The Winds of War

Rating:
Summary: A rarity: great TV adaptation.
Review: This mini-series, together with its second part "War and Remembrance," may be the best TV adaptation of a book you will find. Even though the casting could have been better, and several main characters end up being played by different actors in the second part, "The Winds of War" follows very closely what Herman Wouk wrote on his novel of the same name. The TV adaptation is by Wouk, and Curtis' direction is magnificent. Curtis is responsible for the total immersion of the viewer in the era portrayed, as well as for the cinematic look of this series that is far above most TV of this or any day.
About the cast I would have chosen another actress for Nathalie Jastrow and not Ali McGraw, but the series does not suffer with her. I have always liked Robert Mitchum, so it did not matter to me that he was too old for the part of Victor Henry: the late Mitchum is simply great in a rôle that, although not written for him, he made his own. The young Jan Michael Vincent is convincing as Byron Henry, even if his romance with Nathalie, due to casting, fails to convince me. Victoria Tennant as Pamela Tudsbury falling for Victor Henry is a bit of a stretch but, again, the overall story and performances are powerful enough to let you go with it.
This is TV at its best, presenting a very good work of fiction based on history. It's long, but that is part of the point: the attention to detail is quite commendable. This kind of TV is very rare. We will get to see more in "War and Remembrance," but no more after that. I know of no other adaptation that is as close as this one, and where money and talent really worked together to produce a total as good as the novel that inspired it. Finally, I must recommend both books by Wouk. If you have read "The Winds of War," you will appreciate what a great transition from print to screen has taken place here. And do not expect solved issues at the end of the last tape: this one ends right after the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor. In order to find out what happens to the characters, you must read "War and Remembrance" or watch the second mini-series or, better yet, do both.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: THis series weaves a tale of the lives of those in combat and those effected by war. This story of a family torn by the ravages of simple brutality is griping. I would recommend this movie to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: ABSOLUTELY THE VERY BEST OF THE BEST
Review: What is there to say about the Winds of War and War and Remembrance? It is the absolute very best series about
World War II ever made. My previous choice "Gone With The Wind"
can't light a candle next to Winds of War and War and Remembrance. Since War & Remembrance was released on DVD, I organized a group of fanatics like me to write Paramount Home Video weekly to delease Winds on DVD. The cast was perfect. In this I am at odds with many critics who said Ali Mcgraw was not a good Natalie. In my humble opinion she played the role
exactly as it was written by Herman Wolk and only the Hitler character in the Winds was poorly cast but made up for in War and Remembrance. If you have never seen these you have missed the best.

Rating:
Summary: Move Over, Spielberg...Wouk's here.
Review: When I first sat down to watch "Winds of War," I was sure that I would be disappointed. After all, how many movies and television series live up to the book? The only example I've ever come across is Larry mcMurtry's "Lonesome Dove." However, with the exception of a few casting errors, "Winds of War," is the perfect example of how a powerful story can correct all other blunders. Some complain that the movie is too long, but I feel this only adds to it's authenticity and attention to detail. Thank God Herman Wouk had a hand in writing the screenplay. Michem plays the character of Pug a little too flatly, but he gets the job done. I agree with those who say the parts of Byron and Natalie weren't cast very well, but again, the story drowns out all flaws. The best trait is that the series is very faithful to the book. Several reviewers have complained that many issues go unresolved in this story. Obviously, these people wrote their commentary before viewing or reading the sequel, "War and Remembrance." This is a beautifully krafted masterpiece and it is far superior to most other popular works of WWII fiction.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Story--but an Absolutely Terrible Transfer to DVD!
Review: While the story is magnificent, this is the absolute worst conversion from film to DVD that I've ever seen! There are big clumps of dirt visible throughout the movie, presumably from a dirty transfer mechanism. Parts of this movie are so grainy that you would think the film was originally done on 8mm! Paramount should be ashamed for releasing this putrid transfer and ruining a fine saga.

Rating:
Summary: Winds of War
Review: Winds of War is the first part of a series on WWII, a television mini-series first broadcast in the 1980's on US prime time TV. The second part is War and Rememberance. The Winds of War deals with the years preceeding WWII and the events that shaped the US involvment into the war. War and Remembrance deals with the war years. The entire series centers around the Henry family- the father-Victor Henry, a US naval officer, his two sons, one-Byron, who is a "renegade" of sorts, on a break wandering thru Europe. He eventually marries a Jewish girl (an American girl also in Europe) and she gets trapped in Europe fleeing the Nazis the entire series. Byron eventually becomes a Naval submarine officer in the Pacific fighting the Japs. The submarine scenes/encounters with the Japs are very well done. His other son is a Navy fighter pilot also involved in the Pacific War. The "father" Henry holds posts such as the Naval Attache in Berlin prior to the war so you get to see what pre-wartime Germany is like thru his eyes, as well as other posts which enable him to travel to key areas where historical events are taking place in Europe and the Pacific. His wife has an affair with a guy involved in the Manhattan project and he has an affair with a young English girl globetrotting with her father who is a British radio war correspondent which is convenient for romantic rondevous. This series, in my opinion is the best TV mini-series ever done. The acting is superb. The war scenes are fantastic, especially the graphic, horrifying scenes in the concentration camps depicting how inhumanely cold and calculating the Germans were in deciding how they were going to dispose of the Jews. I am not a history buff, but this series certainly turned me into one. I learned a lot about WWII watching this series. It starts off a little slow and is not as action packed and fast moving as many Hollywood action movies today. For this reason, young kids may not be much interested in the entire series and may get bored with it quick. But for the more mature person who likes a good story with good character development interwoven with an excellent historical look at WWII, this can't be beat. It has my highest recommendation, and that is saying a lot. I think it should be moved to a DVD format though. I hope this happens. Although this series is long (Winds of War and War and Remembrance) I have watched it 3 times now and enjoy it much each time. For those war buffs out there, North and South, starring Patrick Swayze, was done similarly with a big series that took place in the years preceeding the US Civil War and the followed by another series with the same characters, only taking place during the Civil War. I highly recommend that series also.

Rating:
Summary: You have to make a choice
Review: Wouk's two novels are superb. Winds of War is now, at last, on DVD. The several DVD's are in a conventional multi-disk box and will make a superb addition to your collection. BUT.....The follow on series, War and Remembrance is a different thing altogether. The problem is, once you watch Winds of War you're going to want to watch War and Remembrance right after, without doubt, to see how these characters come out at the end. The problem is that War and Remembrance is put out by a different company, MPI Video. There's nothing wrong with the transfers....it's the packaging. They split the sequel into two boxes with 6 and 7 discs respectrively. That's OK, but then they put them in these monstrously large boxes that just won't fit on your DVD shelf along with your other titles. These boxes are huge. On top of that, while Winds of War is fairly priced, the W&R sets are $113 EACH. The only way we'll get these boxes republished the way they should be is to bombard MPI with lots of e-mail asking for it. Until they do it, I can't bring myself to buy Winds of War and that's not fair to its distributor who did everything right.