The Winds of War
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Movie Reviews of The Winds of War
Movie Review: THE WINDS OF WAR BECOME A GALE!
Summary: 5 Stars
Based on Herman Wouk's epic novel of the same title, this is the mini-series (15 hours) of the years leading up to Pearl Harbor and America's 'official' entrance into WWII as seen through the eyes of Captain 'Pug' Henry(Mitchum) and his family. Mitchum is assigned to the War Plans department of the U.S. Navy and sent to Germany to work through the embassy there, assessing and keeping on top of the situation in Berlin and Germany. His keen insight and analysis earn him a direct relationship with President Roosevelt (Bellamy) and entrance into the corridors of power throughout Europe and Russia , including meetings with Hitler, Churchill and Stalin. Through his eyes we see and understand the events leading up to our country's direct involvement in WWII. In addition to others, we see the Jewish persecution by Germany develop through the lives of Pug's son (Vincent), a submarine officer, and his fiance and eventual wife, Natalie Jastrow (McGraw), who is Jewish and spends a good deal of time in Europe trying to get her uncle, Aaron Jastrow (Houseman), a famous author to leave his beloved home in Italy. The acting is terrific and the story entertaining and gripping and a great way to learn more about that time in the history of our country and the world. It is part history, part drama and part war story. As close to perfection in a mini-series as you could hope for. Well worth the time and effort to watch. Enjoy. www.lusreviews.blogspot.comMovie Review: Who cares about age
Summary: 5 Stars
I remember when this came out. The critics were all horrified that a 45-year-old Ali McGraw played the 30ish Natalie. No one made mention that the 39-year-old Jan Michael Vincent played the 20ish Byron. I see that age is also on the mind of some Amazon reveiwers .One reveiwer even wrote a whole analysis of how McGraw's body was not youthful. Well, did that reveiwer take a look at Jan's wrinkled neck or his saggy pecs, or those crow feet around his eyes. Slote, played by David Dukes, speaks of Byron as "the kid." David was born a year after Jan. OK, now putting aside that ageist, sexist nonsense, the truth is that this was brilliantly cast. Everyone was so convincing, even Ali who is not the best actress around. She is totally convincing as Natalie. READ THE BOOKS, Winds of War and War and Rememberance. That will give you an idea as to what the author had in mind.
This mini series is well written, fast moving and gives one a window into the history and feel of the late 39's early 40's.
One error, they leave NYC on 4/20 and arrive the day after Hitler's birthday which is April 20. It took more than a day to get to Germany.
Suggestion, forget War and Rememberance. It gets bogged down in the tedium of daily life, and Jane Seymour, while a superior actress, is unconvincing as Natalie. She lacks the "edgy" quality that Ali brought to the role.
Movie Review: Refreshing......compared to today's movies !!
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw The Winds of War on TV in the 80's and I liked it. I watched it again in 2008 and I liked it even more. I continued to love the relationship between Jan-Michael and Ali Macgraw.
He is great looking and looks like he comes form a military family. He plays the quiet type with a sarcastic sense of humor. Ali plays a very intelligent Jewish girl..... a few years older than Jan-Michael. At first, I thought her acting was terrible......but she kind of grows on you and now I don't think anyone could have played the part better. The chemistry between these two was very good......Jan-Michael played his part very well and the looks they give each other...well.. I was convinced they loved each other!!!!
The cinematography and the casting was great! Hitler & Roosevelt were very believable. Robert Mitchum's character was rather dull but he played the strong, quiet military guy. Besides the romance in this movie, the W.W.II story and the history was told in a clear, concise manner.
I loved this movie. It was both a romance and a war story. On top of this, none of the scenes were embarrassing to the point where I had to turn the channel...a couple of great love scenes but nothing as revealing as you see in today's stuff.
Great dialogue and they managed it without the "f" word. Very little profanity.....how refreshing !!! Loved this movie! Kathy
Movie Review: Deserves 10 or 15 Stars (perhaps 45 Stars (5 for each 2 hours))
Summary: 5 Stars
While watching this epic... when my brain was not totally absorbed by it... I asked myself: "How could they have filmed this WITHOUT running WWII (in the Europe segments anyway) AGAIN?! One other commentor said: "as close tot ime travel as you can get." How true!
I watched this via DVD over the course of about 14 days, and was astonished. In my videotape library I later found at least few hours that I had taped from the original TV presentation back in 1983 (but never had the time or inclination to watch.
There is no way to praise Dan Curtis enough for what he was able to bring to the screen.
The one actor who was overlooked in the credits - or at least received less credit than due - was Gunter Meisner (his name is even botched in the amazon.com details) who played Hitler with a perfection to make you swoon.
I had not read the book, although I have read "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" twice (once in the summer of 1968 and once in the late 70s) so I had some cobwebbed familiarity with the material, but the presentation of the history alone was stunningly powerful, in no way distorted by the Henry family dramas.
I'm reading "War and Remembrance" now.
Movie Review: Superb in every way
Summary: 5 Stars
THE WINDS OF WAR is truly great television. Epic in scope and yet intimate at the same time, it draws you into the world of pre-war Europe and the lives of the Henry family. There is a perfect balance between history and fiction here, and both are totally compelling.
What makes this mini-series such a pleasure to watch are the performances by terrific actors. Almost every actor in this production is perfectly cast, most notably Polly Bergen as Rhoda Henry, David Dukes as Leslie Slote, and Victoria Tennant as Pamela Tudsbury. Robert Mitchum, Ali MacGraw and John Houseman are also terrific. The only shortcoming in the cast is Jan-Michael Vincent as Byron Henry; his acting skills just weren't quite at the level of the rest of the cast, and so he ends up seeming a little flat at times (especially in scenes with Ali MacGraw).
At 18 hours, this is quite a long show, but I found myself not wanting it to end. Of course, it doesn't end there -- there are 30 more hours to go in WAR AND REMEMBRANCE. But THE WINDS OF WAR is a true pleasure to watch in and of itself. And you get a great history lesson about the events that led to the start of World War II.