War and Remembrance, Vol. 2 VHS

This 6-disc set concludes the turbulent story of `War and remembrance' miniseries, based on the successful book by Herman Wouk, whose predecessor, `Winds of war', was shot five year prior to this, in 1983. Made during a 5-year period on location in 10 countries, `War and Remembrance' thusly remains one of the biggest achievements in the history of television. The story comes to an end with this 11 and half hours of footage, covering the period from November 1943 to summer 1945.The main plot of this last part mostly concerns the final stages of the holocaust. Again, we see it through the characters of Natalie (Jane Seymour), an American Jewess, and her uncle Aaron (John Gielgud), who after many escapades across Europe ended up in Theresienstadt, a Nazi ghetto in occupied Czechoslovakia in summer 1943. The so called `paradise ghetto' turns out to be a monstrous hoax: an overcrowded place filled with sickly and dying Jewish people, many of whom were sent to Auschwitz on the regular train transports. The Theresienstadt scenes (shot in my native Croatia) show some of the most brutal holocaust-related moments: a very disturbing scene where Aaron is beaten in front of Adolf Eichmann (Milton Johns), one of the highest ranking Nazis responsible for the implementation of `the final solution' and the one where Natalie's small son is almost tore in two in front of her. We also get to see the famous Red Cross visit to Theresienstadt in June 1944. The Nazis allowed this visit and tried to deceive the visitors, by implementing `the great beautification': the false stores and cafes; furnished houses and hospitals, putting some of the residents on display, etc. However, all this pales in comparison to the episode where Natalie and her uncle are put on the last train from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz, in October 1944. What follows is one of the most gruesome and most vivid depictions: a long and for some fatal trip to Auschwitz; the arrival and the selection (who goes to the camp and who to the gas chamber); the procession of the able bodied prisoners (that is, Natalie) and the very end of her uncle (undressing and dying in the gas chamber). These exterior scenes were shot on location on the exact spots in the actual Auschwitz-Birkeanau camp (first time to be done so) and are deeply moving and disturbing and because of that are not suitable for the small children. This remains the most detailed TV account of the holocaust until today.Besides this, the story also wraps up the subplots concerning the fictional characters from the Henry family (the love between Pugh and Pamela, for example). The historical events are covered, albeit with less live footage and space (D day; the atom bomb, whose implications of use are strangely left untouched and the whole thing is only mentioned). Considerable space has been given to the July plot to assassinate Hitler in 1944. Sky Dumont (who had a cameo in `Winds of war' as the Italian foreign minister Ciano) is excellent in his portrayal as Count Stauffenberg, the tragic and dignified leader of this failed attempt.Most of the cast continues their persuasive job (Robert Mitchum, Polly Bergen, Jane Seymour, John Gielgud, Ralph Bellamy...). However, the same problem from the first DVD set is painfully obvious, that is, the character of Hitler. In `Winds of war' Hitler was played by the late German actor Günter Meisner, who played this role a few times during his career. Although a bit too old for the role, he managed to keep things under control, so despite the fact his Führer was stiffed and not altogether perfect, he gave a hint of the evil personage Hitler was. Here, however, the role is taken by the British actor Steven Berkoff and he did an awful job out of it. According to the interview on the extra disc, the director Dan Curtis wanted Hitler to be overplayed. The reasons remain unknown, although one can guess that he wanted to downgrade the character more by doing this. Berkoff's Hitler is a mixture of a buffoon and a yelling maniac. He portrays these sides in such an overacted manner that the result is anything but believable. This makes the Hitler scenes really uninteresting to watch and the way he behaves with his inner circle has no trustworthiness at all. Therefore it is hard to believe such a person could put a spell on the entire nation, let alone be listened by his generals, most of whom are shown here as the observers who put up with him. The role of Hitler is a hard and yet manageable task for an actor who can make a character, as shown by Bruno Ganz in the recent movie `Downfall'. The same difficulty is evident in case of Robert Stephens, who plays Karl Rahm, the SS commandant of Theresienstadt, in the manner of a cartoon villain.In the same way, the same slip ups from the first disc set are also present here. The most noticeable concern is the narrow scope used in reference to the holocaust, i.e. by showing it to be solely and exclusively a Jewish matter. There is no doubt that the Jews suffered far worse than any other nation, but the subject matter cannot be understood without mentioning all the other groups that suffered under the Nazis. Here there is no reference whatsoever as to all the others that perished in Auschwitz and other places: Slavs, Jehovah's witnesses, Gypsies, homosexuals, etc. This is something that should not have been done in the series of such importance and scale. The book and the movie `Sophie's choice' (where, incidentally, the same actor played Rudolf Höß, the commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp) recognize this problem by showing a Polish woman caught in the tragedy that is holocaust. Another evident thing is the fact that the authors tend to be too biased: the subtle message is all Americans are totally honest and good in each step of the way, while all the Germans are bad and vicious. Some of the scenes and lines are quite unnecessary. For example, the Germans on the train to Auschwitz are shown in the stereotypical form as a bunch of beer-gobbling goons. At the same time, the exhausted Natalie says in her boxcar: "I am an American and I will survive.", like one has something to do with the other. The same thing can be said about her line in the last episode, when she is describing a dead friend to her husband (who is a gentile himself), by saying: "His heart was in the right place for a gentile." A bit more of objectivity would be more than welcome.One of the DVD-related problems is the fact that some of the spelling is incorrect, especially German names and phrases. Thusly Morrell became Müller and Roon is subtitled as Rohem. The German phrase `Zu Befehl', which means `As you ordered', is wrongly subtitled as `To be fair'.Despite all this, the series remain more than plausible for anyone interested in World War II fiction. The bonus DVD includes another behind the scenes documentary with the cast and the crew (the difficulties of getting permission to shoot at Auschwitz, a homage to the actors and crew people who died since filming...); director Dan Curtis' comment of the selected important scenes and an interview with Bob Cobert, the composer who wrote the memorable score for the series.If you enjoyed `Winds of war' DVD set, be sure not to miss this.

Historical fiction at it's best. For the millennials and other post-boomer folks, this miniseries is excellent entertainment, in addition to being an excellent way to get a "street level" vision of what a world at war is like. It's tough watching, in parts, because of the brutal reality portrayed. But, I'm relieved that Dan Curtis, the director, had the courage and dedication to make this wonderful adaptation of a great, great book.

This was the final DVD’s for War remembrance However, when I received in yesterday June 20th, I started to watch only to find out that chapter 12 is missing, I did receive two number 9. disks I paid a lot of money for, to be very disappointed by a missing final disk

For sentimental reasons, I rate the Herman Wouk epic Winds of War - War and Remembrance as my favorite theatrical account of WWII. It's hard to say why. Certainly, it has been surpassed on a number of technical and acting fronts by newer mini-series like Band of Brothers or Ken Burns "The War".I think the reason I and many other members of the over 50 generation are so loyal to this series [I'm on my third viewing], is that Wouk's books were for many of us the first beginning to end account of WWII. In short, we were in love with the Henry's before the series came out. The TV mini-series is faithful to the book, largely because Wouk served on the writing team.To date, even the "Why We fight" chapter of Band of Brothers cannot compare with W/R holocaust thread. The holocaust thread does not enter Band of Brothers until Chapter 9 - when Easy Company liberates a concentration camp. Likewise, The War does not attempt to follow the holocaust thread so intimately. In Wouk's series, we see the holocaust from beginning to end in all it's forms. And we live with several characters who live and die through it. The scene where Aaron Jastrow, played by John Gielgud, gives his final lecture at Teresenstadt, is as riveting as TV gets.For me, the fictional Henry saga makes the series. It gets you emotionally involved with people living through the war. It gives characters a chance to debate and react to wartime events.If you are looking for a greater emphasis on combat and war or a completely non-fiction account, the Burns series is for you. If you want a well-rounded education on WWII - get all three.

I love the series but not the DVDs I bought thru Amazon and had to return. Tried to replace them 2x and could not find anywhere else to buy them. Ordered the series from local library and they worked/played. We even bought a new DVD player to try and get the ones we tried to purchase to play. Not Amazon’s fault but the DVD company who made these has a problem Would like to own the entire set of this series but think it’s a lost cause unless can find an old set like the one we got thru our library. Haven’t found any site where you can stream the whole series.

wanted this for ages.

great

I purchased this to see the shots filmed at the 'Eagles Nest' as I had heard that they used original furnishings and cars from private collections.Overall a good story line and location filming if a bit biased as to how 'the Americans won the war'.

Attention sur le DVD 5 Chapitre 7 le Film se bloque à 1 H 36 environ? Essai sur 3 Platines?

I accidently ordered the last 5 epsisodes, missing the 1st 7 but will order these later. I already knew the series from watching on TV. No comparison with other products: it meets expectations.