Review of War and Remembrance

I loved the Herman Wouk novels THE WINDS OF WAR and WAR AND REMEMBRANCE. They are brilliant books and are among the finest fictionalized accounts of war available (i.e., the places and events are real but the characters are fictionalized amalgams of real people). Each book is about 700-800 pages long and it was wonderful to see them brought to the small screen instead of the theaters. That's because some magnificent person at the TV networks decided that the books MUST be made into 2 separate mini-series mega-events. And, even more impressive is that the movies are so true to the books and fascinating. I loved how the series bounced back and forth to the different characters and locations. In this followup series, the movie bounces from the sub war of the Pacific to diplomatic meetings throughout the world (particularly in the USSR) to the horrors of the concentration camps. It really was a major work of love that probably will never be repeated again. Brilliant and wonderful throughout--my highest possible rating. The only MINOR problem you will find is that the actors playing several key characters changed between the two series. Also, do NOT watch this until you first watch THE WINDS OF WAR to set the context for this miniseries.