MovieChat Forums > The Winds of War (1983) Discussion > This was an excellent miniseries

This was an excellent miniseries


I'm somewhat surprised that there aren't any more comments here. The entire series was excellent, although I have to admit that I usually fast-forward through the scenes with Palmer Kirby and Rhoda.

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I have always loved this miniseries, and I am also surprised there are not more comments. I agree about Palmer Kirby and Rhoda--they made me sick to my stomach. She was a whiny, ungrateful witch and Palmer was just boring. I never liked Sloate, either. But I loved Pug and Pamela, and Byron and Natalie, and the story was great. I have always been fascinated with WWII, and eat up movies and documentaries and books about that time period. This is a great depiction of that era.

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Granted, I didn't like Rhoda, but I felt it was important to the story, so I kept watching. And I loved Slote. He was a very tragic character, and I think that David Dukes did a great job.

"I cut my finger. That's tragedy. A man walks into an open sewer and dies. That's comedy."

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If you read the book carefully, Polly Bergen played the Rhoda character pretty true to the book. Rhoda was the same in the book. In fact, I think it said in the first 2-3 pages of the book that Rhoda could be an awful nag.

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Well, regarding the Palmer Kirby character Peter Graves I grew up watching the TV series for kids about a mustang, "Fury", on German TV where Graves played a very kind and competent man who runs a ranch.
Later I've admired his roles in "A Rage to live", "A Stranger in my Arms" and especially "The Night of the Hunter" (also with Robert Mitchum) and "Stalag 17" with William Holden, but Graves plays a crucial part.
So I liked Palmer Kirby, but didn't think that Polly Bergen's hair-do was very flattering. However, I thought she played her part very well and came across just like the character in the Wouk novels.

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Can anybody help me, I am trying to locate the DVD Box Set of the above as a present. I can only locate Region 1 box sets but I need it to play in the UK? Thanks

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Excellent Miniseries. I zipped through the Pug and Rhoda scenes, but decided to see those again. Adds another layer to the older man in love with a friend's younger daughter.

Favorite Characters:

Byron Henry- rebel, later turned officer and devoted father.
Pug Henry- the patriarch, tough as nails, caring officer.
Natalie Jastrow-Henry- older wife of Byron, unabashed Jewish American, devoted to her uncle. Did irritate me that she did not leave Europe sooner.....
General Von Roon- adds wrinkle inside German High Command, duty bound officer, but gets in snipes against the Nazi regime.

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This is my first viewing of the series. With a cast of this size there will always be some disappointments, and I haven't read the book, but I disliked Rhoda's character for her shallowness, but if that is how it is written then Polly Bergen certainly played it well. Good old Mitchum, one of my favourite actors, could always be depended upon to turn in a interesting performance. The scope of the story is amazing. Dan Curtis must have nerves of steel to have attempted such a huge undertaking. I am looking forward to watching War and Remembrance.

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I think that Byron and Natalie were better played in The Winds of War, by Ali McGraw and Jan Michael-Vincent. In War and Remembrance, Byron and Natalie are separated through most of the miniseries, but when they're together, it's just not the same. Jane Seymore might have been a better Natalie, but Jan Michael-Vincent was a better Byron. I didn't care much for Hart Bochner as Byron at all.

I also really enjoyed Ralph Bellamy's portrayal of Franklin D. Roosevelt. His is one of the better portrayals of FDR that I've seen.

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There was supposed to be an age difference, with MacGraw's character being older. I have always suspected MacGraw was chosen because Natalie was always teasing Byron, much as MacGraw's Jenny did to O'Neal's Preppy-Oliver in Love Story. I thought MacGraw and Jan Michael-Vincent worked well as Natalie and Byron, and missed them in W&R.

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Bellamy played FDR in the 60's in Sunrise at Campabello, stage and movie. It's an interesting watch, especially after seeing this portrayal. It's about his struggle with Polio. It would've been interesting to see him portray him in the darker Warm Springs era right after.

I never lie. I willfully participate in a campaign of misinformation.

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Wouk depicted Rhoda as a woman who normally would have honoured her marriage vows, but lacked the strength to do so through the strains and lengthy separations imposed by war - as she wrote to Pug (in W&R), "You're a rock; I'm not." Her frailty made her another kind of casualty of the war.

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i think it was outstanding on all fronts, yes Mitchum was too old but he acted superbly. my favorite parts were the newsreel scenes and the narration of William Woodson, I dubbed them all together on a separate tape and play them endlessly, tremendously entertaining. the Midway scenes were excellent, as was the bomb run over Berlin. I know the costs were astronomical, but wish there could've been more and a little less soap opera.

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I just watched this mini-series a few months back. Yes I do agree it WAS an excellant mini-series when I first seen it as a kid. But now I feel the series has dated itself a bit with some of modern day 1980s hairdos and odd props, and melloncolly dialog. But it is still a good series.

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Yes the Winds of War was an excellent Mini series. My only beef was that it was before VCRs so you had to make sure not to miss any episode.

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winds of war was not before vcrs, as i have both winds and war and rememberance on vcr. i have, i think 8 tapes of the series. i remember watching and taping them in the 80's

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My mistake. Sorry.

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Yes, a truly great series, as I recall, although I've only seen it once - in the UK back in the mid 80s. Hope it gets repeated or gets a reasonably priced UK DVD release.


"Someone has been tampering with Hank's memories."

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look to ebay

I picked up both for £35 combined

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In fairness to the OP, the VCR wasn't universally available in every household.. less than half, I'd say.

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Your family must have had money, lol. They were expensive as hell back then.

I never lie. I willfully participate in a campaign of misinformation.

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I hope that you, Ms. Bergen, can read this; for your portrayal of "Rho" always is such a source of profound amusement--you really make me laugh at "Rho's" antics, and her early oblivion to the war's process. I love you soo much for it all--quite a contrast to your pairing with Bob in "Cape Fear"! Kisses not only to "My President", but to you too, Ms. Polly Bergen!!

I should think that if we met in real life, and my first reaction were to burst out laughing, I'd hope that you'd understand and share in my enjoyment. I'd probably laugh until the tears rolled down my cheeks!!

That's also my interpretation of "Rho", from reading the books as well. Interesting, isn't it??

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For me, "Winds" is definitely the most interesting docudrama ever made about WW2. The whole concept of a low-key American officer stationed abroad as history unfolds, meeting the great world leaders of that era and having a hand in events, is highly intriguing ... and most of this before the U.S. is even directly involved in the war.

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