As mid-70s military oriented mini series' go this one is okay, but it does not do the book justice. The book, by Anton Myrer, is a sweeping epic that follows Sam Damon from his late high school years where, failing to get an appointment to West Point, he enlists in the peacetime Army, much to the chagrin of his uncle whose tales of the Spanish American war had inspired him to seek a military career; "Boy, you don't join the Army in peacetime!".
The book ends at the beginning of the Vietnam era, before the USA has become involved in it, but Courtney Massengale is more than eager for the conflict to escalate and Sam Damon, well, I don't want to drop any spoilers about the book (read it!)
If I'm not mistaken, the book is still required reading at West Point; if you can find a copy I urge you to read it. I forst encountered it as Reader's Digest condensed book in the late 60s-early 70s and loved it so much that the first time I saw a copy for sale I bought it.
For what it what it is, the mini series is okay, as okay as any 1976 mini series can be. The Banzia attack was a bit disappointing, especially the Japanese jibber-jabber and for the most part it seems as if it was made on are a very tight budget. The casting was great; lots of BIG names and names that would be big in the future (Melanie Griffith). The opening sequences were a little disorienting, mostly from the inclusion of Indy-style race cars that the Unsers would have been driving as well as 70s-80s model Formula One cars. What's up with that? The formatting of the discs was a rather "unusual" but, it was likely one of the first mini series' of its type to be put on a DVD.
Personally I would recommend The Winds of War and War and Remembrance over Once An Eagle.
I enjoyed the mini series for what it was. but the ending with Sam walking away from a screeching Massengale was pretty lame, especially if you know that the story still has another 20-years to go
Review of Once an Eagle
