thinker1691 There is little doubt, Herman Wouk's comprehensive novel " War and Remembrance " will become a True Classic and it follows too, the film version directed by Dan Curtis will too. Upon viewing the 12 part Mini-Series staring Robert Mitchum, I was most impressed. The acting, the dialog and the international cast was superb. The mesmerizing story concerning two families is told in segments and when traced across continents reminds one of a great novel; once begun, hard to put down. A serious assemblage of fine actors have gathered to create a remarkable movie. They include Robert Mitchum as Capt. Victor 'Pug' Henry, Hart Bochner as Byron Henry, Sami Frey, William Schallert, Jeremy Kemp, Steven Berkoff as Adolf Hitler, Robert Hardy, Topol and Ralph Bellamy, as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, along with Jane Seymour, Victoria Tennant and Polly Bergen. Together this fine cast creates a touching and heartfelt series not to be missed and which also lays the foundation to be easily recommended for anyone interested in seeing living history in the making and that includes the Jewish Holocaust, which I highly recommended as a great tribute to great theater and should be kept and shelved as a Classic. ****

mark-89-935281 Superb performances by Robert Mitchum, Polly Bergen, Jane Seymour, Hart Bochner, Sharon Stone, David Dukes, Victoria Tennant, et al. John Gielgud is miscast, however, and his acting is not up to par here, and it's a totally different style of acting than the other leads. (John Houseman as the same character in Winds of War was excellent.) Gielgud's unconvincing as a Jew, and as an intellectual; he's too fey. Jane Seymour does her best work ever, and Hart Bochner has real star power. Mitchum and Bergen offer a masterclass in mature, adult acting for thinking audiences. They are brilliant. I think with some judicious cutting, and a high quality HD transfer or similar, this series would/should find a new audience. If you stay with it, it's an extraordinary document.

Kuklapolitan The battles in the Pacific Theater of Operations are legendary in their scope and the fierce strategical maneuvering between American Naval forces and those of Imperial Japan are a cat and mouse game of epic proportions. The title of this much acclaimed mini-series would lead one to believe that it is, first and foremost, a re-telling of the Second World War. This monumental undertaking focuses our attention on one family whose involvement in that war is total and unfolds on both fronts, the War in Europe and the War on Japan. The premise would have been a "pip" had they made the characters more interesting and the acting less contained. For that we can thank the writers, one of which was the author of the novel and the director, who was also one of the writers of the screenplay. It would have also helped had the set director taken the time to realize that while Ralph Bellamy makes a wonderful F.D.R., as evidenced in his portrayal of the president in "Sunrise At Campobello" the photographs used of the real F.D.R. were not appropriate. They look nothing alike but Bellamy captured the absolute essence of the man who was our 32nd president in that film. I would be certain that he was chosen for this role as evidence of that portrayal. The actor portraying Adolph Hitler, Steven Berkoff, was not so fortunate and the same photographic error was made in that instance, however, Berkoff portrayed Hitler as a complete and utter madman from beginning to end which was so unrealistic as to border on the laughable. Only marginal attention was given to Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the mastermind behind Pearl Harbor and the Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet of Japan. Japan's heavy losses at Midway literally turned the tide of the war, and the subsequent fall of Guadalcanal put Yamamoto on a collision course with death. His plane was shot down near Bouganville on April 18, 1943.In actuality, the story suffers at both ends of the spectrum despite its 12 hours of screen time. Add to that the runner up to War and Remembrance, "The Winds of War," and you have about 30 hours of viewing time. I should think 30 hours is enough to tell both stories in their entirety and yet, throughout the series I had a feeling of missed opportunities in characterizations, relationships and content. Despite some rather larger than life names on the marquee the actors don't seem to mesh in the way they could or should. My impression, knowing all the major and most minor players, is that the job was merely adequate. This cast should have been spectacular but they never really took off, as it were. Speaking of which, even the aerial sequences, most of which I had seen before due to their use in other films, were not used to their fullest advantage in the battle scenes. The characters were not developed fully and they should have been for a saga such as this with actors such as they had available. The pairing of Robert Mitchum, as Capt. Victor "Pug" Henry and the much younger Victoria Tennant as his paramour, Pamela Tudsbury, is all but laughable and the reasons do not lie in the age difference. One has to wonder what it is she actually sees in this man! Polly Bergen, as Rhoda Henry, "Pug" Henry's wife, is totally miscast as the woman who may lose this sea faring lonely-heart to a much younger, much more worldly and intelligent woman and yet she has her own dalliances and does little more than smile too much, travel too little and attend all too many functions! Robert Morley as Alistair Tudsbury and John Gielgud as Aaron Jastrow are worth their weight in gold. Both seasoned actors know how to get the very most from even a cameo appearance in any film. High marks also go to David Dukes as Leslie Slote, Barry Bostwick as "Lady" Aster, Robert Hardy as Winston Churchill and Ian McShane as Philip Rule. They took the best within themselves and used it well. Bill Wallis, as Werner Beck, gives an admirable portrayal of a former student of Aaron Jastrow who is sympathetic to the plight of this prominent "Jew" awaiting transport to Palestine via ship just as Germany invades Poland. He offers his protection and assistance to his much admired professor and convinces him to leave the guaranteed protection of this arranged sailing and go back to live in Italy, where Jastrow has a home. He and his niece, Natalie Jastrow Henry, who is married to Byron Henry, Captain Henry's son and played by the lovely Jane Seymour are completely taken in by this former student although Natalie suspects something is amiss.So many other recognizable names are in this cast that it reads as a veritable who's who of that eras actors with some great older names peppered in. I cannot tell you this is a complete waste of time or a series to by-pass but I am advising that you not expect too much. Based on other reviews I have seen here many are thrilled by its making! In the event you do have the opportunity to see it, I would suggest you first take another inordinate chunk of time to first view "The Winds of War." This will set up some of the characters for you so you don't feel you walked into the middle of something. There were 5 years that elapsed between the two undertakings and that is far too long to expect viewers to have been waiting with baited breath for a sequel. Both should stand alone as complete enactments of a story with total understanding for each character within it.

nycdan It is long, but it is a true epic saga of the most momentous conflict in human history, The length allows time for the multiple story lines of the various characters in all their complexity, to unfold. The story of WW2, in all its courage, profundity, terror and tragedy could never really be told any other way. TV, of course, does have its limitations as a tool for teaching history, but with a production like this, it comes close to transcending them. The acting, particularly by Mitchum, Seymour and, most especially Gielgud, is consistently excellent. By my own measure this may even be the most profound role of Gielgud's long and illustrious career. Anyone interested in quality historical drama - or simply in the human tragedy of WW2 - should put this production on their "must see" list.