The Mexican-American War is one of the more overlooked conflicts in America's past. If one tries to find a list of movies on it, there will be about a dozen on the Alamo and one or two on the 1846-1848 war itself. The one I found was One Man's Hero, which tells the story of the San Patricio Battalion, a group of Catholic US Army deserters who fought for the Mexicans. This was meant to be a theatrical picture, but its producer Orion was bought out by MGM, which didn't have much interest in the project and turned it into a direct-to-video release. The movie certainly looks like it was made more for TV than the theater as Orion wasn't in the best financial situation at the time.
First I should provide some historical context. The Republic of Texas desired annexation by the United State. Many in the states themselves also had their eyes on Mexico's northern territories of New Mexico and California. Sensing that Mexico was weak (wracked by internal political turmoil), President James K. Polk sought to bring about a war so that these lands could be added to the United States. He was able to antagonize Mexico into firing on troops in the disputed borderlands, providing a casus belli. The war ended with an American victory. While this expanded the nation, it also drove the political atmosphere into sectionalism as the expansion of slavery became a central and divisive issue.
