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xsBusiness - The Winds of War
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List Price: $19.95
Our Price:
Your Save: $ 19.95 ( 100% )
Availability:
Manufacturer: Paramount Pictures
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Ali MacGraw, Jan-Michael Vincent, John Houseman, Polly Bergen
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9780792110804
Format: Box set
ISBN: 0792110803
Label: Paramount Pictures
Manufacturer: Paramount Pictures
Number Of Items: 7
Publisher: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: 1997-06-25
Running Time: 883
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: 1983-02-06
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Fabulous
Comment: Robert Mitchum at his best! Great movie about the beginnings of WWII without the blood and guts.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Gathering Storm
Comment:
Herman Wouk's The Winds Of War is a true television history classic. Unified through love stories and military development, the strong cast of Robert Mitchum, Jan-Michael Vincent and especially the astonishingly beautiful and mysterious Natalie played by Ali McGraw are well worth wading into and approach an understanding of World War II from a resonant and singularly American center point of view.
Customer Rating:
Summary: "Winds of War--" Simply Outstanding
Comment: 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.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Still great 20 years later
Comment: I had watched this series 20 years ago on VHS and enjoyed it tremendously. I bought the DVD recently and have watched the first few episodes. Excellent quality. Robert Mitchum in a great role as Pug. It does a good job in showing the anxiety in Europe in the buildup to war, then the beginning of war itself as Germany invades Poland. I look forward to watching the rest.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great movie
Comment: Unbelievebly great movie. One of the best movie I have ever seen. Done with great actors. It is well done and leave aside the bloody scenes of the war which we do not need to see and appreciate not seeing. The movie has been very appreciated by the family because of the excellent performance of the actors and the very good script.
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Editorial Reviews:
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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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