In recent years there have been a number of great mini-series linking many small stories to tell the story of something much bigger. An example is "Into the West".<br /><br />This approach is nothing new, but in the bad of old of the 1980s, when they were first trying to do this, what they were essentially doing is producing soap opera.<br /><br />War and Remembrance tries to be the story of WWII told most through a family (and the people they are having sex with). The problem is that the acting bad, the script is bad and they jump to to other things. Telling story of Himmler, Hitler, Churchill etc, tells us what we already know and bears no relationship to other stories.<br /><br />The result is a dogs breakfast, that is, a complete mess. So bad they think World War II starts with Pearl Harbor, rather than Hitler invading Poland, or more accurately Japan invading China.<br /><br />This is one for soap opera fans, history buffs and coma patients.