$29.75$29.75
$4.50 delivery May 1 - 6
Ships from: books4u31 Sold by: books4u31
$9.70$9.70
Ships from: Amazon Sold by: Florida Dealz 4 u
Image Unavailable
Color:
-
-
-
- Sorry, this item is not available in
- Image not available
- To view this video download Flash Player
The Winds of War
Learn more
Learn more
Return this item for free
Free returns are available for the shipping address you chose. You can return the item for any reason in new and unused condition: no shipping charges
Learn more about free returns.- Go to your orders and start the return
- Select the return method
- Ship it!
Additional DVD options | Edition | Discs | Price | New from | Used from |
DVD
May 25, 2004 "Please retry" | Collector's Edition | 1 | $29.75 | $35.76 | — |
Purchase options and add-ons
Genre | Military & War |
Format | Box set, Color, Collector's Edition, Miniseries, Full Screen, NTSC |
Contributor | Kirstie Pooley, Richard Burns, Osman Ragheb, Herman Wouk, Paul Lambert, Bob Johnene, June Bolton, Byron Morrow, Charles Bodycomb, Sinisa Cmrk, Rosemarie Richard, Ioan Barbu, Dan Curtis, Edward M. Cafarella See more |
Language | English |
Number Of Discs | 1 |
Frequently bought together
Similar items that may deliver to you quickly
Product Description
Product Description
Set against the backdrop of world events that led to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, The Winds of War stars Robert Mitchum as Victor "Pug" Henry, a career naval officer who along with his family, learns to navigate the waters of his dangerous times in the late 1930s. While Germany expands and proceeds to seize several border countries, Italy attempts to establish a Fascist Colonial Empire under Mussolini and Japan prepares for a major battle with China. Meanwhile, the Henry clan finds itself drawn into the center of the conflict as they deal with the drama, romance, tragedy and heroism that lead to America's involvement in World War II.
Amazon.com
An engrossing, 1983 television miniseries based on a bestselling work of historical fiction by Herman Wouk, The Winds of War is an admirable production reminiscent of the era of Hollywood's epic features. At the center of the globe-trotting story is the Henry family, whose laconic but straight-shooting patriarch is United States Navy Commander Victor "Pug" Henry (Robert Mitchum), sent to Hitler's Berlin in the spring of 1939 as a naval attaché to the then-neutral American embassy. A keen observer, Pug deduces that Germany is not preparing for war on two fronts (western Europe on one side, Russia on the other) despite what the Nazis want the world to believe, meaning that Hitler must be working out a secret peace deal with Stalin. Pug's prescience makes him a favorite eyewitness in Berlin for Franklin D. Roosevelt (Ralph Bellamy); the irony is that Pug is far less sagacious when it comes to the realities of his family.
Polly Bergen plays unhappy wife Rhoda, who turns to A-bomb developer Palmer Kirby (Peter Graves) for comfort. Pug's 19-year-old daughter, Madeline (Lisa Eilbacher), defies her iron-willed dad's decision that she stay in school by taking a job for CBS radio in New York. Compliant son Warren (Ben Murphy) can't seem to get Pug's attention despite doing everything right (including becoming a Navy pilot, eventually present at the bombing of Pearl Harbor). By contrast, Pug spends more time fuming over black sheep son Byron (Jan-Michael Vincent), who is working in increasingly Fascist Italy as an assistant to an art historian (John Houseman) while trying hard to woo the latter's exasperating niece, Natalie (Ali MacGraw). The story of Byron and Natalie takes up much of The Winds of War as the pair traverse Poland during the shock of Hitler's 1939 assault, and Jewish Natalie later finds herself trapped inside Italy facing the threat of concentration camps. Before The Winds of War ends, each of these characters will end up in places and situations, and with historical figures (Churchill, Mussolini) as well as ordinary people, they would not have anticipated outside the pressures of war. The program's length and smart script allow for a lot of ideas and background detail that pull a viewer in--happily. --Tom Keogh
Product details
- Aspect Ratio : 1.33:1
- Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
- MPAA rating : Unrated (Not Rated)
- Product Dimensions : 8 x 5.5 x 1.75 inches; 8 ounces
- Item model number : 2237853
- Director : Dan Curtis
- Media Format : Box set, Color, Collector's Edition, Miniseries, Full Screen, NTSC
- Run time : 14 hours and 39 minutes
- Release date : May 25, 2004
- Actors : Byron Morrow, Osman Ragheb, Edward M. Cafarella, June Bolton, Bob Johnene
- Subtitles: : English
- Language : English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), Unqualified (DTS ES 6.1)
- Studio : Paramount
- ASIN : B0001NBNGQ
- Number of discs : 1
- Best Sellers Rank: #50,267 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #741 in Military & War (Movies & TV)
- #4,069 in Kids & Family DVDs
- #5,136 in Action & Adventure DVDs
- Customer Reviews:
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon-
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
The plot concerns a military family named Henry, scattered and absorbed by the winds of war. We follow the patriarch Victor `Pug Henry (Robert Mitchum), an experienced military officer who in the spring 1939 is appointed to be a military attaché for the USA in Berlin. He is accompanied by his dotty and yet quite likable wife Rhoda (Polly Bergen). Their children include an oldest son, the flyboy Warren (Ben Murphy), another son Byron (Jan-Michael Vincent) who is in Italy and falls in love with a bit older Jewish girl Natalie (Ali McGraw), who is the niece of the famous American-Jewish writer dr. Aaron Jastrow (John Houseman). The daughter Madeleine (Lisa Eilbacher) is the youngest of the three and works as a radio girl. In Berlin Pugh gets the hint of the atmosphere in the Nazi Germany of that time (like the fact Jews are treated second-class) and predicts the upcoming pact between Hitler (Günter Meisner) and Stalin, both of who he gets to meet during the series. Byron and Natalie witness the first days of war, being caught in the midst of Warsaw, where Natalie followed her fiancé, the American diplomat Leslie Slote (David Dukes). The series mixes the lives of the Henrys with the historical events of the war (the occupations of Poland and France; the blitz in London; the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union; the beginnings of the `Final Solution' behind the lines of the occupied Russian territory; the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor to name a few). The last episode of this first part of the story ends with the aftermath of Pearl Harbor: The German offensive is halted on the outskirts of Moscow, Pug goes to command a battleship and fight in the war, unsure of his feelings for the beautiful daughter of an old friend (Victoria Tennant), Byron fights in the submarine, while in the meantime Natalie, who fell in love with Byron and bore him a son, is left onboard a ship in Naples which is awaiting to live for Palestine, since she and her uncle could not find their way out of Fascist Italy, due to his passport complications.
The above is just the basic description of the series and despite of what it may seem, it is not a soap opera, but rather an interesting chronicle of the war and a family influenced by its impact. Pug Henry gets to meet all the important players of the war (Churchill, Hitler, Roosevelt, Stalin...) and in this respect is somewhat similar to young Indiana Jones. The war itself is shown from these two viewpoints: the Henrys and the rest of the fictional characters vs. the historical ones (Hitler and his generals etc.)
There are many things that make this show one of the miniseries highlights of its time. One of them is the excellent casting. Robert Mitchum brings his renowned charisma for the character of Pug and he does it in an excellent way. Ali MacGraw's headstrong Natalie makes a fine contrast to Jan-Michael Vincent's younger Byron. The historical characters are done more than convincingly. Thusly Ralph Bellamy is the definite FDR (a role he had an opportunity to play years before in the theatre) and Howard Lang makes a believable Churchill. One must make a special reference to Günter Meisner and his portrayal of Adolf Hitler. As it will be seen in the sequel, the director and producer Dan Curtis wanted Hitler to be overplayed. The reasons remain unknown and one can only guess that he wanted to make it less human in this way. Günter Meisner, the late German actor who played Hitler few times during his career, although a bit too old for the role, managed to keep things under control, so despite the fact his Führer is stiffed and not altogether perfect, he manages to give a hint of the evil personage Hitler was. This is important to note, since his successor to the role for `War and remembrance', the British actor Steven Berkoff, was awful, playing the character as a total one-dimensional yelling buffoon. The role of Hitler is a hard and yet manageable task for an actor who can make a character, as shown by Bruno Ganz in the recent movie `Downfall'.
One of the other appeals of the show is the fact it was shot on location, with attention put to details that make the historical accuracy. Most scenes were shot in my hometown Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, then still part of ex-Yugoslavia. The producers managed to use Zagreb's past as one of the former Austro-Hungarian capitals to recreate Berlin, Lisbon, Warsaw, etc. The scenery and the costumes evoke the era perfectly, thus making the whole thing believable to the viewer. Other locations included USA, Italy and some more. But the greatest asset is without the doubt the interesting plot which doesn't let go for a moment.
It is also noticeable that some of the mistakes that were made in the sequel, `War and Remembrance', (the narrow scope of the victims of the Holocaust being one of them) are not present here. One can only get a hint of some of the future slips here, for example, the subtle message that all the Germans are bad and all Americans good.
This DVD collection of the series deserves A+. Seven DVDs come packed in a nice sleeve. Besides the series, there are several interesting extra features: through the interviews with the cast, crew and Herman Wouk we learn about the process of adaptation, casting, shooting and the problems they all encountered while making this epic peace. Some of the footage includes things shot during the work on location in Zagreb.
For anyone enjoying modern history, an excellent miniseries with the interesting plot or is simply interested in Second World War, this is a must-have. Highly recommendable.
"Winds of War" tells the World War II story of a fictional American family, the Henrys. They are true-blue, U. S. Navy types, a vanishing breed. Victor "Pug" Henry is the father, memorably played by Robert Mitchum. Rhoda is the mother, also well done by Polly Bergen. Other stars include Ali MacGraw as Natalie Jastrow and Jan-Michael Vincent as the Henrys's son, Byron. Natalie is Jewish and older than Byron but he pursues her earnestly. They are living in Europe at the time and end up getting married. This leads to conflict after conflict. Then they have a son which complicates matters even further.
Back to the cast, Ralph Bellamy gives an excellent portrayal of FDR, our war-time president. Victoria Tennant does well as Pug's extramarital love interest, Pamela, and Peter Graves is good as Rhoda's outside flame. Ben Murphy does well as the Henrys' older son, Warren, and David Dukes is fine as the American diplomat, Leslie Slote. Jeremy Kemp plays a fictional German general, von Roon, and does a super job. Lesser work is done by the actor playing Winston Churchill and John Houseman, who plays Natalie's fugitive uncle, Aaron.
History purists may object to the liberties taken by Herman Wouk in his novel and screenplay which have some soap opera qualities. Nevertheless, the Henrys turn out to be a dysfunctional American family, not so unusual these days. Wouk's use of fictional characters to act out every day life during wartime makes an impression that pure documentaries can't. One minute we're invited to a scene where one of Natalie's young relatives is getting married in Poland. Next minute the same people are being ruthlessly attacked by German warplanes. In another sequence we see the happy peacetime life in Honolulu as off duty naval personnel celebrate good times. Next minute we see the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor which brings the conflict into closer, more human terms.
"Winds of War" starts in the late-1930's--before the war breaks out in Europe. The story ends with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. So, this is only part of the World War II saga. Five years would pass before the sequel, "War and Remembrance," would be produced. Many reviewers feel that "Winds of War" was superior in many ways, especially since Ali MacGraw and Jan-Michael Vincent were replaced by younger actors. We're not so sure, but will save our "War and Remembrance" review for later.
There are some far-fetched aspects that some other reviewers have pointed out. Pug happens to speak 5 or 6 languages which is no small feat for an ex-Annapolis jock. With these capabilities, he naturally becomes a confidant to FDR and is assigned all over the world to meet Churchill, Stalin, Hitler, and other dignitaries. Another feature that is hard to fathom is how Natalie's uncle, Aaron, could have her risk her life and her baby's life trying to save Aaron from the Nazis. He has bouts of guilt where he says they must escape to America, but then lapses into his old ways of waiting for the worst to happen. With as tough and independent as Natalie appears to be, it doesn't seem real that she would put up with Aaron's lethargy.
"Winds of War" is a thought-provoking story that deserves a place in any library on World War II. In addition, the "making of" features include interviews with members of the cast and crew. These help a lot with understanding the piece and how difficult it was to produce. Our advice is to buy the DVD at its current bargain price and get ready for 18 hours of excellent viewing. For my wife and I it was both entertaining and educational.
Top reviews from other countries
長編なのに1枚はおかしいと思って購入しましたが、6枚です。
De plus c'est aussi une vétitable leçon d'histoire ce qui ne gâte rien.
A voir à tout prix!!!!
Guy Romain
2981 SW - 21 st Court
Fort lauderdale
33312 Florida
USA