Ray Liotta’s most underrated performance is easily that of Tommy Vercetti in «Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.» As the Italian gangster in Rockstar’s unimpeachable classic, Liotta voiced the avatar us early-2000s kids used for all manner of tawdry video game exploits — and most of us had no idea it was him until later. But that’s far from Liotta’s only overlooked role. Take his portrayal of Lorca/Tom Mitchell in the History Channel’s «Texas Rising.» Never heard of it? You’re not alone. Thankfully, you can now acquaint yourself with the miniseries over on Prime Video.

Despite playing more than a hundred different roles throughout his 40-plus year career, Liotta stayed away from Westerns almost entirely. While several major stars continue to appear in Old West adventures even today, such as the «Game of Thrones» veteran who fronted Netflix’s latest Western TV series, Liotta only ever appeared in one. «Texas Rising» was an underseen and overlooked miniseries that aired in 2015. More surprising than the fact this show exists is the fact that the miniseries was about as star-studded as they come, with Liotta appearing alongside such luminaries as Bill Paxton, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Brendan Fraser.

How did such a series fly under the radar? The fact that it was on the History Channel probably has a lot to do with it. Whatever the case, it’s a shame more viewers didn’t see «Texas Rising,» not only because it was the one time Liotta ventured into the Old West, but because it was somewhat controversial for its dodgy take on history — all of which makes «Texas Rising» interesting even if it isn’t necessarily all that great a show.

Ray Liotta has some absolutely classic movies, but «Texas Rising» was a somewhat underwhelming effort at branching out into premium TV, even while it had its charms. Debuting just before Taylor Sheridan and his many shows made Westerns cool again, «Texas Rising» charted the creation of the Texas Rangers, the law enforcement agency that was officially formed in 1835 and served as part of the security force at the Alamo. The show starts just after the 1836 Battle of the Alamo, and follows the rise of the Rangers via soldiers on both sides of the Texas Revolution against Mexico.

«Texas Rising» stars Bill Paxton as General Sam Houston, who oversees the Texan Army. His soldiers are preparing for the arrival of Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (Olivier Martinez) and his forces as they march eastward in an attempt to reclaim land. Meanwhile, a company of Texas Rangers led by Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Deaf Smith and Christopher McDonald’s Henry Karnes escort two survivors of the Battle of the Alamo to a Texas Republic Army camp in Gonzalez.

Where does Ray Liotta come in? Well, he plays an entirely fictional character in the form of Lorca, a survivor of the Alamo conflict who wants nothing more than to exact revenge on the Mexican soldiers who killed his brethren. Unlike Paxton and Morgan’s characters, Lorca was invented for «Texas Rising» as symbol of the vengeful, rage-filled spirit of the Texan people at the time, but Liotta does a fine job of making his Alamo survivor feel like a real person. That said, Lorca is just one example of how the show bent history to fit its own approach, which ultimately became one of the biggest criticisms of «Texas Rising.»

«Texas Rising» never purported to be a 100% historically-accurate show about the Texas Revolution. But simply by dint of it airing on the History Channel, the 10-hour miniseries earned criticism for straying from the truth at multiple points and depicting a simplistic vision of the warring factions. Speaking to Men’s Journal, show co-creator Leslie Greif explained, «Our goal is to entertain you. We’re not out to tell a history lesson.»

Many of the battles depicted in the series were real events, including the vicious Goliad Massacre and the Battle of San Jacinto. But the way in which Greif and co-creator Darrell Fetty filled in the gaps proved controversial, ensuring «Texas Rising» would never be remembered as one of the best Western TV shows of all time. Matthew Gilbert of the Boston Globe opined that audiences of the 2010s deserved better than seeing «history reduced to offensive stereotypes and simplistic good versus bad morality.» David Wiegand of the San Francisco Chronicle similarly thought «Texas Rising» missed «a potentially rich opportunity to tell a more nuanced and, hence, more compelling» story of Texas history. Still, even he had to admit that «the performances are mostly pretty good.»

For his part, Ray Liotta did an admirable job of playing a PTSD-plagued survivor who embarks on a murderous quest for vengeance. If you’re only going to appear in one Western in your entire career, that’s a pretty good part to play, and Liotta made the most of it. If you’re not particularly bothered about what Wiegand dubbed the show’s «John Wayne-level» of nuance, and perhaps even pine for the more simplistic good-guys-vs.-bad-guys morality of the pre-revisionist Western years, «Texas Rising» might be just what you’re looking for.