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War and Remembrance - Parts 1-7Rating:
Release Date: 24 August, 2004 Retail Price: $89.97 OUR Price: $66.99 You SAVE: $22.98! |
War and Remembrance - Parts 1-7 Reviews
You'll remember it forever.
Other people have said this is a movie you'll remember "for a long time." Well, I watched this mini-series on television when I was 7 years old, and scenes from it still stick out in my memory almost 18 years later! I'm buying the set today and plan to eventually share this mini-series with my own children, so that they "remember to never forget."
For those who wish to protect their children from images of violence, be warned, there are fairly graphic depictions of the atrocities committed during the Holocaust. My personal opinion is that depictions of violence are everywhere, and these depictions at least have the benefit of conveying, in a manner that mere words cannot, an important aspect of world history.
Epic mini-series on WW2, but unbalanced in coverage.
First, let me say that I've seen this show 3 times at this point in my life. The first, I vaguely remember, when it was released, watching it with my parents (when I around 7), the second time when it aired on "The History Channel" around the mid-90s and the third, just very recently, with this set (and the "Winds of War" and the second set for "War and Remrembrance").
With each time I've seen it, my opinion of the show has decreased. However, being able to watch the entire show in a very short span of time (in 1 week) on the DVDs have allowed me to collect my thoughts on the show much easier.
The first half of "War and Remembrance," is certainly inferior to "Winds of War." The first reason is that the many actor changes that were made. Most notably, Natalie Jastrow, who is now played by Jane Seymoure, is nothing like the character we left in "Winds of War."
In the former series, Natalie was a strong willed academic type individual, very progressive, and fierce, at least that is how Ali McGraw played her. Jane Seymoure's version of the character seems to be nothing more then a damsal in distress aimlessely following her idiot uncle.
Speaking of which, this brings us to the character that annoyed me the most of the entire series, Aaron Jastrow, played by John Gielgud. In the first half, you realize, this character is the sole reason that everyone is in the mess they are in to begin with. Of course, one can't blame actors for this (and I'm not -John Gielgud plays the role well), but evidently Herman Wouk could find no better way to have Natalie and Aaron stuck in Europe other then by a series of key, naive, stupid (to such a degree you wish to strangle Aaron) decisisions Aaron makes in the beginning of the series. Or Wouk has the beaucrats slow their offical paperwork down to such a degree that it doomed them. Of course this seems more realistic, since beaurucrats can be very ineffecient; however, I wonder if they would have bunggled so much that Aaron and Natalie (both American citizens) would have been delayed for more then a year; even with a direct request from the President of the United States.
To say the least, the whole plot element in that respect is dubious, but it is historical fiction so much can be forgiven in this area. As for the plot outline itself, the director described the two main goals for the show were to depict the "Pacific War" and the Holocaust, as the Jastrows/Henrys saw it. This is all well and good, but watching the show, one get's that they succeeded very well in the later, but failed miserably in the former.
Unlike the European campaign in the show, the enemy (this case the Japanese) in the Pacficic Theatre don't get ANY speaking roles in the show. At least with the Germans, we had characters like Brgd. Gen. Von Room (a ficticious character), who gives the viewer a inner-glimpse at how the Third Reich military/political command operated.
Yet, the Japanese are reduced to a bunch of things that are shot up in occasional submarine surface battles or fleet actions. It all is very fitting with Western/Hollywood perception of Asians in film to begin with, abstract/exotic/inhuman so I am not suprised. As for the rest of the Pacific War, the Sino-Japanese war which ate up the second most casualties in the all of WW2, at least 14+ million on the Chinese side and most of the Japanese casualties on theirs is not even mentioned passively in the series.
As far as "War and Remembrance" is concerned, it does not exist. This is certainly not a gripe for the director or the series production, but one with Wouk and his work. Yet, for a series that claims to be so all-encompassing/Epic drama of WW2, it seems that it wasn't that "all-encompassing" and unfortunatly, very standard as far as Hollywood WW2/Movies/Drama goes.
Further, the Asian-American internment durring the war gets nothing but a passive mention in the show, I find it intresting that Wouk couldn't have any of his characters deal with any of these people, since I'd assume he was so against things like this (since he was a Jew himself).
Yet, we get nothing, but one has to also observe that this series was produced in the eighties, a time when Anti-Asian/Anti-Japanese racist sentiments were rising in America because of increased economic competition (certainly not an excuse), but it could explain the nature of Pacific Campaigns portrayl very well once put in this light.
Thus contrary to what the director has stated, "War and Remembrance" has very little to do with the "Pacific War," and almost everything to do with the European Campaign, which is portrayed in much vivid detail (at least politically). Steven Berkoff, who plays Adolf Hitler, certanlly looks much more like the dictator then the previous fellow in "Winds of War," but, the way he plays the role is a bit more cartoonish then it was in that show.
Hitler is reduced to a 24/7 screaming lunatic, being patiently tolerated by his well-meaning generals (a situation I find a little hard to swallow -especially after reading some authoritative biographies on the man, such as Toland's), who wish to do the right thing, but can't, and must therefore dutily follow their Fuhrer's orders. Goering is just a fat yes-man (At least he got some substantive speaking parts in "Winds of War.") Other high-ranking NAZIs that are portrayed are Himmler and Eichmann. Adolf Eichmann is played the best, however, as a very sinister organizer of the Final Solution; which only begins to take shape in the first half of the series. And of all the higher ups in the NAZI party, only Eichmann actaully meets any of the ficticious main characters.
Techincally, "War and Remembrance" is not much to look at, as it has aged rather poorly. The special effects are models etc. quite standard fair for the time. Although, most of the fighting scenes are reused stock footage from the actaul war or some stock footage from previous war films (i heard some film was used from the "Longest Day" , but I cna't confirm this). The audience is too be much more concerned with the characters and their interactions (and for the most part, I was) then for gritty scenes of violence (if this is what you're looking for, look elsewhere).
Thus, "War and Rememrbance" is more describle as a Soap Opera that takes place in WW2, rather then a "War series." Alot of the romance subplots are very cliche (especially those with Rhoda Henry and those with Sharon Stone's character), and I found myself skipping most of these scenes altogether (the magic of DVD).
In any event, if one has not seen this series, it is worth one's time to watch. But be warned, one will not find anything particuarly revolutionary in the series (with respect to the coverage nor the portrayl or anything else for that matter), except with the Holocaust, which were probably the scenes I remember the most from when I saw it as a little boy. In fact, I will go as far as say that the Holocaust scenes are much more intense then those found in Schindler's List. However, most of those scenes are in the second DVD set.
In any event, save those scnese of the Holocaust, the rest of the series should be watched for entertainment, not for accuracy or realism (but this goes for any production from Hollywood).
Added Note: Robert Mitchum is in fine form, I think, however others do consider his performance as extremely dry in this series... I just take it that this is "Pug's" character, but many claim he was just not trying (One of those people being Stephen King in his commentaries for "The Storm of the Century" a more recent TV-Mini series).
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