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List Price: $89.97 | | Label: Mpi Home Video
Salesrank: 13932
Released: August 31, 2004 |
| Our Price: $58.55 |
| Used Price: $44.49 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
The second half of this massive miniseries covers events from the last two years of World War II with members of our fictitious family--the Henrys--scattered throughout the world. Pariah "Pug" Henry (Robert Mitchum) visits Russia and England as an advisor--and proposes to his much-younger lover, Pamela (Victoria Tennant)--before retuning to the Pacific theater to join his son Byron (Hart Bochner), a submariner, in battling the Japanese. Meanwhile, Byron's wife, Natalie (Jane Seymour), and her uncle (John Gielgud) continue their harrowing plight, starting in the "Paradise Ghetto" and leading to the Auschwitz concentration camp.
This half--11.5 hours--aired on ABC in May 1989, six months after the first half. Unfortunately there is no kinetic battle sequence like the first half's Midway clash to absorb the viewer. Director Dan Curtis relies more on newsreel footage (and the sometimes heavy-handedness of narrator William Woodson) to cover large events. To compensate, the filmmakers give inordinate screen time to the conspiracy to kill Hitler (Steven Berkoff) by his inner circle. Like in Herman Wouk's novel, Hitler's decision to eliminate the Jews is the backbone of the entire series and the film's steely reenactments of these events--an amazing achievement for network television--is quite harrowing. Authenticity (filming at Auschwitz) plus ace performances (Seymour has been rarely better, Gielgud is outstanding) combine for a powerful statement, although the whole production is sometimes weighed down by the soap-opera elements of the Henrys' lives. The original Winds of War miniseries had a higher caliber cast, which is missed here. However, a few actors shine in their atypical performances, including Barry Bostwick (who tied with Gielgud for the Golden Globe) as a flamboyant submariner and David Dukes as a desk side attaché who reaches new depths in the war. Although admired and very watchable, the series did not impact the industry as much as its predecessor or sweep the award circuit as other miniseries (Roots, Holocaust, etc.) did, although it did take home the Emmy for Outstanding Miniseries.
The 7-DVD set contains an informative booklet, a CD soundtrack, and a disc of extras. Dan Curtis makes comments over 70 select minutes of the series (shown out of context), hitting the highlights of filming, a nice way of letting the filmmaker talk without searching for the commentary throughout the various discs. There's a new 30-minute feature combining new and old footage on the making of this massive production, and a 15-minute featurette on composer Bob Cobert. --Doug Thomas
War & Remembrance - Vol. 2, The Final Chapter: Parts 8 - 12 Reviews:
Realistic view on our history 
2008-10-07 - I was impressed by historic quality of this DVD. The timeline is precise and the story values the truth as much as possibly could be achieved. The holocaust is terrible part of our history, but must never be forgotten. Furthermore is a good thing to see how world democarcy has been preserved, people died for a simple thing called freedom. It should be mandatory to watch for everyone! A guy from the Netherlands
War and Remembrance Vol 2 
2008-08-23 - The whole miniseries is one of the best I've ever seen. Robert Mitchum is fantastic, as usual.
this movie wowed me.
2008-08-18 - Such a huge undertaking, making this movie about WWII. I believe it had over 20 hours of recorded video. I missed this miniseries when it was televised in the late 80's. I was busy with children, but, so happy to be able to watch it now.
A brilliant and satisfying conclusion.
2008-08-05 - I found this final series exciting and deeply satisfying. The previous two parts (Winds of War, and part one of this) called very strongly for completion, and that is what we have here... IN SPADES! I found the same wonderful sense of historical perspective that I noted in my review of part one... I felt I had got an overall grasp of the essentials of a very important and complex period, but also, that I had seen, spelled out in graphic detail, the results of the concentrated arrogance, stupidity, and self-indulgence that the Nazi ideal foisted on this suffering planet during that time. Nothing in my life so far had prepared me for the absolute horror revealed in this coverage... and nothing, I am sure, will ever allow me to forget it... which is really good. This lesson in the consequences of selfishness comes at an opportune time. The sections on Theresienstadt and Auschwitch, were particularly forceful - the sheer heartlessness and purposeful cruelty of those in charge will remain with all who see this, as a salutary moral beacon... dangerous reefs beneath the surface of our common human nature.
Two outstanding performances
2008-07-23 - This review applies to the entire miniseries. I watched parts of War and Remembrance when it was first broadcast 2 decades ago. I saw the DVD collection at my local library and decided to watch it again in it's entirety.
I did not see Winds of War so I can't compare the performances of Ali McGraw to Jane Seymour, John Houseman to John Gielgud, or Jan-Michael Vincent to Hart Bochner, but I will say that Seymour and Gielgud give 2 of the greatest performances I have ever seen, and in fact those performances, as well as the whole Holocaust story overshadow everything else in this series. It is quite amazing that Dan Curtis could get this vision of the genocide of the Jews on TV in an unexpurgated form. Many of the scenes were filmed on location in Auschwitz. Those death camp scenes, the Babi Yar massacre, the final transport scenes, are the most harrowing things I have seen relating to that period. More harrowing than what Spielberg presented in Schindler's List.
I would recommend War and Remembrance simply for it's angle on the Holocaust. The story of the Henry family, the war in the Pacific, and the whole Hitler episode, was well done but nothing outstanding or unique. Mitchum was nice and understated as Pug Henry. Polly Bergen did a good job as his wife. The whole supporting cast was fine in their respective roles, although I thought Berkoff's take on Hitler was almost comical in it's exaggerations; more caricature than anything else.
