The Winds of War
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Actor: Ali MacGraw, Jan-Michael Vincent, John Houseman, Polly Bergen, Robert MitchumBrand: MITCHUM,ROBERT
Cinematographer: Stevan Larner
Editor: Earle Herdan
Producer: Branko Lustig
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Box set, Collector's Edition, Color, DVD, Full Screen, Miniseries, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 883 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-05-25
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Paramount
DVD Reviews of The Winds of War
DVD Review: ONE OF THE GREATEST MINISERIES THE 80-IS HAVE TO OFFER
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
Description of The Winds of War
Set against the backdrop of world events that led to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, The Winds of War stars Robert Mitchum as Victor "Pug" Henry, a career naval officer who along with his family, learns to navigate the waters of his dangerous times in the late 1930s. While Germany expands and proceeds to seize several border countries, Italy attempts to establish a Fascist Colonial Empire under Mussolini and Japan prepares for a major battle with China. Meanwhile, the Henry clan finds itself drawn into the center of the conflict as they deal with the drama, romance, tragedy and heroism that lead to America's involvement in World War II.An engrossing, 1983 television miniseries based on a bestselling work of historical fiction by Herman Wouk, The Winds of War is an admirable production reminiscent of the era of Hollywood's epic features. At the center of the globe-trotting story is the Henry family, whose laconic but straight-shooting patriarch is United States Navy Commander Victor "Pug" Henry (Robert Mitchum), sent to Hitler's Berlin in the spring of 1939 as a naval attaché to the then-neutral American embassy. A keen observer, Pug deduces that Germany is not preparing for war on two fronts (western Europe on one side, Russia on the other) despite what the Nazis want the world to believe, meaning that Hitler must be working out a secret peace deal with Stalin. Pug's prescience makes him a favorite eyewitness in Berlin for Franklin D. Roosevelt (Ralph Bellamy); the irony is that Pug is far less sagacious when it comes to the realities of his family.
Polly Bergen plays unhappy wife Rhoda, who turns to A-bomb developer Palmer Kirby (Peter Graves) for comfort. Pug's 19-year-old daughter, Madeline (Lisa Eilbacher), defies her iron-willed dad's decision that she stay in school by taking a job for CBS radio in New York. Compliant son Warren (Ben Murphy) can't seem to get Pug's attention despite doing everything right (including becoming a Navy pilot, eventually present at the bombing of Pearl Harbor). By contrast, Pug spends more time fuming over black sheep son Byron (Jan-Michael Vincent), who is working in increasingly Fascist Italy as an assistant to an art historian (John Houseman) while trying hard to woo the latter's exasperating niece, Natalie (Ali MacGraw). The story of Byron and Natalie takes up much of The Winds of War as the pair traverse Poland during the shock of Hitler's 1939 assault, and Jewish Natalie later finds herself trapped inside Italy facing the threat of concentration camps. Before The Winds of War ends, each of these characters will end up in places and situations, and with historical figures (Churchill, Mussolini) as well as ordinary people, they would not have anticipated outside the pressures of war. The program's length and smart script allow for a lot of ideas and background detail that pull a viewer in--happily. --Tom Keogh
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