The Winds of War

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding except film quality
Review: "Winds of War" is THE best WW-II series ever produced for TV. The acting, directing, and editing are outstanding. The only reason that I don't give it 5 stars is that the print used for this dvd is a "grainy film" print. To spend this much time and effort on a series and then have the film processors make a grainy print is beyond belief. Nevertheless, it is excellent and well-worth adding to one's collection.

Rating:
Summary: Just didn't hold up....
Review: ...for me, at least. I watched this miniseries when it aired way back when, and remember liking it a lot then. In addition, I am a big Robt. Mitchum fan. So, when this set became available at my local Costco, I snatched it up in anticipation of enjoying it all over again. Alas, this was not to be. After sitting through the first disc, my thought was "Well, maybe it takes time to get going". By the middle of the second disc, I shut it off, quite disappointed. In short, too much time was spent on the relationships of the characters and not nearly enough on the title topic. Now, in all fairness, I was a U.S. history major in college, so clearly that was my focus. Still, all the 'character development' felt, to me, like just so much fluff to fill in between the historical drama. I really wanted to like this series and to be able to say "Don't even think about it-just go buy it!", but sorry, no dice. Perhaps if I had watched the entire production, I would have come around, but there just wasn't enough there to hold me.

Rating:
Summary: Uneven but still magnificent
Review: Despite staggering flaws in the casting of this epic drama, Robert Mitchum saves the day and dominates this brilliant series. Anyone who has read Herman Wouk's book probably cringed when picturing Mitchum as the short, 50-ish Pug Henry and he is physically all wrong for the part. But you don't care once he sleepily walks onto the screen and gives one of the most understated and "I don't give a damn" performances of his career. Is Mitchum too old for the part? You bet. Could he have shown a bit more emotion, especially in the love seens? Undoubtedly. Does it compromise the series or detract? Absolutely not.

The problems with this drama emanate from the other cast members. Ali McGraw as Natalie delivers one of the most wretchedly acted performances in all of TV history. Her over-acting, melodramatic pauses and pacing of her lines is simply atrocious. It's impossible not to laugh uproariously at her silly attempts to project human emotion in any form. Jan-Michael Vincent is similarly bad and completely outclassed by everyone else in the production (except the insipid Ali McGraw). Their scenes together are well-written but spoiled by two actors who should have pursued a different profession.

John Houseman and Polly Bergen are outstanding in their roles. Watch Houseman, a brilliant actor, in his scenes with wither Vicent or McGraw. You will cringe when you see his majestry and their weak, vain attempts to try and act on the same stage with this master! One does wish, however, that Aaron Jastrow and the endless wrangling with his passport would end. They draw this plot line out to insufferably long duration.

The best parts of the mini-series are undoubtedly the romance between Mitchum and Pamela Tudsbury. Even though their chemistry seems strained, what woman wouldn't pursue Robert Mitchum across the globe and back, even when he is pushing 70? Buy me a ticket.

For anyone who loves World War II and a classy production, this is your baby. I've watched it a dozen times and never weary of it. Highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: Ambitious and largely successful
Review: Dramatically this was an ambitious project. It is a kind of survey of World War II along with a two generation family saga with multiple subplots derived from the interplay between world conditions and each character's human hopes and problems.

The war issues require and get accuracy and some detail. The war story is well done. The two generation human story requires character development and, for the most part, this is delivered to the viewer.

The story contains some rather good insights into what really happened early on in the onset of World War II.

The subplots are set against realistic backgrounds and they are uniformly suspenseful. This story holds your interest and proves very entertaining.

If you haven't seen it by all means try it.



Rating:
Summary: The Winds Of War
Review: Five Star ***** TV mini-series about the buildup to WW2 and the effect it has on one family. Robert Mitchum is a career Naval Officer with Polly Bergan as his wife. Prequel to the mini-series War & Remembrance. This is an outstanding TV miniseries! Don't miss it!

Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Effort
Review: Herman Wouk is a brilliant writer who goes to exacting detail to share a story. This made-for-TV effort does him proud.

While telling a great story of interesting people caught up in the malestrom of World War II, this film also gives a depiction of history that proves you don't have to embellish or alter it to make it palpable to your audience (you reading this, Oliver Stone?).

This story is riveting and well-crafted. Knowing you can't improve on perfection (the book), the producers don't try. They just transfer it to a visual medium.

Whether you are movie lover, or a student of history, you will enjoy this show. You might just learn something as well.

Rating:
Summary: The definitive mini-series-- Outstanding!
Review: Herman Wouk wrote an absolute masterpiece. Winds of War is without a doubt the very best historical novel in the war genre. Dan Curtis equally directs the benchmark that mini-series will be measured by for years to come.

Casting for Winds of War was perfect when it came to matching Wouk's characters. Despite the age differences Ali McGraw and Jan-Michael Vincent were absolutely perfect as the independent and fickle Natali Jastrow and the bull-headed Byron Henry. Robert Mitchum is the glue that holds the story together in a flawless performance as Victor "Pug" Henry, the man that meets everyone that is anyone in his role as a Naval Attache stationed in Berlin in the pre-World War II years. One of the best ever ensemble casts include stand-outperformances by Polly Bergen as Pug Henry's hard-drinking wife Rhoda, not to mention Topol, David Dukes, Victoria Tennant and John Houseman.

Winds of War has become a semi-annual event for our family. It is simply so entertaining that it never grows tiresome. The historical value alone makes it worth having in your home library.

Rating:
Summary: The first half of Herman Wouk's story of the Henry family
Review: Herman Wouk's "The Winds of War" is based on the conceit of the Henry family, who manage to be in most of the "right" places as the United States heads for Pearl Harbor and involvement in World War II. Rugged "Pug" Henry (Robert Mitchum) travels with his flighty wife Rhoda (Polly Bergen) to Berlin where he is assigned as the military attaché to the American Embassy. Because of an acquaintance with Brigadier General Armin von Roon (Jeremy Kemp) of the Germany army, Pug has the opportunity to learn enough about what the Nazis are doing to make an official report predicting that Hitler is going to make a pact with the Soviet Union. Because he is right, Pug is summoned to Washington, D.C. to meet with Franklin Roosevelt (Ralph Bellamy), and becomes an unofficial envoy for the President. Meanwhile, son Byron (Jan-Michael Vincent) is in Europe working as an assistant to the scholar Aaron Jastrow (John Houseman), son Warren (Ben Murphy) is training as a naval aviator, and daughter Madeline (Lisa Eilbacher) ends up getting a job working on a radio show. With these relatively few pieces Wouk covers the invasion of Poland, the German attack on the Soviets, and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Wouk wrote the script for the 1983 mini-series, directed by Dan Curtis, and one of the major strengths of "The Winds of War" is that it takes its time in telling the story of the Henrys and the Second World War (this would be even more true in the sequel, "War and Remembrance," which it seemed every episode had a great set piece). For example, in the second episode there is an extended sequence in which several main characters are caught up with American embassy personnel fleeing Warsaw during the German invasion. They are brought by the Germans to a warehouse where they are fed, then lined up, and told to identify their Jews. Diplomat Leslie Slote (David Dukes) refuses and tells the SS they should consider all the Americans to be Jews because Americans do not make a distinction. One woman immediately complains that she is not a Jew, and the SS officer asks HER to identify the Jews in their party. The scene is very intense and works without explosions or special effects, just with the knowledge of what is going to happen to the people who are separated from the others.

The storyline goes back and forth between the soap opera lives of the Henry family and the start of the war in Europe. The defining plotline of this mini-series is Byron's involvement with Aaron and his niece, Natalie (Ali McGraw) in terms of getting the Jastrows, who are Jewish, out of harm's way, which is to say, out of Europe. Of course, Byron falls in love with Natalie and it is there relationship that will end up providing the final scene of the Wouk's massive saga in "War and Remembrance."

The other key soap opera element is the relationship between Pug and young Pamela Tudsbury (Victoria Tennant), the daughter of a renowned British radio commentator. As unlikely as it might seem, until you get sick and tired of Rhoda, Pug and Pamela become attracted to each other and fall in love, but if you think our hero is going to do anything about that when he is still married, then you have another thing coming. But fate is going to keep throwing these two together around the globe until something changes as Pug follows FDR's instructions and keeps finding the front seat of the war.

"The Winds of War" provides a sense of people living through the history. Despite the soap opera elements, Wouk provides a sense of history. Wouk's script ran 962 pages, contained 1785 scenes, shot in 267 locations, in six countries and on two continents, to end up with 15 hours of air-time. This is not to say that this mini-series is without its flaws. Mitchum has a commanding presence and you certainly buy the idea that he is a career naval officer, but his acting range is extremely limited and your ability to buy the romance between his character and Pamela is up to you. However, I do not think you can blame him for his interest.

However, the embarrassment in this cast is Ali McGraw. It is not that the actress was in her 40s when she played the part but just that she is such a bad actress. Add to that the fact that her character is either stupidly stubborn or stubbornly stupid, a trait inherited from her uncle's side of the family, and you spend most of this mini-series hoping that she gets killed so that Bryon can get home. However, the Jastrows are obviously fated to go to a concentration camp, and since Natalie and Byron drive by the Polish town once called Auschwitz by the Austrians in the first episode, you even know which one it is going to be.

All three of the main actors involved in the Jastrow plotline would be replaced in "War and Remembrance," and this last time watching "The Winds of War" I tried to think upon how things might have worked if Jane Seymour had been playing Natalie from the beginning. I have to say that it is McGraw's performance that is the problem and not the character as written. Seymour could play stubborn without seeming stupid. But in the end it is clear the Henrys and their acquaintances are just minor figures caught up in a war that is about to involve the entire world. No wonder that I think some of the best work ever done on television has come in the form of the mini-series.

Rating:
Summary: It's windy, all right
Review: Highly problematic but ultimately engrossing mini-series about the travails of a military family in the days leading up to WWII. Robert Mitchum is too old for the lead and often seems disinterested. (Although he does have a couple of terrific scenes on the Phillipine Islands near the end of the saga. They remind you of what a fine actor he could be.) Victoria Tennant -- she of average looks and below-average ability -- is inexplicably cast as Pamela Tudsbury and lends no credibility as Mitchum's would-be paramour. However, she's Meryl Streep when compared to Ali MacGraw's Natalie Henry, which is one of the most inept performances in the history of the mini-series. MacGraw apparently took Acting 101 at some point, and seems quite proud of the one or two mannerisms she displays throughout.

On the other hand, you get an outstanding performance by Polly Bergen as Rhoda Henry (who always seems far too formidable the milk-faced Pamela), and solid work from Topol, Jeremy Kemp, and David Dukes. Jan-Michael Vincent grows on you, after a shaky start. Plus, the era and story are undeniably fascinating, and director Dan Curtis keeps the complicated narrative organized and moving forward. The set pieces are generally well-handled, and I'd say that the location work is unbeatable, except that he beats it in "War and Remembrance."

So, if you can overlook the miscasting of key roles, "Winds" is definitely worth the investment. I must admit that I watch it every year.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent entertainment
Review: Historically inaccurate but does not distract from the overall entertainment value. Mitchum looks great in uniform. Houseman played one of his best performances of all time.