That was an excellent one.

Overrated

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

I'm watching Winds of War for the second time and it didn't take long for me to remember how irritating both Ali McGraw and Polly Bergen are. Are there really self absorbed irritating people like those two. I sincerely wish that Jayne Seymour and the actor who replace Jan M Vincent in War and Remembrance had also been in Winds of War. They're both excellent credible actors. I don't know what actress could have replaced Polly Bergen. She was absolutely insufferable and air headed. Not aware in the least of the gravity of the world's situation. Someone like Annette Benning could have done a much better job. Although robert Mitchum is an excellent actor...he was just too old as was McGraw. I'd like to believe that someone like S. Spielberg is thinking of remaking this movie. He would do a brilliant job and the casting would be superb.

Well, a prologue for the USA anyway. The war had been going on for two years before our enemies attacked us.Mitchum and his family are our eyes and ears as things heat up overseas and in the White House. As a favorite of President Roosevelt, Victor "Pug" Henry gets to meet just about everyone of importance. I mean, he chats over breakfast with Roosevelt; he gets drunk with Stalin.Throughout it all, he's a man of genuine principle and something of a bore. He only insults people twice -- once when someone suggests a double date with a woman not his wife, and another when a German bureaucrat offers him a bribe. Otherwise, he sits and listens, intently and politely, something Mitchum was very good at doing.His wife, Rhoda, played by Polly Bergen, is a chatterbox and an airhead, easily impressed by pomp. She was the same character in Wouk's novel, which is at least as interesting as history as it is a story about characters.However, like "War and Remembrance", it sprawls all over the place like a fly on the wall with hundreds of lenses in its eyes. The story follows Mitchum's extended family and certain political notables all over Europe. Some, like Churchill and Von Roon, are rendered well. Hitler is a made-up stereotype, a cartoonish figure who lacks the charisma he had in the novel. Poor Gunter Meisner, who is saddled with the role, has had make up turn him into Frankenstein's monster as if, without the hint, we wouldn't understand that he's a bad guy.Wouk was a naval officer in World War II and served aboard several minesweepers in the Pacific theater. I love his "The Caine Mutiny" and re-read it every few years. It's focused on the character arc of one person, Willie Keith, and has practically no political overtones, although it has enough action and insight to satisfy whoever sits on the Pulitzer Prize committee.Willie Keith's romance is neatly sketched in and parallels his development as a man. Here, the romance is all over the place, compounded with pregnancy and allegiances that form cross currents. Rhoda has an affair with a peregrinating scientist. Pug is attracted to a much younger woman. Ali McGraw once loved Sloat but now she loves Byron, and she's a Jew and he's some kind of high-church Protestant. Gosh. Will it all work out? Mitchum is fine as Captain Henry. He has little to do except sit there with no expression on his face while someone voices an opinion. Wouk had one problem, here and elsewhere, that he seems unable to overcome. He simply CANNOT get inside the heads of any enlisted men. I don't know what the author's background was. He sounds working class when he speaks, yet he's a graduate of Columbia. But he seems far more comfortable with the upper echelon. I speak to you as an ex radioman second class.Whatever its flaws, it's an ambitious story and reflects an awesome amount of research, as well as some twisting of history for dramatic purposes.

I first watched this miniseries when it was broadcast on TV and I videotaped it at the time. When it came out on DVD, I rented it several times from my public library. Finally, I bit the bullet and purchased the DVD set for myself. Needless to say, I have watched the 'Winds of War' many times. I also own the book, which I read before I ever watched the miniseries. Of course, there are some differences between the book and the miniseries, but nothing that matters. Robert Mitchum is perfectly cast as Pug Henry. Can't think of anyone else for that part. Polly Bergen is perfect as Pug's wife Rhoda, too, and the rest of the cast seems true to their characters. Bergen's wardrobe is gorgeous. Rhoda is a fashion plate in every scene. Victoria Tennant shines as the much younger Pamela Tudsbury. Very beautiful. Contrary to some other reviewers,I really liked Ali McGraw as Natalie Jastrow and was disappointed when she was replaced by Jane Seymour in the sequel 'War and Remembrance.' One thing the book didn't have that the TV series has is the great background music. Awesome. Don't miss 'The Winds of War' if it is ever rebroadcast or try to borrow it from your public library. Don't miss

Later I will post a second review which discusses the rest of this wonderful series, but first I have to get something off my chest - I think Ali MacGraw is terrific as Natalie Jastrow Henry - in fact, I believe that no one else at the time could have been more appropriate for this great role. Miss MacGraw - whom no one will say is the best actress ever - was perfectly cast as the annoying, yet glamorous, Jewish-American-Princess who marries a Christian without batting an eyelash and gets trapped in wartime Europe. Miss MacGraw's interpretation of the role is far superior to Jane Seymour in the sequel, 1988's WAR AND REMEMBRANCE - Seymour is buried in ill-fitting clothes and a mountain of hair and just does not capture Natalie's fire and passion AT ALL. Back in 1981 when WINDS was in pre-production, Jan-Michael Vincent was one of the hottest TV actors around and had been signed to play Byron Henry early on. Vincent was in his late 30s at the time and because he had already been securely cast, producer Dan Curtis had no choice but to find an actress who appeared to be older than Vincent, as the age difference between them is a big part of their relationship and is frequently commented upon during the course of the story. Many people have since criticized the casting of these two pivotal roles, but I think the fault is with Wouk's otherwise masterful teleplay, which keeps mentioning their ages despite the fact that it is totally ludicrous to, for example, claim that Jan-Michael Vincent is a recent college graduate. Wouk should have changed the script to take into account the actual ages of the performers, but he did not. Also, I think many people attribute their dislike of MacGraw in this role to "bad acting" when in fact, the character is written that way - Natalie is abrasive, temperamental, argumentative and a bit spoiled - and she is one of my favorite characters in popular fiction, the perfect anti-heroine. On the negative side, Miss MacGraw was often badly photographed here (compare her appearance at the dinner table scene in the first episode with her scenes in Lisbon as Byron Henry's bride - in the latter sequence, she is photographed like a dream and looks 10 years younger, whereas in the former scene she is very badly lit and made up), and I also agree that the pacing and force of her lines should have been restrained here and there, but that is the fault of the direction, not the performer. On the positive side, MacGraw and Vincent truly have a fantastic chemistry between them and they are a completely believable couple, bickering and all. When was the last time you watched a show where the female half of a couple was the taller one and it still made sense? They are a very realistic pair and bring an energy, verve and old-fashioned American sass to their eccentric characters which provides a perfect contrast to the chilly manners of the Europeans around them. The scenes where Byron and Natalie are trapped in the German invasion of Poland are wonderful - scary, suspenseful, and exciting to watch while at the same time providing a valuable history lesson. Also, the elegant and slender MacGraw - one of the great beauties of the 20th century, after all - looks beyond chic in her tailored clothes, totally putting Jane Seymour in the shade! When I saw this as a kid, I never even noticed their ages - I just thought that MacGraw and Vincent were both exceptionally attractive people and I was too interested in this series' nearly-flawless recreation of the world of 1939 to quibble about "miscasting." I love Jan Michael and Ali in the Palio sequence, the aforementioned Warsaw sequence and I think their love scenes are just fine. Stop blaming Ali MacGraw for bad lighting and writing, and try and think of anyone else who could have brought off such a complex and deliberately irritating character with such panache and style! If you ever read this Miss MacGraw, I say to you that this was your finest work and I will keep defending your "Natalie" until I am old and gray!