WINDS OF WAR VS HOLLOCAUST
Which mini series is better. I'm considering purchasing one but have never seen either.
share"The Winds Of War" depicts events right up to the entry of the USA into WWII. We see the initial persecution of the Jews, but not the Holocaust. The sequel to "The Winds Of War," "War And Remembrance," deals with the Holocaust, and other events as well, but it is best known for its depiction of the Holocaust. I own both WOW and WAR on DVD and they are amongst my favorites; however, I've never seen "Holocaust," so I can't comment on it. However, if you are looking for something only on the Holocaust, maybe you should go for the series of that name, as "War and Remembrance" is 30 hours long, and as I said, while the depiction of the Holocaust is the best I've ever seen in a non-documentary, it is not the only storyline.
If anybody on this board has seen both "War and Remembrance" and "Holocaust" I'd be interested in your comparisons and comments
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I would recommend both, but if I had to choose which one is better, I would say that "Winds of War"/"War and Remembrance" are better than "Holocaust."
"Holocaust" covers the stories of two German families, one Jewish and the other Nazi (the father becomes an SS officer and an aide to Heydrich). Unlike WoW/WnR, it doesn't really go into the politics or battles, although it does show a few partisan battles, the Sobibor Uprising, and covers the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943. But even then, I don't think they spend much film time on those events, since it covers 1935-45 in four two-hour parts. It covers the main highlights, but it doesn't go that much into depth because they're trying to move the story along.
In contrast, "Winds of War" covered 1939-41 in 7 parts, and "War and Remembrance" covered 1941-45 in 12 parts. They seemed to have more film time and a larger budget.
Even though they were all TV-movies, WoW and WnR have less of a TV-movie feel to it than "Holocaust" does. "Holocaust" had some top-line actors (Meryl Streep, James Woods, Michael Moriarty, David Warner), good dialogue, so it's clearly watchable and somewhat riveting. There are some disturbing, graphic scenes of the kind which weren't really shown on television before, although not nearly as graphic as "War and Remembrance," which came out 10 years later.
For what it's worth, it looks like "Holocaust" is on YouTube. I saw when it was first broadcast back in the 1970s.
I've just finished WOW and the first part of W&M. I'm waiting for the second part of W&M to arrive in the post, and I already have Holocaust lined up to watch afterwards. So, I can't offer any advice but I'd be interested in people's comments as well.
Holocaust has had some excellent write-ups, which is why I bought it.
I LOVED Winds and Remembrance. I read the books in High School, and saw the movies a few years later. I didn't know about Holocaust until just a few months ago, and I bought it from Barnes and Noble. Unlike Winds and Remembrance, where it was and emotional roller coaster, and Wouk had done an excellent job in his research, spending 20 years and over 300 books, Greene seems to have just called in a teleplay that he novelized later.
In my opinion, Holocaust, while it might have been good for its time, has not aged well, and has certainly deserved its criticism.
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I've just completed Holocaust, and I agree with everything Stevicus said.
The actor who played Dorf was sublime, enormously talented, on a par with Sir John Gielgud in terms of character acting. Had this not been so, I think that Holocaust would have been significantly inferior. There were plenty of compelling performances in minor roles, but the other major roles (the Weiss family, Heydrich, Elena, Mrs Dorf) could have been played by anyone in my opinion; nobody really "owned" their character, although they were all competent enough.
I agree, "Holocaust" has not aged well. We watched it a while ago.
In comparison WOW is timeless. I never really cared for WAR as Jane Seymour was no substitute at all for Ali MacGraw as Natalie Jastrow :(.
"I never really cared for WAR as Jane Seymour was no substitute at all for Ali MacGraw as Natalie Jastrow"
You're kidding, right?! Jane Seymour was INFINITELY better than Ali MacGraw, but of course WAR was much better than WOW in many other ways.
For who would bear the whips and scorns of Hollywood... (;-p)
I remember seeing Holocaust as a kid and being scared *beep* I watched a few months ago. Production wise, it has ages terribly. But the acting performances are top-rate. Brillant acting all around...
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