The Winds of War (1983) Review

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(More customer reviews)Herman Wouk wrote an absolute masterpiece. Winds of War is without a doubt the very best historical novel in the war genre. Dan Curtis equally directs the benchmark that mini-series will be measured by for years to come.
Casting for Winds of War was perfect when it came to matching Wouk's characters. Despite the age differences Ali McGraw and Jan-Michael Vincent were absolutely perfect as the independent and fickle Natali Jastrow and the bull-headed Byron Henry. Robert Mitchum is the glue that holds the story together in a flawless performance as Victor "Pug" Henry, the man that meets everyone that is anyone in his role as a Naval Attache stationed in Berlin in the pre-World War II years. One of the best ever ensemble casts include stand-outperformances by Polly Bergen as Pug Henry's hard-drinking wife Rhoda, not to mention Topol, David Dukes, Victoria Tennant and John Houseman.
Winds of War has become a semi-annual event for our family. It is simply so entertaining that it never grows tiresome. The historical value alone makes it worth having in your home library.

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The first two years of WWII, before U.S. involvement, as seen through the eyes of a naval commander stationed at Pearl Harbor.Genre: TelevisionRating: NRRelease Date: 1-MAY-2007Media Type: DVD

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World War II:After Pearl Harbor 41-45 (1989) Review

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(More customer reviews)First, the good news. You get about 3 hours for about fifteen bucks. Some of the combat footage is incredible. And, the documentaries are enjoyable.
Now, the bad news. Video and sound quality are poor. This is not DVD quality. Video of studio shots (the announcer, maps, etc.) are blurry and appear to be a dub of a VHS tape onto a DVD. Sound on the first disc is gated to reduce hiss; unfortunately, this leaves the sound rather choppy and unnatural-sounding, and lacking in upper frequencies (which reduces the intelligibility of the voice-over). Sound on the second disc is thankfully not mangled, but instead there is noticeable tape hiss. Since it's almost all combat footage (sometimes jerky, sometimes not focused, often poor contrast) the poor video quality is not as much an issue, especially since the footage is edited in sections barely longer than a few seconds each -- you barely have time to focus on it before it cuts away to something else. As far as the sound, I would not be surprised if it was manufactured later with sound effects. And by the time you reach the last documentary, you begin to recognize some of the footage which they had already used for another battle.
Also, this is not a comprehensive history of the Pacific War, but a collection of 20-min. documentaries from the mid-'80's each covering a key battle or some other subject. At least they do generally have them arranged in chronological order.
The verdict? It's a chance to get a lot of combat footage for cheap (although it's almost all American footage, and told from the American point of view). I'm generally happy with it, but the DVD quality sure could have been better.

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Attack on Pearl Harbor: A Day of Infamy (2007) Review

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(More customer reviews)I have had the pleasure of purchasing several of these documentary series' including "The Great War: WWI," "The Forgotten War: Korea," and "D-Day Code Name: Overlord," by far this set is the most impressive of the lot. The set is wonderfully comprehensive with actual interviews with Japanese pilots and American sailors eyewitnesses and participants who managed to survive that fateful day. Extensive newsreel footage, as well as analysis by military historians explain the reasons why Japan decided to attack the naval base--a decision the Imperial Navy, we learn, would later regret. A second disc details the not often seen footage from recent salvage efforts, what exactly went wrong, and including the hows and whys the U.S. should have been better prepared to meet the Japanese attack. The documentary also analyzes the alleged role Japanese-Hawaiians may have played on the attack as well as the fateful mistakes that were made at every command level from the battlelines to the White House itself. Provoking as many questions as it attempts to answer, this set will shed new light on one of America's darkest days. Of course, this is nowhere in the league of say, "World at War" or Ken Burns' upcoming opus "The War," but for the modest outlay (I purchased mine at Ross-Dress for Less for $4.99) well worth watching.

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Pearl (The Miniseries) (1978) Review

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(More customer reviews)Although I rated Pearl,the Miniseries five stars,some people would disagree basing their evaulation by today's standards. But in the 70's when miniseries I believe were at their peak,this was a miniseries of magnum production. An all star cast tells the story of careers and personal emotional turmoil before the confrontation of the "day which will live infamy" World War II. The emotional center of the film is the deadly surprise attack,and the aftermath of the realization that "paradise" is not immuned to the ugliness of war,and sadness of death. I believe both men and women would enjoy this film,for the I think the film has something for each.

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