The Winds of War

Herman Wouk's book `Winds of war' became a bestseller upon its publication, just like its sequel `War and Remembrance' a few years later. These thick books, joining the fictional and historical events during Second World War, provided the subject matter for one of the greatest achievements in the history of the TV miniseries. This 6-DVD set covers the first book, with an 18-hour series shot in 1983. The plot concerns a military family named Henry, scattered and absorbed by the winds of war. We follow the patriarch Victor `Pug Henry (Robert Mitchum), an experienced military officer who in the spring 1939 is appointed to be a military attaché for the USA in Berlin. He is accompanied by his dotty and yet quite likable wife Rhoda (Polly Bergen). Their children include an oldest son, the flyboy Warren (Ben Murphy), another son Byron (Jan-Michael Vincent) who is in Italy and falls in love with a bit older Jewish girl Natalie (Ali McGraw), who is the niece of the famous American-Jewish writer dr. Aaron Jastrow (John Houseman). The daughter Madeleine (Lisa Eilbacher) is the youngest of the three and works as a radio girl. In Berlin Pugh gets the hint of the atmosphere in the Nazi Germany of that time (like the fact Jews are treated second-class) and predicts the upcoming pact between Hitler (Günter Meisner) and Stalin, both of who he gets to meet during the series. Byron and Natalie witness the first days of war, being caught in the midst of Warsaw, where Natalie followed her fiancé, the American diplomat Leslie Slote (David Dukes). The series mixes the lives of the Henrys with the historical events of the war (the occupations of Poland and France; the blitz in London; the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union; the beginnings of the `Final Solution' behind the lines of the occupied Russian territory; the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor to name a few). The last episode of this first part of the story ends with the aftermath of Pearl Harbor: The German offensive is halted on the outskirts of Moscow, Pug goes to command a battleship and fight in the war, unsure of his feelings for the beautiful daughter of an old friend (Victoria Tennant), Byron fights in the submarine, while in the meantime Natalie, who fell in love with Byron and bore him a son, is left onboard a ship in Naples which is awaiting to live for Palestine, since she and her uncle could not find their way out of Fascist Italy, due to his passport complications. The above is just the basic description of the series and despite of what it may seem, it is not a soap opera, but rather an interesting chronicle of the war and a family influenced by its impact. Pug Henry gets to meet all the important players of the war (Churchill, Hitler, Roosevelt, Stalin...) and in this respect is somewhat similar to young Indiana Jones. The war itself is shown from these two viewpoints: the Henrys and the rest of the fictional characters vs. the historical ones (Hitler and his generals etc.) There are many things that make this show one of the miniseries highlights of its time. One of them is the excellent casting. Robert Mitchum brings his renowned charisma for the character of Pug and he does it in an excellent way. Ali MacGraw's headstrong Natalie makes a fine contrast to Jan-Michael Vincent's younger Byron. The historical characters are done more than convincingly. Thusly Ralph Bellamy is the definite FDR (a role he had an opportunity to play years before in the theatre) and Howard Lang makes a believable Churchill. One must make a special reference to Günter Meisner and his portrayal of Adolf Hitler. As it will be seen in the sequel, the director and producer Dan Curtis wanted Hitler to be overplayed. The reasons remain unknown and one can only guess that he wanted to make it less human in this way. Günter Meisner, the late German actor who played Hitler few times during his career, although a bit too old for the role, managed to keep things under control, so despite the fact his Führer is stiffed and not altogether perfect, he manages to give a hint of the evil personage Hitler was. This is important to note, since his successor to the role for `War and remembrance', the British actor Steven Berkoff, was awful, playing the character as a total one-dimensional yelling buffoon. The role of Hitler is a hard and yet manageable task for an actor who can make a character, as shown by Bruno Ganz in the recent movie `Downfall'. One of the other appeals of the show is the fact it was shot on location, with attention put to details that make the historical accuracy. Most scenes were shot in my hometown Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, then still part of ex-Yugoslavia. The producers managed to use Zagreb's past as one of the former Austro-Hungarian capitals to recreate Berlin, Lisbon, Warsaw, etc. The scenery and the costumes evoke the era perfectly, thus making the whole thing believable to the viewer. Other locations included USA, Italy and some more. But the greatest asset is without the doubt the interesting plot which doesn't let go for a moment. It is also noticeable that some of the mistakes that were made in the sequel, `War and Remembrance', (the narrow scope of the victims of the Holocaust being one of them) are not present here. One can only get a hint of some of the future slips here, for example, the subtle message that all the Germans are bad and all Americans good. This DVD collection of the series deserves A+. Seven DVDs come packed in a nice sleeve. Besides the series, there are several interesting extra features: through the interviews with the cast, crew and Herman Wouk we learn about the process of adaptation, casting, shooting and the problems they all encountered while making this epic peace. Some of the footage includes things shot during the work on location in Zagreb. For anyone enjoying modern history, an excellent miniseries with the interesting plot or is simply interested in Second World War, this is a must-have. Highly recommendable.

In short, "Winds of War" on DVD deserves the highest rating. Casting, direction (by Dan Curtis), scenery, and production values for this 1983 miniseries are all tops. This is TV at its best, making the drivel we see today seem even more pathetic. On-location filming of Winds came out great in the transfer to DVD. Clarity of images and sound are so good we'd swear the film was shot only recently. "Winds of War" tells the World War II story of a fictional American family, the Henrys. They are true-blue, U. S. Navy types, a vanishing breed. Victor "Pug" Henry is the father, memorably played by Robert Mitchum. Rhoda is the mother, also well done by Polly Bergen. Other stars include Ali MacGraw as Natalie Jastrow and Jan-Michael Vincent as the Henrys's son, Byron. Natalie is Jewish and older than Byron but he pursues her earnestly. They are living in Europe at the time and end up getting married. This leads to conflict after conflict. Then they have a son which complicates matters even further. Back to the cast, Ralph Bellamy gives an excellent portrayal of FDR, our war-time president. Victoria Tennant does well as Pug's extramarital love interest, Pamela, and Peter Graves is good as Rhoda's outside flame. Ben Murphy does well as the Henrys' older son, Warren, and David Dukes is fine as the American diplomat, Leslie Slote. Jeremy Kemp plays a fictional German general, von Roon, and does a super job. Lesser work is done by the actor playing Winston Churchill and John Houseman, who plays Natalie's fugitive uncle, Aaron. History purists may object to the liberties taken by Herman Wouk in his novel and screenplay which have some soap opera qualities. Nevertheless, the Henrys turn out to be a dysfunctional American family, not so unusual these days. Wouk's use of fictional characters to act out every day life during wartime makes an impression that pure documentaries can't. One minute we're invited to a scene where one of Natalie's young relatives is getting married in Poland. Next minute the same people are being ruthlessly attacked by German warplanes. In another sequence we see the happy peacetime life in Honolulu as off duty naval personnel celebrate good times. Next minute we see the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor which brings the conflict into closer, more human terms. "Winds of War" starts in the late-1930's--before the war breaks out in Europe. The story ends with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. So, this is only part of the World War II saga. Five years would pass before the sequel, "War and Remembrance," would be produced. Many reviewers feel that "Winds of War" was superior in many ways, especially since Ali MacGraw and Jan-Michael Vincent were replaced by younger actors. We're not so sure, but will save our "War and Remembrance" review for later. There are some far-fetched aspects that some other reviewers have pointed out. Pug happens to speak 5 or 6 languages which is no small feat for an ex-Annapolis jock. With these capabilities, he naturally becomes a confidant to FDR and is assigned all over the world to meet Churchill, Stalin, Hitler, and other dignitaries. Another feature that is hard to fathom is how Natalie's uncle, Aaron, could have her risk her life and her baby's life trying to save Aaron from the Nazis. He has bouts of guilt where he says they must escape to America, but then lapses into his old ways of waiting for the worst to happen. With as tough and independent as Natalie appears to be, it doesn't seem real that she would put up with Aaron's lethargy. "Winds of War" is a thought-provoking story that deserves a place in any library on World War II. In addition, the "making of" features include interviews with members of the cast and crew. These help a lot with understanding the piece and how difficult it was to produce. Our advice is to buy the DVD at its current bargain price and get ready for 18 hours of excellent viewing. For my wife and I it was both entertaining and educational.

Une des plus belles sagas dans le genre, pour de ne pas dire la plus belle, le jeu des acteurs est sublime, la chronologie des évènements remarquablement bien faite, l'ambiance de l'époque parfaitement reconstituée avec un souci du détail qui évite toute fausse note, bref un véritable chef d'oeuvre qui mériterait de passer à la TV francaise, mais pour cela la traduction s'impose. De plus c'est aussi une vétitable leçon d'histoire ce qui ne gâte rien. A voir à tout prix!!!! Guy Romain 2981 SW - 21 st Court Fort lauderdale 33312 Florida USA

Purchased as a gift Excellent film based on Herman Wouk's Winds of War

Robert Mitchum and Ali McGraw have superb performances in this series about the time prior to WWII. The story is very good and the beautiful music is an important part of the series' environment. Very polished production. High content of family and romantic drama.

Great story, very well acted. Kept me gripped grom beginning to end. Wish it was downloadable in sreaming form

1枚組となってますが、6枚組です。 長編なのに1枚はおかしいと思って購入しましたが、6枚です。