War And Remembrance - Box Set One
Picture : C Sound : C Extras : C-
Chapters : B+
The subjects of World
War II and the Holocaust have been covered more often lately than they probably
should have been, with the Holocaust being dangerously overdone in
particular. The worst thing in either
case is to the subject’s injustice, but two mini-series managed to capture this
era with a fullness and intelligence that many feature films have not been able
to match, no matter how large the budgets have been.
Winds Of War had been one of TVs greatest
epic efforts, paying off in strong commercial, if mixed critical success. That was still more than enough to
greenlight the follow-up, War And Remembrance, the first half of which
is the subject of this review. That is
because this sequel mini-series was nearly twice the length. Rivaled only by the Roots saga, Dan
Curtis’ adaptations of Herman Wolk’s books amount to the peak of the
mini-series on broadcast network television.
In viewing these first seven parts, it is amazing
how well this holds up to recent HBO efforts like Band Of Brothers, and From
The Earth To The Moon. It also
shows up a recent cycle of grossly overpriced, overrated, and very forced
mini-series events like the Ted Danson Gulliver’s Travels, all of which
were greenlighted out of a quick-buck mentality, eventually losing huge amounts
of money for the now-desperate broadcast networks that have allowed themselves
to degenerate into pathetic “reality TV” garbage.
As they continue to
wallow in such put-on fare, it is worth noting that ABC invented the
mini-series as a way to capture new viewers, have a new source of consistent
ratings, and compete against NBC, CBS, PBS and the rise of syndicated TV in an
era with few TV channels. The one great
advantage of so few channels is that the networks had more power, money, pull,
and worked much harder for its audience.
The networks, like the major movie studios and major news media of the
time, had much more respect and pride in what they released and did. It is in that spirit that War And
Remembrance comes out of, representing the peak of those higher
standards. Little did anyone know at
the time that it was the swan song of the original mini-series era, but it went
out with a glorious bang that this box demonstrates.
The DVD does not try to letterbox an image that was
meant to be full screen, to its credit, with transfers that are later analog
masters of the film sources. This means
that they are a bit softer than one would like, but the color is not bad. Though the cinematography is not
groundbreaking, it is very good, showing vividly the events that transpire very
well. It captures the sweep of the
story, while the money is definitely on the screen.
Though the sound is left at the original monophonic
in Dolby Digital 2.0, the sound design offers surprises. It is one thing that Robert Cobert’s music
is so good, but sound design in battles is more realistic than the often
unrealistic and over sweetened multi-channel we get in theatrical blockbusters. For instance, when a ship is attacked by
depth charges in this mini-series, the explosions are realistically heard from
a distance outside, as they would be in real life. Compare to the technically proficient-but-empty U-571 (2000,),
which offers “splashes” and explosions that sound too much like they are inside
the ship! This is eventually overdone,
turning what was already revisionist history into a combination sound
demo/original Star Trek episodes.
The sound design here is to enhance the story.
The mini-series takes place just after Pearl Harbor
gets attacked, which means it covers the same material the 2001 Michael Bay
feature film of the same name did.
Here, War And Remembrance still holds its own, with incredible
model work and editing that can go a few rounds with that feature film’s best
visual effects. To Bay’s credit, unlike
most action/adventure filmmakers in the often-lame digital era, he mixes models
and digital work. To Curtis’ credit,
his version is not built around an overdone love storyline, nor does it attempt
to romanticize the era the Bay would have been better dumping.
Both feature films compared were in 2.35:1 scope
framing, but the full-frame of this mini-series manages to stuff many visuals
into the frame. The final image
comparison would be to Spielberg’s Schindler’s List (1992), a film in
black and white, as well as in a 1.85:1 ratio.
That was a well-shot film, no doubt, but the portrayal of the holocaust
in this series holds up very well, focusing more on those who were
exterminated. Curtis refused to treat
this aspect lightly, telling ABC he’d refuse to this sequel unless he had full
control to show how brutal the Holocaust was.
It is remarkably more graphic about its images than Spielberg’s film,
with haunting reproductions of ravaged, malnourished corpses when it was
obvious that any actor who was available to play a Holocaust victim was too
healthy to do so. Spielberg’s film was
about the hope of those who could be saved and survive, along with Judaism
itself, but Curtis relentlessly exposes the even uglier side of that Spielberg
simply could/would not deal with. There
is even a motif here that Spielberg may have taken from Curtis. Remembering the Holocaust in color still has
priceless value.
The overall presentation
is below-average technically, but the sounds and images are some of the most
effective in TV history, so this is something everyone should see.
The first five DVDs are void of anything extra, but
the sixth DVD offers a pair of documentaries that are worth the viewer’s time.
“A Living History” (21:34) was produced at the time as a TV special to promote
the massive mini-series, complete with many clips and hosted by Robert Mitchum
himself, while the “Making Of” program (32:11) is brand new. They are both very good and informative, but should
not be screened until the other discs are covered.
The miniseries stars
Robert Mitchum, Sir John Gielgud, Jane Seymour, Hart Bochner, Victoria Tennant,
Polly Bergen, David Dukes, Michael Woods, Sharon Stone, Robert Morley, Barry
Bostwick, Sami Frey, Chaim Topol, John Rhys-Davies, Ian McShane, Bill Wallis,
Steven Berkoff, Jeremy Kemp, Ralph Bellamy, Robert Hardy, Peter Graves, Mike
Connors, Brian Blessed, Barry Morse, John Denher, Howard Duff, Pat Hingle, Eddie
Albert, Nina Foch, and Michael Madsen.
Script by Earl W. Wallace, Dan Curtis, and Herman Wolk, based on Wolk’s
novel; Music composed and conducted by Robert Cobert; Cinematography by
Dietrich Lohmann; Associate Production by Branko Lustig; Produced by Barbara
Steele; Executive Production and Direction by Dan Curtis.
This set is boxed in a
way that makes it look like the complete mini-series, but though the box is
nicely produced, it is also a bit misleading.
Nevertheless, this is one of the best packagings of a DVD set to date,
though it should be added that the cardboard used is somewhat volatile. It needs to be treated with more care than
usual. With that said, it also is unusual in its shape and size, so it might
take some unusual storage steps depending on how one’s DVD collection is
stored.
Some of the subplots about the personal lives of
those in the mini-series seem to slow it down at times, but it is still not as
romanticized as Bay’s Pearl Harbor.
It instead is of the mature, adult life experience that much more gels
with reality of grown people who are more three-dimensional. As for the style of the mini-series, the
documentary approach often has “voice of God” narration, but the voice is not
that pretentious. However, some of the
title cards and shots might accidentally remind more than a few viewers of “The
New, Original Wonder Woman” series with Lynda Carter, when it was set in World
War II. That’s an over site that little
can be done about, but speaks of the perpetual troubles with the “voice of God”
style to begin with.
Finally, this is very well cast. The late, great John Gielgud in particular,
is tragic as the Jewish intellectual who the Nazis are extremely anxious to use
for ugly propaganda purposes. His
performance is a cut above just about everyone else here, which says something
when the fine work of all is taken into account. David Dukes, best know as Edith Bunker’s likely rapist in one of
the all-time great All In The Family episodes, is under-appreciated as
the reporter who uncovers the Final Solution to kill all Jews, only to be
stonewalled. Topol and Nina Foch stand
out, while Steven Berkoff has the thankless role of Hitler, pulling no punches
in showing every bit of his insanity and sickness in a way rarely equaled. It can NEVER be iterated enough.
War And Remembrance is one
of the key DVD boxed sets and the conclusive boxed set is just as essential.
- Nicholas
Sheffo
