pretty good. As I recall, it was aired less than two weeks after the FBI burned the church to the ground and then bulldozed the site to remove evidence of FBI crimes.

As a result of this time-frame, the movie has a pro-government slant. It is forgivable, I suppose, since the only views getting out to the media at that time came through the filter of a BATF and FBI desperately trying to cover up. So, no one outside of the federal government knew that Alabama National Guard helicopters were flown into Texas (without the knowledge of the governors) and used to strafe the living quarters (2nd floor) of the women and children with automatic weapons. No one knew that the government likely fired first. No one knew that Koresh had invited the BATF to come in and inspect his firearms anytime (BATF declined). No one knew the BATF were stung by racial and sex discrimination lawsuits and risked having funding deleted by Congress, and so, planned to use Waco as a feather in their cap for the upcoming budget hearings. No one knew the search warrant was fraudulent and that the judge rubber stamped it. No one knew that the BATF lied about drugs at the compound so that they could qualify for special Army training and support. No one knew that the FBI "punished" the Branch Davidians for releasing children by increasing "psy-ops" activity, running over vehicles and fresh graves with Bradley tanks. No one knew that the FBI shot incendary devices into the plywood structure just before the fire started. And definately, no one knew that the feds were shooting into the building with automatic weapons as the fire raged and people screamed (FBI audio) to get out. And so on. The federal government committed many crimes during that 51 day seige. And thanks to a federal law designed to assist in the "drug war" by disallowing suits against federal agents "acting within their duty," they have not been brought to justice.

If you want a better take on it, buy "Waco: The Rules of Engagement." Still, as bad as W:TROE makes the situation out to be, the reality is even worse. If you want information over-load, go over to the book section and order Kopel's heavily foot-noted "No More Wacos...". "W:TROE" and Kopel's book make a great pairing. The book, "Ashes of Waco" is another good source, I am told.