Rating: 
Summary: Swept Away, Again
Review: The story almost completely centers on Natalie and Aarons' struggle to survive the horrors of being Jewish in an WW2 Europe. Additional storylines includes the development of The Bomb and of Pug and Rhodas' divorce ( which added the few bits of humor, odd as that might seem ). Graphic and horrifying, Natalie and Aarons' plight will leave you aching and sad, although you will have spent many hours thinking " if they are so smart, why are they still in Europe. " In the end, there is a saving grace and resolution - although, I wish they would have done more to wrap up Rhodas' descent into the bottle and Pugs' new life with Pamela. I may be in the minority, but I like
those two as a couple...it is a bit of humanity in a horrible theatre of pain.
Rating: 
Summary: Reality
Review: The story as a TV series has numerous flaws; acting casting etc. However,one cannot help but to be moved and shaken at the depiction of the death of Aaron Jastrow. For all of the nay sayers who cry that the holocaust did not happen and who harbor any Anti-Jew or Anti-Semetic ideas, and for those of us who don't, I would make those scenes required watching.V.Craig
Rating: 
Summary: No other war story except Pvt.Ryan is as impactful as W&R
Review: The War and Remebrance/Winds of War video productions are a high water mark of the docu-drama of WWII. The thing that impressed me most regarding these episodes was the director's skill at imparting the sense of drama, despair, the feeling that must have pervaded peoples minds that were in the war. I cannot find the words to describe the the sense of historical impact I felt this production delivered.
Rating:
Summary: Most realistic depictions of Auschwitz death camp
Review: This entire movie but specificially the parts 8-12, are riveting for anyone who has studied the Holocaust. The scenes of prisoners being beaten during morning roll call, standing outside in snow and below freezing weather, returning from 12 hr workdays carrying the days dead is all too realistic. The sequence showing Himmler observing a routine gassing in the converted farmhouse is chilling indeed. Anyone who has read and researched the details of how more than 1 million were gassed will see for themselves how the sequence progressed.
At times the story is a bit muddled when dealing with Natalie and her Uncle. Certainly any normal person would have taken steps to escape the tightening noose earlier, but the movie follows the book. When the train car door is opened, and the SS officer screams at the Jews inside you feel like you are standing there with the prisoners. You can see the hate in the guards face, the actor playing the part of the SS is completely into his character, and absolutely seems to despise the jewish prisoners he is transporting to Auschwitz.
The affair between Pug Henry and Pamela is hard to believe because of the large age difference, but I suppose they needed to flesh out the romance part. Such things may well have happened during those times, the world seemed upside down. Years ago the movie "Shoah" came out and covered actual participants/witnesses to the holocaust being interviewed. Now a person gets to see what just a tiny part of those terrible years was like. This is as real as "Schindler's List", and hard to watch at times.
All in all, a masterful movie which will enthrall any serious student of the Holocaust. This is how it was....so real.
Rating:
Summary: I agree that you should update to DVD for it & Winds of War
Review: This production was not an enjoyable as Winds of War, but did tell the end of the story. It and its predecessor would do well in DVD format, particularly because of its length and storage space. Anyone agree?
Rating:
Summary: War and Remembrance
Review: This series is probably the best thing ever done on World War II
Between Winds of War and War and Remembrance you have then every aspect of the war from the politics of pre war, to blitzkreig, to sitzkreig, and then all out war. You have the horrors of the camps as never before shown. This should be manditory viewing in our schools for children learning about the period of 39/45. It is my fondest hope that Paramount Home Video will produce Winds of War on DVD. Anyone who reads this should write them begging them to do so because from a letter I received from Paramount in March 2003 they said at present they have no intention of producing it in DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Moving, Chilling, Historical, and Excellent
Review: War & Remembrance is an exception to the rule of TV Miniseries- either good or forgetable. This one blows all of them out of the war, like many of the ships in this film. The story is of the Henry family, US Naval officers and their loved ones thrown into the four corners of WWII. Captain Victor Henry (well done by Robert Mitchum) is the Patriarch thrown into the battles of Midway, Guadalcanal, Leyte Gulf, and others, the political infights of Washington, Lend Lease to Russia, and in England with the Allies. His wife Rhoda (Polly Bergen)is the matriarch with the wandering eyes for family friend Palmer Kirby (Peter Graves from Stalag 17 and Mission Impossible). There is daughter Madeline Henry (Leslie Hope), with CBS and the USO. Sons, Warren and Byron are young naval officers thrown into the maelstrom of the Pacific War (Michael Woods as Warren and Die Hard's Hart Bochner as Byron). Byron is doubly troubled since his wife Natalie Jastrow Henry (Jane Seymour) and his son are trapped in Europe, along with great uncle and writer Aaron Jastrow (Sir. John Gielgud), both being Jewish and the infant half-Jewish. The Jastrows are forever pursued by the SS and Nazi Foreign Ministry seeking to exploit Aaron, a US citizen living in Europe, to speak against the war. The pursuit continues in Europe, with Byron getting updates from his father Pug, and a US Diplomat and agent Leslie Slote (David Dukes). The war forms a crescendo of true events with these characters and real figures woven into this mix.
The historical detail is well documented. The sequences of the Holocaust are chilling. Much of the concentration camp segments were filmed at the actual Auchwitz extermination camp. There Aaron's cousing Berel Jastrow (Topol of Fiddler on the Roof) is imprisoned, and later escapes. There is reenactments of inspections by SS Leader Himmler, the gassings, evacuations, and even the medical experiments are alluded to. There is also the massacre at Babi Yar and the unearthing and burning of the victims' bodies. Commandant Rudolf Hoess (Gunther M Halmer, also Hoess in Sophie's Choice with Meryl Streep) of Auchwitz and SS Colonel Blobel (Kenneth Colley of Star Wars) of the Babi Yar massacre are portrayed chillingly and all too humanly. Monsters with families, but willing to do the unthinkable and using terms like processing and units in reference to extermination of 6 Million souls. There is also a foreman played by John Rhys Davies. All are part of the darkest chapter of the 20th century.
Much is made of the Pacific war, but Wouk did focus on Natalie and Byron much, and of course Victor. Victor is not free from war or duty, and even has an affair with Pamela Tudsbury (Victoria Tennant), the young daughter of friend and reporter Alistar Tudsbury. Thus Victor is in London and Moscow everytime she is, not always on purpose and sometimes fated.
The rich tapestry of this film is well done. There are some big names, but many picked due to their resemblance and embodiment of actual figures- Churchill, FDR, Hitler, Himmler, General Eisenhower, Patton, and others. The battles are not so much focused on as much as personal conflict, but it does well with the narration.
This is a collector's items for die hard historians and fans of the old sweeping epics of yester-year. This is one worth finding, if Paramount redoes these for sale, like they did Winds of War, the prequel to this story. War & Remembrance is a worthy investment of time and money.
Rating:
Summary: The conclusion changes focus
Review: WAR AND REMEMBRANCE - THE FINAL CHAPTER is the conclusion of the trilogy that started with THE WINDS OF WAR and continues with WAR AND REMEMBRANCE VOLUME 1.
Unlike the first two parts of the story, the conclusion narrows in scope to focus much more on the lives of Natalie and Aaron, as well as Byron and Victor, leaving behind much of the epic saga of world war seen in the first two parts. Even the bombing of Hiroshima is only mentioned in passing, while the story focuses on Byron's search for his son.
As was the case in Volume 1 of WAR AND REMEMBRANCE, the Holocaust is depicted with graphic reality, and can be quite painful to watch. However, this is one of things that makes WAR AND REMEMBRANCE so important -- current and future generations need to see this reality, to make sure this can never happen again.
Why the two parts of WAR AND REMEMBRANCE are packaged separately is a mystery to me; both parts must be seen in order to get the whole story. But the entire epic saga is well worth watching and re-watching, so I heartily endorse all parts of the story.
Rating:
Summary: A must-see mini-series
Review: War and Remembrance" picks up where the infinitely superior "Winds of War" leaves off. This continuation has a multitude of problems and is not nearly as cohesive or riveting as its predecessor, but it's still worth watching and re-watching. Be prepared for a long sojourn in front of your TV however, it's 23 total hours of viewing time. Some of the problems of its precursor have thankfully vanished... But the character of Natalie grates on the nerves. She makes one appalling choice after the other, until it's difficult to root for her. In addition, Seymour plays Natalie as a curiously flat character, and missing is the essential fire and determination of Wouk's Natalie. Hart Bochner is a marginal improvement over Vincent as the whiny Bryan, but his screen chemistry with Seymour is zilch. His scenes with Mitchum also betray his liabilities as an actor. Whereas Jan-Michael Vincent's Bryan was sympathetic and appealing, Bochner plays the part as a mean-spirited, spoiled and pompous prig: watch especially his scene with Mitchum when he whines about the picture of Pam Tudsbury on the table. And what of the magnificent Robert Mitchum, the glue that holds the series together? He is much too old for the part of Pug Henry here and his limitations show. Whereas he was a trifle elderly for the Pug part in volume one, this was filmed six years later and Mitchum is downright doddering. Is he still sexy? You bet. Is it still believable that Pamela Tudsbury (played a bit insipidly by Victoria Tennant) would travel across the world to lie chastely in his arms for 10 minutes? Well... it's a stretch, but I wouldn't say no to Mitchum, would you? The historical characters are, again, wretched. The Hitler they cast is absurd and one wonders how such a raving cretin as this could have held the German nation spellbound for twelve dark years. In fact, the Hitler scenes are riddled with absurd errors and if anyone believes that actual Hitler behaved like this ignorant maniac, please consult a non-fictional history. It's amusing that Pug Henry again meets all of the integral characters of WWII in one fell swoop: Hitler is on his dance card, as well as Churchill, Stalin, Mussolini and anyone else he chooses to see. It's silly, contrived and forced, but it still manages to rivet the viewer. If you're expecting true-to-life World War II drama, forget it. But if you love Robert Mitchum, a good story of epic proportions, then this will suffice. I watch it every few years and love it despite its myriad problems.
Rating:
Summary: A must-see mini-series
Review: War and Remembrance" picks up where the infinitely superior "Winds of War" leaves off. This continuation has a multitude of problems and is not nearly as cohesive or riveting as its predecessor, but it's still worth watching and re-watching. Be prepared for a long sojourn in front of your TV however, it's 23 total hours of viewing time. Some of the problems of its precursor have thankfully vanished... But the character of Natalie grates on the nerves. She makes one appalling choice after the other, until it's difficult to root for her. In addition, Seymour plays Natalie as a curiously flat character, and missing is the essential fire and determination of Wouk's Natalie. Hart Bochner is a marginal improvement over Vincent as the whiny Bryan, but his screen chemistry with Seymour is zilch. His scenes with Mitchum also betray his liabilities as an actor. Whereas Jan-Michael Vincent's Bryan was sympathetic and appealing, Bochner plays the part as a mean-spirited, spoiled and pompous prig: watch especially his scene with Mitchum when he whines about the picture of Pam Tudsbury on the table. And what of the magnificent Robert Mitchum, the glue that holds the series together? He is much too old for the part of Pug Henry here and his limitations show. Whereas he was a trifle elderly for the Pug part in volume one, this was filmed six years later and Mitchum is downright doddering. Is he still sexy? You bet. Is it still believable that Pamela Tudsbury (played a bit insipidly by Victoria Tennant) would travel across the world to lie chastely in his arms for 10 minutes? Well... it's a stretch, but I wouldn't say no to Mitchum, would you? The historical characters are, again, wretched. The Hitler they cast is absurd and one wonders how such a raving cretin as this could have held the German nation spellbound for twelve dark years. In fact, the Hitler scenes are riddled with absurd errors and if anyone believes that actual Hitler behaved like this ignorant maniac, please consult a non-fictional history. It's amusing that Pug Henry again meets all of the integral characters of WWII in one fell swoop: Hitler is on his dance card, as well as Churchill, Stalin, Mussolini and anyone else he chooses to see. It's silly, contrived and forced, but it still manages to rivet the viewer. If you're expecting true-to-life World War II drama, forget it. But if you love Robert Mitchum, a good story of epic proportions, then this will suffice. I watch it every few years and love it despite its myriad problems.
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