Rating: 
Summary: A great mini series
Review: I would recommend this movie to anyone!!
Rating:
Summary: Winds of War: Viewed it 4 times...let me tell you about it..
Review: I'm a great fan of the Winds of War and War and Remembrance Series. I can say I viewed the total series at least 4 times. What I could say about W of W is all the actors are great, love R. Mitchum in the role, and all his sons. Polly is great as always (she always reminds me of my own wife) The only things I would have to say is the actor playing Hitler is nothing close to the actor in War and Rem. You'll see, when in 1941, Germany is taking over France, when Hitler walks to the railcar to sign the documents, it's a bit "Charlie Chaplin" style...not really good take for the quality of the production. But overall, this movie is one in movie wars. I recommend it! I'd like to get your comments too, please don't hesitate to do so! ... Happy viewing! R.
Rating: 
Summary: YES FOR DVD!!!!!!!!!!
Review: Like Jeff from Atlanta, I hope someone is astute enough to realize that their is definitely a market for both Winds of War and War and Remembrance to be sold in DVD format.
I would also be VERY interested in this purchase if the cost is any where near being reasonable.Larry from Missouri
Rating:
Summary: don't miss it
Review: not only is it a delight to watch (the story comletely draws you in) but one learns a lot of facts about ww2 without even trying. as far as the casting is concerned, i thought it was brilliant. all roles (leading and supporting, also the historical figures) are soundly acted. i agree that ali macgraw is a bit overacting at times, but still, after watching the series it is hard to imagine any of the characters played by a different actor. the chemistry between byron and natalie works very well, which is important. mitchum, macgraw and vincent may be a bit old for their characters, but for my part, a 22-year-old looking byron henry would stike me as a teenager trying to do a man's job. vincent looks every bit the self-assured, headstrong young man byron henry is supposed to be. and i can't think of a better choice for pug or natalie either. so let's not try to find faults in an excellent effort. just sit back and enjoy a wonderful movie.
Rating:
Summary: Keeping the Faith with Herman Wouk
Review: Of all the adaptations of literature for motion pictures and television that I've seen, folks, this one scores a 95%, with most other adaptations doing at best, say 73%, in regards to plot, character exposition, and the author's intent. It was most magnaminious of Mr. Dan Curtis to have Herman Wouk as an executive member of the team (TELEPLAY). I'm sure that you fellow Mitchum fans savor the way his characters come into a mediocre namby-pamby situation and shake 'em on down -- he doesn't disappoint as Pug. If you read the story, you could easily shoehorn Bob Mitchum into your imagination's eye. Polly Bergen's "Rho" is the comic relief to the saga, worrying more about her hair style, and intramural competion with other Navy and Marine Corps wives to jockey their husband's careers to the most prestigious heights, rather than being concerned with the increasingly odious global events racing down upon her family and world. Just as Mr. Wouk intended. Ali McGraw's "Natalie" is full of delicious spunk and mischief, as she teases, and then draws in, Jan-Michael Vincent's "Briny". She Keeps the Faith with Mr. Wouk's "Natalie", who incidentally, is my favorite literary heroine. The cinematography is picture-postcard breathtaking; you almost forget you're watching the small screen and believe you're at your favorite silver screen palace. Fits in nicely with Mr. Wouk's crisp, concise, ultra-vivid, descriptive narrative style. The choreography of the extras and the aircraft pilots was impeccable. These were the unsung heroes/heroines of this production. The Nazi/German/Japanese villains were most hideously brutal of any production that I've seen anywhere. For example, Herr Meisner's "Hitler" captures the monster's mincing mannerisms perfectly. The best Hitler I've seen; even better than Richard Basehardt's (1961), who did a fine job in his own right. Herman Wouk himself plays a cameo in the story, as Dr. Jastrow's friend, the Archbishop of Sienna. Finally, Dan Curtis had come an astonishingly long ways from the low-budget "Dark Shadows" days. Like night and day. Keep an eye out for Ms. Barbara Steele, who a few years later, would play Dr. Julia Hoffmann, M.D., in the "Dark Shadows" NBC TV revival!
Rating:
Summary: Well done, Paramount
Review: Paramount deserves major congratulations for doing right by The Winds of War with their DVD release. I was anxious to make sure this DVD measured up, so I watched it with my old VHS playing at the same time, and switched back and forth occasionally on the remote to see the difference. It's nothing less than astonishing. The old Winds videos look unwatchable when compared to the new image, which probably looks as close as possible to the way it was shot. This is, of course, a TV miniseries from 1983, long before anyone imagined the resolution of DVD, so it's not going to look perfect. Still, almost every time I switched to the VHS, then back, I literally said "wow." Colors are distinct and deep, details are sharp and the variously-colored hazes that afflicted most of the VHS are gone. Having only seen the series this way, the DVDs were a revelation. These discs represent what is best about DVD and its success, bringing a long-quiet catalog title back to life. Although Paramount usually mixes new 5.1 audio tracks for their old films, with 15 hours of film here, they can't be blamed for leaving the existing mono tracks, which are certainly decent and don't detract at all from viewing the film. (I can't understand the other reviewer who gave the DVD set one star, largely because of the audio. Doesn't he understand how prohibitively expensive a new sound mix of that length, for such a complex series, would have been? We're very lucky with what we've got.) Paramount also fixed some framing mistakes on the VHS edition. Large portions of episodes 5, 6 and 7 were noticeably off-center when compared to the re-aligned DVDs. This had never caught my attention before, but when flipping back and forth, I could see that the tops of people's heads were actually lopped off quite frequently on the VHS. I've read horror stories of missing scenes when TV shows find their way to DVD, so I was especially anxious to be sure that wasn't the case. Rest assured, every moment of the VHS version is here. The only difference is that the commercial break spots have now been lengthened to about five seconds, where they were almost instant cuts on the VHS. This gives more of a breather between acts, which I totally approve of. (As for the other reviewer who found scenes that were not on their old VHS, I can't imagine what they were watching, but it wasn't the official Paramount 7 VHS set, which was identical to this new DVD in film content.) The extras are also pretty thorough for a title that's clearly not going to sell millions of units. There are a series of featurettes that actually run into a pretty comprehensive feature-length documentary. Almost all the surviving cast and crew are interviewed, with the standout being series producer/director Dan Curtis. Just what a labor of love the series was for him is quickly apparent, and he has wonderfully clear memories of the production, which he is given ample time to share. Bravo, Paramount, for giving this landmark miniseries the careful treatment it deserved.
Rating:
Summary: Great plot and great acting.
Review: Robert Mitchum did a great job along with the other stars. Very good show.
Rating:
Summary: A treasure! The complete miniseries, beautifully done.
Review: Thank goodness that "The Winds of War" is finally available on DVD. I missed the original presentation of TWOW when it was first shown on television, but later bought the videocassete version, which was enjoyable enough. Unfortunately, I did not realize (until I got the DVD version) that the VHS version omitted a great many scenes of the original miniseries. This DVD version appears to present TWOW in its entirety, as far as I can tell. Wonderful! This is a very well-done presentation of Wouk's masterpiece--essentially tracking an American Naval family through pivotal events just prior to America's entry into the Second World War. The viewer is introduced to prewar Nazi Germany, the Nazi invasion of Poland, Britain's early struggles against the Nazis, issues surrounding President Roosevelt's attempts to prepare America for its inevitable entry into the War, and its aid to the British. As other reviewers have mentioned, the casting is fabulous. Robert Mitchum is perfect as Victor Henry, Jan Michael-Vincent is a great Byron Henry, John Houseman is wonderful as Aaron Jastrow, Victoria Tennant is magnificent as Pamela Tudsbury. All of the leads do very well in my opinion. Further, the script is very faithful to the novel, rarely deviating from it, and this is a plus, because the novel moves at a steady pace with a solid storyline. The result is that this is a miniseries that does not feature much in the way of draggy pointless interludes the way so many miniseries sometimes do. Every minute of TWOW is enjoyable and worth watching, which is why I am so pleased that this DVD version is uncut, presenting the entire miniseries. This is a wonderful value and a fabulous viewing experience about one of the very best novels dealing with World War II.
Rating: 
Summary: Shamefully limited DVD of a superlative series
Review: The one star refers to the DVD version only. The original Winds of War miniseries is superlative, the best miniseries I have ever seen on television. But this DVD is woefully, shamelessly and utterly disappointingly limited. NO extras. NO sound enhancement from the original, cramped TV monaural audio to enhanced stereo or surround sound. The DVD video quality is somewhat better than VHS. But absent better sound, the DVD's are not worth the price if one already has the VHS version. I'm glad I rented the first disk from Netflix in order to sample it before buying the set. I cannot overstate my dismay over the lack of sound improvement. The original musical soundtrack was superb in its own right, and battle scenes and other sonics also cried out to be stereo-ized and surround-ized. But the producers of this DVD evidently decided to go the cheapie route. Again, what a disappointment!
Rating:
Summary: Swept Away
Review: The story begins in the years before WW2 and a familys' journey into those turbulent times. The casting, while quite good at times, was not flawless. Mitchum, as stalwart Pug Henry, was his commanding and intuitive best. Jan-Michael Vincent was annoying, but that was perhaps his characters' persona. Ali MacGraw was playing her Love Story character - if Jennifer had been alive in those days - smart mouthed, know it all and completely aware of the camera. Those things aside, the stories are the thing, as they say. The politics of war, how one family
copes with the changes in the world and their world, all coming together. You can become thoroughly engrossed and caring about these people and their struggles. You get a real feel for the era and what led to WW2. Granted, the Henrys' are fictional, but
the interwoven facts make this an exceptional drama.
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