I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

I regard WINDS OF WAR and WAR AND REMEMBRANCE, the sequel, as the two greatest series ever produced for television. I lived through those times, and the producer managed to recreate the spirit and feel of the age. There have been many who have criticized the acting, but I thought it more than adequate. Contrary to some, I thought that the actor playing Hitler in WINDS did a superlative job. I also thought Mitchum carried his part very well, though I saw him as 20 years too old for the role. Regardless of any casting or acting deficiencies, however, the sheer sweep and drama of the story carried all along. It's a magnificently told history lesson.There is one factual error that has always puzzled me. In the conversation between Pug Henry and Bryon Henry just before dinner with the Roosevelts, Pug refers to the German battleship BISMARCK as if it were a pocket battleship. The BISMARCK was NOT a pocket battleship. In point of fact, it was the biggest battleship afloat at that time. Herman Wouk was an American naval officer in World War II. How did that error slip past him?

The Winds Of War, part history part soap opera offers a Zelig like view of America's entrance into World War II in the years from 1939 to early 1942. Our protagonist Zelig is Robert Mitchum as Victor 'Pug' Henry a naval captain who has had a succession of shore assignments and yearns to get back to a ship. He knows war is coming and the promotions will come for those with battle command experience.In the meantime Mitchum is assigned as the naval liaison to the Berlin embassy where he sees and observes what is going on at the highest levels of government. He writes a report predicting the Hitler-Stalin pact which impresses one Franklin D. Roosevelt. They have history going back to the first World War when Mitchum was just a lieutenant. FDR himself asks for Mitchum to write him privately.That part of history is absolutely the case. Roosevelt distrusted official diplomatic channels in the State Department and always relied on a variety of sources for information. Returning as FDR after his critical and popular success in Sunrise At Campobello is Ralph Bellamy. He's just as good here.The history part one can read in all the books, but author Herman Wouk gave us soap opera as well. Mitchum is married to Polly Bergen and has three kids in descending order, Ben Murphy, Jan-Michael Vincent, and Lisa Eilbacher. All of them have their stories as well, mostly Vincent and his involvement and marriage to an older and Jewish woman Ali McGraw. That's a good part of the story, McGraw meets up with Vincent in Italy where he's leading a Bohemian type life and she is visiting her scholarly uncle John Houseman. McGraw and Vincent marry and have a child. But time and circumstances leave McGraw, Houseman, and the baby behind enemy lines while Vincent activates his naval reserve status and goes to war. A big part of the plot is his efforts to get back to his new family.Mitchum and Bergen are coming apart. Bergen had the best role in the series in my opinion. She was bored with her life and something of an airhead. She drifts into an affair with scientist Peter Graves. And Mitchum starts falling for Victoria Tennant, the daughter of a British diplomat.According to Lee Server's insightful biography or Mitchum, the original thought was to cast Ed Asner in the lead because in the novel Pug Henry is given that name because he has a bulldog like appearance. But some box office was needed so Mitchum who I guess is closest to being bulldog like of classic Hollywood leading men was hired. He carried the role well of a man who thinks life might just be passing him by in the career he has chosen.Wouk did his research well and the mini-series was just the format to present all the subtleties of his epic novel. The Henry family stories are nicely integrated into the real story of America going into World War II.This is epic television of the best kind.

I first watched this miniseries when it was broadcast on TV and I videotaped it at the time. When it came out on DVD, I rented it several times from my public library. Finally, I bit the bullet and purchased the DVD set for myself. Needless to say, I have watched the 'Winds of War' many times. I also own the book, which I read before I ever watched the miniseries. Of course, there are some differences between the book and the miniseries, but nothing that matters. Robert Mitchum is perfectly cast as Pug Henry. Can't think of anyone else for that part. Polly Bergen is perfect as Pug's wife Rhoda, too, and the rest of the cast seems true to their characters. Bergen's wardrobe is gorgeous. Rhoda is a fashion plate in every scene. Victoria Tennant shines as the much younger Pamela Tudsbury. Very beautiful. Contrary to some other reviewers,I really liked Ali McGraw as Natalie Jastrow and was disappointed when she was replaced by Jane Seymour in the sequel 'War and Remembrance.' One thing the book didn't have that the TV series has is the great background music. Awesome. Don't miss 'The Winds of War' if it is ever rebroadcast or try to borrow it from your public library. Don't miss

Fans of War and Peace will see the obvious parallels between Wouk's two novels and Tolstoy's epic Napoleonic saga.Both tell the story of two families (in Winds of War we have the Jastrows and the Henrys, in War and Peace we have the Bolkonskis and the Rostovs) and their friends swept up in the events just prior and during epic wars. The destinies and stories of the fictional members of those families are intertwined with those of historical figures. In each of the novels there is one character who gives a historical overview in long dissertive essays. In War and Peace there is the unflappable general Kutuzov. In War and Remembrance there is the stolid German soldier, Von Roon.The problem of adapting both authors to the screen is one of scope and length. Do you remember Snoopy's epic adaptation of War and Peace with sock puppets in Charlie Brown? Well, Dan Curtis did a credible job of bringing Wouk's vision to the screen. He replaces Von Roon's larger post-war essays from the novel by the third-person narrator. Had he still been alive at the time I could see Curtis choosing Lorne Greene (the so-called "voice of doom" from those old WWII propaganda documentaries).Aside from the endless redundancy of Nathalie and Aaron Jastrow's trying to get out of Europe and the equally repetitive and saccharine love story between Pug and Pamela, the story goes along pretty well.The portrayal of Hitler has been widely criticized, but needs to be placed in the proper perspective. Hitler is seen through the eyes of the very aristocratic Prussian Von Roon. He would be perceived as a buffoon.As far as historical narratives go, this production gives the next generation a good overall impression of why and how World War II came about. War and Remembrance was more problematic in that it relied a great deal on stock footage and footage purchased from other movies (in particular from Tora! Tora! Tora!) to show the big battles of World War II.