Product Description

A grand story of love and death, faith and betrayal, "War and Rememberance- The Final Chapter" completes the saga that began with "The Winds of War". World War II continues to rage and the Henry family is swept up in the battles of Europe and the Pacific. Natalie, Louis and Aaron experience the horror of the Holocaust firsthand at Auschwitz and the world changes forever with the American decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan.

Filmed on location in ten countries, this extraordinary $150 million production is the largest and most expensive undertaking in television and motion picture history, featuring spectacular reenactments of the Allied invasions at Normandy and the Philippines. Herman Wouk's classic concludes in the final installment of a mini-series that is nothing shore of unforgettable.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #57512 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-03-25
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Box set, Color, DVD, Miniseries, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 7
• Running time: 840 minutes

Amazon.com
The second half of this massive miniseries covers events from the last two years of World War II with members of our fictitious family--the Henrys--scattered throughout the world. Pariah "Pug" Henry (Robert Mitchum) visits Russia and England as an advisor--and proposes to his much-younger lover, Pamela (Victoria Tennant)--before retuning to the Pacific theater to join his son Byron (Hart Bochner), a submariner, in battling the Japanese. Meanwhile, Byron's wife, Natalie (Jane Seymour), and her uncle (John Gielgud) continue their harrowing plight, starting in the "Paradise Ghetto" and leading to the Auschwitz concentration camp.

This half--11.5 hours--aired on ABC in May 1989, six months after the first half. Unfortunately there is no kinetic battle sequence like the first half's Midway clash to absorb the viewer. Director Dan Curtis relies more on newsreel footage (and the sometimes heavy-handedness of narrator William Woodson) to cover large events. To compensate, the filmmakers give inordinate screen time to the conspiracy to kill Hitler (Steven Berkoff) by his inner circle. Like in Herman Wouk's novel, Hitler's decision to eliminate the Jews is the backbone of the entire series and the film's steely reenactments of these events--an amazing achievement for network television--is quite harrowing. Authenticity (filming at Auschwitz) plus ace performances (Seymour has been rarely better, Gielgud is outstanding) combine for a powerful statement, although the whole production is sometimes weighed down by the soap-opera elements of the Henrys' lives. The original Winds of War miniseries had a higher caliber cast, which is missed here. However, a few actors shine in their atypical performances, including Barry Bostwick (who tied with Gielgud for the Golden Globe) as a flamboyant submariner and David Dukes as a desk side attaché who reaches new depths in the war. Although admired and very watchable, the series did not impact the industry as much as its predecessor or sweep the award circuit as other miniseries (Roots, Holocaust, etc.) did, although it did take home the Emmy for Outstanding Miniseries.

The 7-DVD set contains an informative booklet, a CD soundtrack, and a disc of extras. Dan Curtis makes comments over 70 select minutes of the series (shown out of context), hitting the highlights of filming, a nice way of letting the filmmaker talk without searching for the commentary throughout the various discs. There's a new 30-minute feature combining new and old footage on the making of this massive production, and a 15-minute featurette on composer Bob Cobert. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews

A superb drama reaches its conclusion.
Herman Wouk's "The Winds of War"-"War and Remembrance" miniseries ranks as one of the greatest miniseries ever. "War and Remembrance, The Final Chapter" is about 11 1/2 hours of viewing, and concludes the story with the conclusion of the war. I rate the whole miniseries a solid 5 stars, but after a fair amount of agonizing, I dropped "The Final Chapter" down to a four.

Several reasons. First of all, the fellow who plays Hitler in War and Remembrance (Steven Berkoff) does not do a good job. He is a caricature of the evil, formidable Fuhrer. Gunter Meisner, in "The Winds of War" is a far better portrayal of Hitler, and fully captures the malevolent genius of the man. This is true of several other characters. The chap who plays the Kommandant of the Theresienstadt concentration camp plays the role of being literally a beast in human form. The evils of the Nazi genocidal crimes are better shown, I think, when the evildoers perpetuating these crimes are shown to be human beings knowingly committing evil--not animals who could scarcely know better. By contrast, Gunther Halmer, who plays Rudolph Hoess, does succeed in this--this is an intelligent man who has decided, consciously, to carry out inhuman policies. To me that is far scarier than the notion that the SS-Nazis were simply animals. Well, that's my opinion.

"The Final Chapter" could have used more battle action. There was plenty of opportunity for this, what with this period covering the Normandy invasion, Patton's dash across Europe, the American victory over Japan, etc., but such is not the case here. Lovers of this series (myself included) probably do not mind this too much, but I felt that the first chapter of "War and Remembrance" with its incomparable, superb depiction of the Battle of Midway, constituted better entertainment. This is, after all, a series about World War Two.

Some of the graphic scenes of concentration camp genocide are not for children. Parents will want to exercise judgment if youngsters are present during viewing.

These criticisms aside, "The Final Chapter" is quite an achievement, if for no other reason it satisfactorily wraps up the whole series reasonably smartly. This miniseries will be an enduring classic.

One of the Best Ways to Learn the History of WWII
I think these movies and books are a great way to learn about WWII because the blending of historical figures/events and fictional characters makes it real and holds your interest. You get more of a feel for what people experienced and had to deal with. I think all three volumes ("Winds of War" and "War and Remembrance") were excellent. I bought "Winds of War" and received both volumes of "War and Remembrance" as gifts from my husband and mom. I've read both books twice, and the movies followed the books very well. I think this was because the author of the books, Herman Wouk, wrote the screenplays. I also highly recommend both books.
I think the casting was great. I think Jane Seymour and Ali MacGraw were both good as Natalie (my favorite character in the story). Ali portrayed the spitfire part of Natalie's personality better; but, Seymour brought a depth, compassion and softness to the character that Natalie did possess. I think Natalie should have escaped when she could've, but then the story wouldn't have been as powerful and moving as it was. I believe Wouk had a point to make in writing the story that way. It stressed devotion to a loved one in trouble, and the unwillingness to believe the unthinkable could happen. Both of these were prevalent among the Jewish community in WWII. I think Mitchum & Bergen were great--wonderful chemistry and playing off one another. I think Sir John Gielgud was a better choice for the part of Aaron Jastrow than John Houseman. I liked both Jan Michael-Vincent and Hart Bochner as Briny. I think the part of Hitler in both movies could have been cast better. David Dukes as Slote, Topol as Berel Jastrow and Sami Frey as Rabinovitz were choice--couldn't have been cast better. Eddie Albert as Assistant Secretary of State Breckinridge Long was good. Long was an embarrassment to the U.S. during that time--a person who should have never held that position. (Enough of my political opinion!) Ralph Bellamy as Roosevelt was also great. Robert Hardy as Churchill was good. Bill Wallis as Beck was spooky--he played the part so well.
I've used the movies as a way to teach my children about WWII and the lessons we can learn from it. I am a WWII buff, and have read many factual books on the subject and seen many documentaries. The works by Herman Wouk and Bodie Thoene (also excellent) are the only historical fiction books I've read on the subject. My main interest is the history of the Holocaust, Hitler and the war in Europe. I believe there are many lessons we as individuals and the U.S. as a nation can learn from WWII. History always repeats itself. I also highly recommend the book and movie "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom which chronicles the story of the ten Boom family in WWII Holland as they hid Jews in their home. They were a strong Christian family who were eventually arrested and two of them were sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp. I hope this review is helpful and happy reading and enjoy the movie!

Finally, the whole thing available in one place!
I found the prequel "Winds Of War" in a video club mailing, "Part 1" at an area video store (after a humongous phone search), but I didn't track this part down until I got a cheaply-printed flyer from a mail-order joint with a 1-800 customer service number. Now, years later, they're all right here, only a mouse click or two apart. And they say computers are only a way for Big Brother to keep an eye on us! Those who ducked the saga when it showed on TV, as well as those who can't stand miniseries, also blew the chance to see what Robert Mitchum really was capable of as an actor. Nothing, zilch, zero else he's done comes up to this! Mitchum's other work shows him to be a competent if somewhat generic macho actor, but it's as if Herman Wouk mentally pictured him when he thought Pug Henry up. There are problems, to be sure. Like Polly Bergen's "Rhoda" not being quite the airhead you see in the book. Two different "Natalies" (Ali McGraw died, replaced by "Dr. Quinn's" Jane Seymour). Two different Aaron Jastrows (John Houseman died, John Gielgud took over). Two Byron Henrys (I guess Jan Michael Vincent just tired of the role but Hart Bochner is a bit too dreamboat-ish). But Ralph Bellamy is a brilliant FDR! David Dukes does Leslie Slote as insecure as the book portrays him. Victoria Tennant is delightfully feminine as new love Pamela Tudsbury. If you have the bread, do like I did. Buy all three, view them in order. Unlike me, though, it won't take you for freakin' ever to track the whole thing down!