The Rough Riders

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The Rough Riders is a 1997 three hour television miniseries about future President Theodore Roosevelt and the regiment (the 1st US Volunteer Cavalry; aka the Rough Riders). The series prominently shows the bravery of the volunteers at the Battle of San Juan Hill, part of the Spanish-American War of 1898. It was released on DVD in 2006. The series originally aired on TNT.

The movie opens with Lieutenant Coronel Theodore Roosevelt (Tom Berenger) giving an impassioned speech.

Tropes used in The Rough Riders include:

• Large Ham
• Crazy Awesome
• Narm: some find the beginning sequences, especially the romantic ones, funny.
• Deadpan Snarker: The French Ambassador's wife and Roosevelt's wife have their moments.

Mr. Roosevelt: My wife's letting me go see the elephant in Cuba. Ambassador's Wife: I can see why. Person: Theodore, do you know that you're mad? Mrs. Roosevelt: It's never stopped him before.

• Obligatory War Crime Scene: A couple, given it's a gritty, realistic take on war:
  • The first is the killing a captured German military adviser. This is despite him posing no threat and him helpfully explaining how to operate the Maxim machine gun. By all accounts, this scene was invented entirely for the miniseries. The presence of any German military personnel in the depicted battle is disputed in real life, so the German officer they kill is most likely wholly fictional.
  • The second is when a Spanish soldier tries to surrender and is promptly shot dead. It's worth noting he himself killed a Rough Rider prior to his attempt to give up, though.