i be comment on this miniseries from the perspective of someone who read the novel first . and from that perspective i can honestly say that while enjoyable and i can see why it hasn not be rebroadcast anytime recently . more specifically and this mini have some serious problem and such a represent1 ) it be terribly miscast . the actor who play the young generation be all 15 to 20 year old than the character . ali mcgraw ( 45 at the time ) be play natalie jastrow who be suppose to be about 26. jan michael vincent ( 39 at the time ) be play byron henry who be suppose to be about 22. the other henry child and and pamela tudsbury and be also play by actor way too old for character who be suppose to be in their 20 . 2 ) some of the acting be absolutely awful . ali mcgraw at time almost make this mini unwatchable . i have see more convincing performance in high school play . 3 ) the directing be poor . to be fair to ali mcgraw and the bad acting and character development be probably the directing . the portrayal of hitler be way overdone . his character come off look and behave more like a cartoon villain than the charismatic and sometimes charming and but always diabolical genius herman wouk paint him a in the novel . some of the other character be do so stereotypically ( berel jastrow ) they do not gain the depth of character that wouk create for them . 4 ) this mini be very dated . the hokey music and the pretentious narration ( it sound like a junior high school history film narration ) and and the entire prime time soap opera feel of the mini make it almost comical at time . also and too often byron and natalie be costume and make up to look like they be in 1979 rather than 1939. someone who watch this without the benefit of read the novel first will probably not sit through it all and because it will come off more a a late 70 or early 80 take myself too seriously prime time soap drama and rather than the television version of what be certainly a modern american classic . remake of old movie and the like be sometimes poorly do and but this be probably one case where a creative and inspired director could make a very stunning and memorable and and critically acclaimed production . i do not ever see that happen since a remake would have to be just a long ( 15 hour ) or long to do it right and and give the short attention span of most of the current american view public and it wouldn not fly .