War and Remembrance: Part One: Amazon.ca: Robert Mitchum, Jane Seymour, Hart Bochner, Victoria Tennant, Polly Bergen, Sami Frey, William Schallert, Jeremy Kemp, Steven Berkoff, Robert Hardy, Topol, Ralph Bellamy, John F. Burnett: DVD

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The ambitious TV event War and Remembrance was the final opus in the golden age of the maxi-miniseries. This six-disc set offers the first half (seven episodes) of ABC's mammoth 30-hour production of Herman Wouk's bestseller--itself a sequel to the landmark Winds of War--mixing fictional and real characters around the events of World War II. It starts a week after the attack on Pearl Harbor and abruptly stops in July 1943 with the fall of Mussolini. Only half of the first series' lead actors return, including Robert Mitchum as the patriarch Captain "Pug" Henry. Although Mitchum is too old and less dashing than he should be, his presence is exactly what the series needs as it wavers between pop entertainment and a graphic look at the atrocities of war. The series' multiple storylines branch from the Henry family tree, from his sons' naval battles to his daughter-in-law's (Jane Seymour) harrowing flight through Europe with her famous father (John Gielgud), witnessing firsthand the collapse of European Jewish life in the grip of Nazi power.

Director Dan Curtis said that after The Winds of War, the opportunity to show the Jews' plight led him to take on another daunting production. He takes the viewer into Auschwitz with unflinching realism (producer and former internee Branko Lustig returned to the subject a decade later with Schindler's List) and is just as deft with a few massive battle sequences combining models with colorized footage. Sometimes the soap opera of the characters' affairs seems pretty sappy, especially with some uneven acting. The DVD set also contains two featurettes from 1988 and 2002. --Doug Thomas

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Customer Reviews

27 Reviews

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4.5 out of 5 stars (27 customer reviews)

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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Winds of War Is A Good Historical Yarn, Oct 1 2003

By

M. Veiluva "sputnik99" (Walnut Creek, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: War & Remembrance Volumes 01-07 (VHS Tape)

As historical miniseries go, the "Winds of War" and its sequel, "War and Remembrance" add up to one of the most ambitious made-for-TV productions of all time. (A confession here: It's me Mum's favorite video series.) It follows Herman Wouk's two massive tomes which put the reader at the center of Worlds War Two, through the vehicle of Captain Victor 'Pug' Henry and his family. Victor and his wife take tea with Hitler, meet Stalin and Churchill, and share martinis with Roosevelt. Son Byron ("Bry") Henry manages to get stranded in Poland during the 1939 German invasion, and Pugs other son, Warren, joins the navy. Daughter Rhoda goes into the radio business in 1940s New York, the center of the universe. Pug's daughter -in-law Natalie Jastrow, a Jew, is imperiled in fascist Europe.

"Winds of War" is the more interesting of the two books and mini-series, since it covers the odd time from just before the start of the war in Europe in 1939, and ends at Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Wouk uses American's neutrality (while Roosevelt positions for America's entry into war) to allow his characters to travel to Britain and Russia,, and to get Pug Henry assigned as military attache to Berlin.

Most of the script is faithful to Wouk's book, and the movie is heavily stocked with first-tier actors. Robert Mitchum is an excellent, authoritative elder-statesmanlike Pug Henry in "Winds of War", even though he becomes more of a walking statue in "War and Remembrance", unable to visibly change facial expressions. Lisa Eilbacher does officer's wife Madeline Henry to the nines, enjoying the status of being high in the ratings' list while casting nets elsewhere. Jan Michael Vincent, staple of many 1970s miniseries, does OK as a the black-sheep Bry. Of the main characters in "Winds of War", only Ali McGraw is problematic. Fortunately, the producers replaced McGraw in the sequel with the leaner, more serious Jane Seymour, which avoided unthinkable scenes of McGraw ("But Bry-an!') wallowing about in a death camp. Ralph Bellamy's Roosevelt ius unmatched anywhere.

This is a first class, high quality production, and well recommended. Despite its scope, it avoids major distortions of history and is, best of all, fun to watch.

Recommendations: Herman Wouk's novels, "Winds of War" and "War and Remembrance"
Olivia Manning's WW2 novels, "The Balkan Trilogy" and "the Levant Trilogy", and if you can find it on tape, the British miniseries "Fortunes of War."

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars We Are Walking, We Are Walking..., Jun 1 2004

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D. Eichholz "bsnmsn" (Indiana USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: War and Remembrance: Part One (DVD)

If you sat through Winds of War, then you must sit through this
production. Several of the leads have been replaced, for the better. True, Mitchum shows his age, but for me, he IS Pug, no matter what. The Henry family struggles on through the early days of WW2, in almost constant upheaval. This doesn't paint war as a glorious battlefield, nor does it wallow in angst. The story is being told and carries you along, because you have learned to care for the Henrys'.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, Aug 6 2003

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Steven K. Murphy (Indianapolis, IN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: War and Remembrance: Part One (DVD)

This boxed set version of War and Remembrance is amazing! After seeing the whole thing on VHS, I'm amazed at the DVD quality in comparison. Was very happy with my purchase. The cast is strong all around.

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars An overwhelming and successful project...
The scope of the mini-series staggers the imagination. The ABC production takes us into the politics and perverse nature of the global conflict. Read more

Published on Jan 4 2007 by Michael Sullivan

5.0 out of 5 stars The single best account of the war mingled with romance
The account of WWII is excellent and the acting is at its finest. Who could ask for more when u look at the entire cast... Read more

Published on Jun 29 2003 by Charlotte R Lyles