It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

The movie is surprisingly subdued in its pacing, its characterizations, and its go-for-broke sensibilities.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

I watched this mini-series in my youth when it was first run and remembered it fondly. I recently purchased the DVD for my wife and I to watch and, not having seen it since it's original broadcast I wasn't sure what to expect. Some old TV shows age well...some don't. We had just finished watching QBVII and that had held up very well, other than the awful 70's musical soundtrack, so we had high hopes for Winds of War.We weren't disappointed, this was, and still is, one of the best mini-series ever produced for the small screen. It was filmed all over the world at great expense and it shows on the screen. The love stories tend to take up too much screen time (I thought so anyway) but overall it paints a very good picture of a world on the brink of the insanity of a world war. I highly recommend it for those who saw it back in the day and have fond memories, or those who have never seen it and are interested in that era of history. I'm not in any way saying that this film accurately portrays what was happening in the time leading up to the war, but it comes as close as you'll probably see on television. All that being said, a few pet peeves about the production (at this late date); I'm at a loss to understand how Ali McGraw kept getting roles back then, she has be to one of the worst actresses in the history of acting, truly. There were times while watching Winds that her acting was so horrific that it pulled you right out of the story. I can only assume that she was well connected, very well connected, in Hollywood, or she had some kind of dirt on someone high up in the industry. Nothing else can explain why she was hired for this, or any other role. The same goes for Jan Michael Vincent. The pensive, brooding, anger simmering just below the surface act got old by the third or fourth hour in. He would clench his jaw so much I kept expecting his head to just explode right on screen. I've read that he was dealing with a serious drinking problem during filming so that may explain it because I've seen him in other roles were he did better. Can't say the same about Ali McGraw!But if you can suffer through Ms. McGraw's horrific performance, and this film is well worth the effort, this is quality television from yesteryear that is as good, if not better than a lot of what is being broadcast today. Highly recommended.

I thoroughly enjoyed this series, and have to definitely disagree with previous reviewers regarding the casting of Ali McGraw as Natalie Jastrow. I thought she was brilliant in the role, and was disappointed to find she had been replaced in the follow up series War and Remembrance. I also enjoyed the performances of David Dukes as Leslie Slote, and Peter Graves, Victoria Tennant and Jeremy Kemp. Although I have never been a fan of Robert Mitchum he was acceptable as Victor Henry. Gunter Meisner's portrayal of Adolf Hitler was also brilliant and realistic. I have watched this series more than once and cannot recommend it highly enough.

Looking back at this series 30 years after it has been made it is easy to find many faults.Beginning with the casting of Mitchum and Ali MacGraw as the principal characters both too old for their respective role. But one has to admit that Mitchum is perfect as the duty-driven naval officer who wishes to get the command of a ship but continues to fulfill every other position to serve his country and his president.Ali MacGraw on the other hand plays Nathalie to the point, in fact her performance led me to buy the books and read the whole story through. I think it is a pity they did not let her play the part in the second series too.Many reviewers pointed out many other casting problems but overall the series clinks to the book as best as they can and this is very relieving. I had to order the DVDs again, first I had a German version but it turned out that it was severely shortened it ran only 5 episodes instead of 7! They had most of Hitler and the German officers scenes edited out!! I watched it now in English only DVDs.

The Winds Of War, part history part soap opera offers a Zelig like view of America's entrance into World War II in the years from 1939 to early 1942. Our protagonist Zelig is Robert Mitchum as Victor 'Pug' Henry a naval captain who has had a succession of shore assignments and yearns to get back to a ship. He knows war is coming and the promotions will come for those with battle command experience.In the meantime Mitchum is assigned as the naval liaison to the Berlin embassy where he sees and observes what is going on at the highest levels of government. He writes a report predicting the Hitler-Stalin pact which impresses one Franklin D. Roosevelt. They have history going back to the first World War when Mitchum was just a lieutenant. FDR himself asks for Mitchum to write him privately.That part of history is absolutely the case. Roosevelt distrusted official diplomatic channels in the State Department and always relied on a variety of sources for information. Returning as FDR after his critical and popular success in Sunrise At Campobello is Ralph Bellamy. He's just as good here.The history part one can read in all the books, but author Herman Wouk gave us soap opera as well. Mitchum is married to Polly Bergen and has three kids in descending order, Ben Murphy, Jan-Michael Vincent, and Lisa Eilbacher. All of them have their stories as well, mostly Vincent and his involvement and marriage to an older and Jewish woman Ali McGraw. That's a good part of the story, McGraw meets up with Vincent in Italy where he's leading a Bohemian type life and she is visiting her scholarly uncle John Houseman. McGraw and Vincent marry and have a child. But time and circumstances leave McGraw, Houseman, and the baby behind enemy lines while Vincent activates his naval reserve status and goes to war. A big part of the plot is his efforts to get back to his new family.Mitchum and Bergen are coming apart. Bergen had the best role in the series in my opinion. She was bored with her life and something of an airhead. She drifts into an affair with scientist Peter Graves. And Mitchum starts falling for Victoria Tennant, the daughter of a British diplomat.According to Lee Server's insightful biography or Mitchum, the original thought was to cast Ed Asner in the lead because in the novel Pug Henry is given that name because he has a bulldog like appearance. But some box office was needed so Mitchum who I guess is closest to being bulldog like of classic Hollywood leading men was hired. He carried the role well of a man who thinks life might just be passing him by in the career he has chosen.Wouk did his research well and the mini-series was just the format to present all the subtleties of his epic novel. The Henry family stories are nicely integrated into the real story of America going into World War II.This is epic television of the best kind.