Holocaust
starring: Joseph Bottoms, Rosemary Harris, Tony Haygarth, Michael Moriarty, Deborah Norton
List Price: $39.99
as of 03/10/2010 02:18 EST
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The 30th anniversary edition of Holocaust marks the first time this remarkable, nine-and-a-half-hour television miniseries has been released on DVD. Originally broadcast on NBC as part of an ongoing TV phenomenon in the 1970s called "The Big Event," Holocaust was an original story written by Gerald Green, who later scripted Kent State and Wallenberg: A Hero's Story, the latter another Holocaust-era tale. Holocaust narrowed the enormous story of the Nazis' systematic destruction of Jews by focusing on one family living in Berlin. Fritz Weaver plays Dr. Josef Weiss, a Pole with a longtime family practice. Weiss debates with his wife, Berta (Rosemary Harris), the wisdom of moving out of Germany with their family. She insists they should not be chased away by Hitler, and by the time she thinks otherwise, it's too late for her, her parents, Josef, and the three Weiss children: Karl (James Woods), Rudi (Joseph Bottoms), andAnna (Blanche Baker). Holocaust begins with the marriage of Karl to Inga (Meryl Streep), a Christian, an arrangement already frowned upon by the rising Nazi regime in 1935. In time, Karl, a harmless artist, is dragged off to the concentration camp at Buchenwald, leaving Inga vulnerable to a predatory camp officer who passes notes between the husband and wife. Poor young Anna meets a grim fate that reveals something of the way Hitler was determined to eliminate the mentally ill along with Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, and other groups of people. The rebellious Rudi ends up fighting the Germans from a different front, while Josef is deported to Warsaw, eventually joined by Berta. There, Holocaust details the plight of the walled-in, so-called Warsaw ghetto, and the despair of the people within. Meanwhile, the destiny of another important character, a rather effete lawyer named Erik Dorf (Michael Moriarty), offers a peek into the internal workings of the Holocaust machinery. Dorf takes a much-needed job as an aide to Reinhard Heydrich (David Warner), Gestapo head and chair of the 1942 Wannsee Conference, which finalized plans for the extermination of European Jews. Holocaust was criticized at the time of its broadcast for allegedly cheapening genocide by shrinking the dimensions of the Nazis' organized evil for commercial television. But as a story free to extend into different aspects of the war on Jews, Holocaust is a real eye-opener. Tom Bell, Ian Holm, Robert Stephens, and Sam Wanamaker are also featured in the cast. --Tom Keogh
Description:
An original TV dramatization of one of the most monstrous crimes in world history - the slaughter of 6 million Jews by the Nazis. Dramatically and definitively, the story covers an entire decade, the eventful years from 1935 to 1945. HOLOCAUST focuses on the tragedy and triumph of a single family - the Weiss family. Their story is told in counter-poise to that of another fictional family, that of Erik Dorf, who portrays a Nazi aide to Germany's infamous Heydrich. Starring a brilliant international cast and filmed on location in Berlin and Vienna.
The 30th anniversary edition of Holocaust marks the first time this remarkable, nine-and-a-half-hour television miniseries has been released on DVD. Originally broadcast on NBC as part of an ongoing TV phenomenon in the 1970s called "The Big Event," Holocaust was an original story written by Gerald Green, who later scripted Kent State and Wallenberg: A Hero's Story, the latter another Holocaust-era tale. Holocaust narrowed the enormous story of the Nazis' systematic destruction of Jews by focusing on one family living in Berlin. Fritz Weaver plays Dr. Josef Weiss, a Pole with a longtime family practice. Weiss debates with his wife, Berta (Rosemary Harris), the wisdom of moving out of Germany with their family. She insists they should not be chased away by Hitler, and by the time she thinks otherwise, it's too late for her, her parents, Josef, and the three Weiss children: Karl (James Woods), Rudi (Joseph Bottoms), andAnna (Blanche Baker). Holocaust begins with the marriage of Karl to Inga (Meryl Streep), a Christian, an arrangement already frowned upon by the rising Nazi regime in 1935. In time, Karl, a harmless artist, is dragged off to the concentration camp at Buchenwald, leaving Inga vulnerable to a predatory camp officer who passes notes between the husband and wife. Poor young Anna meets a grim fate that reveals something of the way Hitler was determined to eliminate the mentally ill along with Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, and other groups of people. The rebellious Rudi ends up fighting the Germans from a different front, while Josef is deported to Warsaw, eventually joined by Berta. There, Holocaust details the plight of the walled-in, so-called Warsaw ghetto, and the despair of the people within. Meanwhile, the destiny of another important character, a rather effete lawyer named Erik Dorf (Michael Moriarty), offers a peek into the internal workings of the Holocaust machinery. Dorf takes a much-needed job as an aide to Reinhard Heydrich (David Warner), Gestapo head and chair of the 1942 Wannsee Conference, which finalized plans for the extermination of European Jews. Holocaust was criticized at the time of its broadcast for allegedly cheapening genocide by shrinking the dimensions of the Nazis' organized evil for commercial television. But as a story free to extend into different aspects of the war on Jews, Holocaust is a real eye-opener. Tom Bell, Ian Holm, Robert Stephens, and Sam Wanamaker are also featured in the cast. --Tom Keogh
Description:
An original TV dramatization of one of the most monstrous crimes in world history - the slaughter of 6 million Jews by the Nazis. Dramatically and definitively, the story covers an entire decade, the eventful years from 1935 to 1945. HOLOCAUST focuses on the tragedy and triumph of a single family - the Weiss family. Their story is told in counter-poise to that of another fictional family, that of Erik Dorf, who portrays a Nazi aide to Germany's infamous Heydrich. Starring a brilliant international cast and filmed on location in Berlin and Vienna.
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- Holocaust
This is a great movie.We watched it straight through marathon
style. Wonderful acting by everyone and truly believable.
One should never forget WWII.
Rating:
- The Holocaust
The original of this series I saw in Germany on German TV and later on armed forces tv.The series shocked many Germans and was a great success.I waited quite a while for the release of this series that I loved.It was moving and realistic.It was one of the best performances of Streep and James Woods.I was disappointed with quality of production.The picture was not as sharp as most 1940's conversions from film to digital format.Also the missing segments left the series disjointed. The ... Read More
Rating: - The Holocaust
This was a miniseries, which makes it rather long but I loved every minute of it. The price was so low for a movie of this length and depth that I was amazed. It's the story of how WWII changed the lives of two families, one German Jews and one German Nazis. They were related by the marriage of a son and daughter and the horror that follows is so true to history, that it leaves you simply stunned that it could have happened at all. It could almost be used as a history lesson. It will draw you in as ... Read More
Rating: - Holocaust
Excellent 5 part mini series.This follows the family of a Jewish doctor beginning in Berlin just as the Nazi regime is raising to power. Deportation, Warsaw ghetto, concentration camps, gassing, fighting in the resistance, the story follows each family member. While it cannot actually show the horror, it does give an excellent account of what happened and the progression from prewar life to the ghetto and then the death camps.It also follows a German man who needs a job so joins the SS and slowly ... Read More
Rating: - Much better than I thought it might be...
At first I was concerned that a TV mini-series made in the late 1970's just wouldn't hold up to 2009 "entertainment" standards, if that is the right word for such a painful topic.
But I was moved by how truly affecting it really is. Although it is a story that deals with the lives of I think 8 different characters, and therefore suffers from a slight loss in character identification, it remains a powerful film. The production values are superb, most of the acting is outstanding, and from ... Read More
- HolocaustThis is a great movie.We watched it straight through marathon
style. Wonderful acting by everyone and truly believable.
One should never forget WWII.
Rating:
- The HolocaustThe original of this series I saw in Germany on German TV and later on armed forces tv.The series shocked many Germans and was a great success.I waited quite a while for the release of this series that I loved.It was moving and realistic.It was one of the best performances of Streep and James Woods.I was disappointed with quality of production.The picture was not as sharp as most 1940's conversions from film to digital format.Also the missing segments left the series disjointed. The ... Read More
Rating:
- The HolocaustThis was a miniseries, which makes it rather long but I loved every minute of it. The price was so low for a movie of this length and depth that I was amazed. It's the story of how WWII changed the lives of two families, one German Jews and one German Nazis. They were related by the marriage of a son and daughter and the horror that follows is so true to history, that it leaves you simply stunned that it could have happened at all. It could almost be used as a history lesson. It will draw you in as ... Read More
Rating:
- HolocaustExcellent 5 part mini series.This follows the family of a Jewish doctor beginning in Berlin just as the Nazi regime is raising to power. Deportation, Warsaw ghetto, concentration camps, gassing, fighting in the resistance, the story follows each family member. While it cannot actually show the horror, it does give an excellent account of what happened and the progression from prewar life to the ghetto and then the death camps.It also follows a German man who needs a job so joins the SS and slowly ... Read More
Rating:
- Much better than I thought it might be...At first I was concerned that a TV mini-series made in the late 1970's just wouldn't hold up to 2009 "entertainment" standards, if that is the right word for such a painful topic.
But I was moved by how truly affecting it really is. Although it is a story that deals with the lives of I think 8 different characters, and therefore suffers from a slight loss in character identification, it remains a powerful film. The production values are superb, most of the acting is outstanding, and from ... Read More
