Rating: 
Summary: A Fine film about courage and conviction
Review: The Wilderness Years is a charming, well-acted and absolutely riveting film about Winston Churchill in the years from 1929 until the beginning of the Second World War. Taken largely from Churchill's own writings and Martin Gilbert's wonderful biography "The Prophet of Truth," The film is technically a work of fiction but rings truer than the most carefully prepared documentary, a product of the prodigious labors of the cast, director Ferdinand Fairfax and Gilbert himself, who was intimately involved in the film.The film stars Robert Hardy as Churchill in a legend making performance. Hardy portrays Churchill in turns as childish, spoiled, brave, and selfless, with all the flaws abilities careful students of Churchill find in the great man himself. It is truly a wonderful performance. The rest of the cast is very fine and nicely captures the controlled frenzy that constantly surrounded Churchill. Look for actor Sam Wanamaker in a small role as Churchill's American friend. In real life he would eventually go on to build the "new" Globe Theatre that sits on the banks of the Thames in London. There is, of course, no substitute for reading, but I can think of few films that capture a time and a historical figure as well as The Wilderness Years. I strongly recommend it to anyone with even a passing interest in Churchill or the war. Incidentally, it is quite a bargain; with almost eight hours of film time under forty dollars. It's just another reason to buy and enjoy this great film.
Rating:
Summary: "...If necessary for years, if necessary alone..."
Review: These wonderful miniseries are every Churchillian's Nirvana, and one inevitably compares them with HBO's acclaimed movie "The Gathering Storm" since they both dwell on the same topic. However there's no match between the two, and this Masterpiece Theater production clearly wins the day. No offense to Albert Finney -Emmy Award and all- but he doesn't hold a candle to Robert Hardy's Churchill, a tough act to follow if ever there was one. The same can be said for Sian Phillips ("I, Claudius") as Clemmie, Eric Porter as Chamberlain and, for that matter, everyone else in the cast. The movie covers the ten lonely, frustrating years of Churchill's political comeback. Sacked for his Gallipoli blunder, failed as Chancellor of the Exchequer, he was long considered an embarrassing has-been. Epicurean, pigheaded, politically incorrect at the time, histrionic -even pedantic- he alone, nevertheless, had the guts to cry wolf against the rising Nazi menace and call for rearmament, only to be ignored by hesitant MPs and tremulous PMs. On top of it he suffered bouts of jealousy and depression, family and financial problems and even an automobile accident in New York City. Yet, all through his ordeals he still managed to paint, write, lecture, garden, ride, hunt, build a brickwall by himself, and deliver the finest speeches of the XXth Century! "Never stop, never weary and never give in!" ...and never give it another thought: don't miss this! P.S.: Although he never met Churchill personally, Hitler makes a sinister cameo early in the series. He is played by Günther Meisner, a German actor who should enter the Guinness Book of Records as the longest running Hitler bit in history. Honest to God, I've never seen this guy in a role other than Hitler ("Winds of War", "Ace of Aces") -or a Nazi ("Is Paris Burning?", "Boys from Brazil", "Under the Volcano", etc.)! Talk about typecast!
Rating:
Summary: Amazing!
Review: This is a mini-series of epic proportions. If you enjoyed the HBO movie, "The Gathering Storm," then this is a must see, and a more detailed oriented movie. The philosophical battle between Churchill, Baldwin, MacDonald, and finally Chamberlain keeps one glued to the chair. It is no wonder that Churchill went down in history as a lion proclaiming freedom and liberty over tyranny and terror. Every Churchill fan should own both "The Gathering Storm" and this movie; no Churchill collection would be complete without these DVD's.
Rating:
Summary: Britain's Greatest Defender ...
Review: This is THE most compelling mini-series dealing with Winston Churchill and the period in his life that carved a political rebirth of a man who believed his time was past, and life was soon to end. Little does he realize that while he can sense the fate of his nation, and Europe under the growing shadow of Nazi Germany's potential, Winston can little determine what life has awaiting him in the 20th century's most tumultuous era. Spanning from 1929 to 1939, these 8 hour long episodes detail the amazing journey of Britain's outspoken mastiff during a time of political abuses and short sighted,ineffectual, liberal strategies. In some ways, Winston is the modern Job who loses his vitalities one piece at a time. He is shoved backwards, politically, by his own party, loses his money in the Amercian stock market crash, loses battles against his own government's abuse of priviledge, becomes crippled in a car accident, witnesses the empire carved apart as it lets free India, then helplessly barks as Britain slowly disarms and appeases the burgeoning German juggernaut. But as faithful hound who can smell evil and not be swayed by gestures he sinks his teeth in and refuses to let go of issues that are corrupting the world about him; forces luring his domain into the catastrophic World War II. After years of being forced into political wilderness, Churchill finds meek voices warning him of the dangers looming on all fronts confirming his fears of disaster. In the final moments, his stalwart determination win him the admiration of his country who recognize his merit and empower his rebirth into political control and save Britain from invasion. While the audio and video are rather unenhanced, and contain all the hallmarks of something primitive and emphatic from the early eighties, the story and acting excel this DVD set. Robert Hardy portrays a definitive Churchill, Timothy Pigott-Smith is brilliant as Brendan Bracken, Sian Phillips, Nigel Havers, Eric Porter, Edward Woodward and the long list of supporting cast are all excellent in their roles as Winston's family and contemporaries. This is one of the finest historical TV mini-series made. While sad and deteriorating for the majority it ends with the victorious emergence of hope as Britain takes arms against a foe it has ignored. If Britain's leaders had been vigilant during the 30's the Nazi war machine might never have advanced. Wishful, idealistic thinking is no alternative for prudent action; a valuable lesson for today's starry eyed society.
Rating:
Summary: A Brilliant Story Well Told
Review: While much has been made of A Gathering Storm, and Albert Finney's splendid portrayal of Churchill in that riveting film, Robert Hardy's Churchill in The Wilderness Years is as good, and more consistent, than Finney's, and this mini-series is better history. Hardy was arguably too young to play Churchill here, but his acting is superb, and one forgets the age disparity. This DVD--originally a TV mini-series from 1983, and the picture quality suffers for it--is engrossing, and with more time gives a fuller picture of the 1930s, up through the declaration of war in 1939. While A Gathering Storm omitted some things (and some people, with Neville Chamberlain unforgiveably absent), The Wilderness Years explores much more, and is much more accurate. A Churchill fan would need both DVDs, but if you are required to choose only one, this is the one to get.
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