Customer Reviews

The Winds of War

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Paramount deserves major congratulations for doing right by The Winds of War with their DVD release.

I was anxious to make sure this DVD measured up, so I watched it with my old VHS playing at the same time, and switched back and forth occasionally on the remote to see the difference. It's nothing less than astonishing. The old Winds videos look unwatchable when compared to the new image, which probably looks as close as possible to the way it was shot.

This is, of course, a TV miniseries from 1983, long before anyone imagined the resolution of DVD, so it's not going to look perfect. Still, almost every time I switched to the VHS, then back, I literally said "wow." Colors are distinct and deep, details are sharp and the variously-colored hazes that afflicted most of the VHS are gone. Having only seen the series this way, the DVDs were a revelation. These discs represent what is best about DVD and its success, bringing a long-quiet catalog title back to life.

Although Paramount usually mixes new 5.1 audio tracks for their old films, with 15 hours of film here, they can't be blamed for leaving the existing mono tracks, which are certainly decent and don't detract at all from viewing the film. (I can't understand the other reviewer who gave the DVD set one star, largely because of the audio. Doesn't he understand how prohibitively expensive a new sound mix of that length, for such a complex series, would have been? We're very lucky with what we've got.)

Paramount also fixed some framing mistakes on the VHS edition. Large portions of episodes 5, 6 and 7 were noticeably off-center when compared to the re-aligned DVDs. This had never caught my attention before, but when flipping back and forth, I could see that the tops of people's heads were actually lopped off quite frequently on the VHS.

I've read horror stories of missing scenes when TV shows find their way to DVD, so I was especially anxious to be sure that wasn't the case. Rest assured, every moment of the VHS version is here. The only difference is that the commercial break spots have now been lengthened to about five seconds, where they were almost instant cuts on the VHS. This gives more of a breather between acts, which I totally approve of. (As for the other reviewer who found scenes that were not on their old VHS, I can't imagine what they were watching, but it wasn't the official Paramount 7 VHS set, which was identical to this new DVD in film content.)

The extras are also pretty thorough for a title that's clearly not going to sell millions of units. There are a series of featurettes that actually run into a pretty comprehensive feature-length documentary. Almost all the surviving cast and crew are interviewed, with the standout being series producer/director Dan Curtis. Just what a labor of love the series was for him is quickly apparent, and he has wonderfully clear memories of the production, which he is given ample time to share.

Bravo, Paramount, for giving this landmark miniseries the careful treatment it deserved.

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.

Thank goodness that "The Winds of War" is finally available on DVD. I missed the original presentation of TWOW when it was first shown on television, but later bought the videocassete version, which was enjoyable enough. Unfortunately, I did not realize (until I got the DVD version) that the VHS version omitted a great many scenes of the original miniseries. This DVD version appears to present TWOW in its entirety, as far as I can tell. Wonderful!

This is a very well-done presentation of Wouk's masterpiece--essentially tracking an American Naval family through pivotal events just prior to America's entry into the Second World War. The viewer is introduced to prewar Nazi Germany, the Nazi invasion of Poland, Britain's early struggles against the Nazis, issues surrounding President Roosevelt's attempts to prepare America for its inevitable entry into the War, and its aid to the British. As other reviewers have mentioned, the casting is fabulous. Robert Mitchum is perfect as Victor Henry, Jan Michael-Vincent is a great Byron Henry, John Houseman is wonderful as Aaron Jastrow, Victoria Tennant is magnificent as Pamela Tudsbury. All of the leads do very well in my opinion. Further, the script is very faithful to the novel, rarely deviating from it, and this is a plus, because the novel moves at a steady pace with a solid storyline. The result is that this is a miniseries that does not feature much in the way of draggy pointless interludes the way so many miniseries sometimes do. Every minute of TWOW is enjoyable and worth watching, which is why I am so pleased that this DVD version is uncut, presenting the entire miniseries.

This is a wonderful value and a fabulous viewing experience about one of the very best novels dealing with World War II.

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.

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.

I remember sitting in front of the TV when this excellent mini series first aired. While some of the actors chosen to portray characters from Herman Wouk's fine novel in retrospect were questionable (Jan Michael Vincent?), Robert Mitchum remains for me the only person who could have brought "Pug" to life on the screen. His understated style makes him all the more charasmatic as the chaos of a coming war impacts on his family - this is a master class of a fine actor at his best. History is well documented here (and in the subsequent realted mini series War and Remembrance); in no way is the presentation dated and so it is a 'must have' for anyone who enjoys a good story.

American Broadcasting Company (ABC) and Paramount Pictures presents "THE WINDS OF WAR" (1983) (883 min/Color) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) -- Starring Robert Mitchum, Ali MacGraw, Jan-Michael Vincent, John Houseman, Polly Bergen, David Dukes, Topol, Ben Murphy, Peter Graves, Jeremy Kemp, Ralph Bellamy & Victoria Tennant

Directed by Dan Curtis

Overall, the Winds of War is a very compelling piece of work. This is a long one 15 hours!, but is well worth the time it takes to watch it. Robert Mitchum's performance is absolutely flawless. Ali McGraw does a outstanding job as a jewish woman trapped in a Europe dominated by the jew-hating Nazis. She is trapped because of the trepidation of her uncle, who hates to leave his beloved Italy. As a consequence, she ends up stuck as well. There are many complications, not the least of which is that she is married to an American Naval Officer, Byron Henry, superbly played by Jan Michael-Vincent.

The story of the Henry family is only interesting in so far as it connects to the larger WWII narrative. Seeing the direct, human impact that Hitler's aggression and tyranny has on the Henry circle is effective and instructive. However, almost every other aspect of their family story is inconsequential and trite.

Winds of War and War and Remembrance are productions that rank with the best ever made. In addition to the accuracy of historical data, the casting, direction and all around production values are top notch.

BIOS:
1. Dan Curtis [aka: Daniel Mayer Cherkoss]
Date of Birth: 12 August 1927 - Bridgeport, Connecticut
Date of Death: 27 March 2006 - Brentwood, California

2. Robert Mitchum
Date of Birth: 6 August 1917 - Bridgeport, Connecticut
Date of Death: 1 July 1997 - Santa Barbara, California

Mr. Jim's Ratings:
Quality of Picture & Sound: 5 Stars
Performance: 5 Stars
Story & Screenplay: 5 Stars
Overall: 5 Stars [Original Music, Cinematography & Film Editing]

Total Time: 883 min on DVD ~ Warner Bros. Pictures ~ (05/25/2004)

This series provides an excellent refresher and resource for college teachers like me. There are several stories within stories and excellent quality of production. I also recommend "War and Remembrance" as an outstanding series.

The Winds Of War is very nicely packaged in six separate DVD holders held in a small box. It is certainly superior to the handsomely packaged but oversized boxes that were used for the War And Remembrance set and certainly a lot cheaper to buy.
Robert Mitchum is clearly the star of the show and the war stories where he meets with the world's leaders are great storytelling. The movie's accuracy to history,among the story,is a plus.
The disc also has four documetaries that tell the making of and are good watching for film buffs.
The down side is the overlong story between Ali McGraw's character and Jan Michael Vincent's character. They are a pretty charmless couple,but the rest of the series is great viewing.
I always remembered,for 23 years,the scene between Pug and Stalin and the war scenes are awesome. Well worth having.

I was thrilled to discover, in February,2004, that Winds of War would be coming to dvd in May 2004.I have waited a long time, for this movie to come out on dvd. I was very impressed with its nice box casing and its 6 seperate thin crisp dvd cases with different stars and different locals on them.I thought that the transfer on to dvd was good .I am not an expert on this, but it looked good to me. I am very happy that I purchased this mini series from Amazon.com. Thank you amazon.