Rating: 
Summary: The Thorn Birds
Review: This is/was a wonderful love story of all time. I like all the characters in the movie. Richard Chamberlin is awesome as is Rachel Ward. So great you wonder if they could do it again. Barbara Stanwyck too fisty as ever in her role of Mary, unforbidden love of her personal priest, yet willing havoc on all of those in her path, only to die knowing, that his heart belonged to Maggie. I find this to be one of my favorite movies of all times and only if the film industry would make more such movies as this one think of the joy of viewing another great love-story. To me this movie hit the home of religion and said to the priest world that it is okay to know the love a lady for he too should not be alone, with out companionship of the greatest of love is love itself.
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Summary: I've been waiting for the DVD!!
Review: One of my very favorite movies is finally coming to DVD! Simply the best mini-series, full of romance, tragedy and regret. The acting is superb, and I must say that Sydney Penny is amazing as "Young Meggie". She's one of the most underrated actresses of all time.
Rating:
Summary: Simply the best
Review: I first watched this miniseries as a girl and have watched it once a year since. I own the VHS tapes although they are of poor quality and were much more expensive. Meggie was a Cleary, not a Carson, and Mary Carson was her aunt. Every actor in this production is excellent and the two main characters captivate you with their struggle. It is long but you will not be bored. After all these years, this remains my very favorite film and I am always touched.
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Summary: Wonderful 5 stars!
Review: This is the best mini-series of all time and the very best work by Richard Chamberlain. The drama never dulls as we see the tragic figures of Meggie and Ralph live in a hope that somehow God will allow their love.
Two corrections on the editorial review: Meggie is a "Cleary" not a "Carson" and Barbara Stanwick beautifully portrays Meggie's stern "Aunt" and not her "Grandmother"
Rating:
Summary: The Thorn Birds
Review: The Thorn Birds is an awesome movie! I have watched it several times, which is no small feat since it is several hours long! Everyone should watch this movie once receiving parental permission. It is a bit racy for most young folks...!
Rating:
Summary: ~A heart divided~
Review: What can be more tragic than forbidden love? And not something so simple as choosing between your friends or family and your love, try choosing between the one you love and God himself. This is the choice that must be made by one man who's head belongs in heaven and heart belongs on earth with the one woman he loves. What will he do? how will this all end? You will only know if you see this wonderful movie!
This story could not be more romantic, captivating or tragic. the characters so rich with life that they become a part of you from start to finish. You can feel their joy, and pain as the saga unfolds and unlike many movies you actually care what happens next. I warn you this movie can become addictive! And Even if you are not a huge Romance fan there are plenty of other aspects to this movie that can keep you entertained from start to finish. Be sure to have your tissue ,snack and blanket ready. This is the perfect movie for those long rainy days. Don't miss out on getting to know these characters! You will truly be sorry if you don't.
Rating:
Summary: Tugs at the heart
Review: I just received my Thorn Birds DVD and am so thrilled to be able to watch it on DVD - 487 minutes of viewing in extraordinary color and excellent sound quality! There are 2 discs, with 2 sides to each disc. With all the scenes listed it is so easy to zip back to a particularly favorite scene to watch again.
I always loved this mini-series. The musical score is amazing. The actors are excellent, each one perfectly chosen for their role. The child Sydney Penney who plays the young Meggie does a wonderful job. And of course there are no words to describe the amazing performance by Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward, let alone the other lead actors and actresses. This series definitely tugs at your heart strings because there is no way a happy ending will occur. There are so many emotions involved as the characters play out their parts. Anger, sadness, happiness, and even the lustful, selfish desire Mary Carson had for Father Ralph - all combine to make this mini-series that spans a 60 year time line one of the best yet. No wonder it was the winner of 6 Emmy Awards in 1982-83. Twenty years have passed since I last saw the Thorn Birds on TV, and there were so many things in the series I had forgotten or just did not notice at the time. But now, thankfully, they are all there for me to see once again. My grown children, who were too young at the time, are anxious to watch this DVD as well.
Anybody who ever saw this mini-series waited in breathless anticipation for the romantic love union of Father Ralph and Meggie, and had their heart strings tugged and torn when the two of them had to separate once again. There was so much drama as Dane decided to become a priest, and how Father Ralph did not know Dane was his son. The beautifully haunting melody of the dulcimer in the musical score as yet another family member was carried to be buried at Drogheda caused many tears.
This is just an incredible DVD - one that should be on everybody's collection list. I am thankful to Amazon.com for making it available to me. I will enjoy it for years to come.
Rating: 
Summary: MOST WATCHED TV MINISERIES OF ALL TIME FINALLY ON DVD!
Review: "The Thorn Birds" has become that pinnacle of masterful storytelling for all small screen melodramas by which every subsequent miniseries has been compared. Based on the sweeping family saga spanning from the 1920s to 1962 and penned by Colleen McCullough, Daryl Duke directs an all-star cast including Richard Chamberlain (Father Ralph), Rachel Ward (Meggy) and Jean Simmons (Fiona). The story - just in case you weren't one of the millions who tuned in - revolves around rich widow, Mary Carson's (Barbara Stanwyck) bittersweet lust for Father Ralph de Bricassart. After rejecting Mary's advances, Father Ralph's faith in God is put to the test when, upon Mary's death, it is revealed that she has bequeathed him her Australian outback estate. Mary knows that if Ralph loves God as much as he says he does then he will allow the estate to revert back to the Clearys, the family to whom it rightfully belongs. If, however, as Mary has predicted, Ralph desires the post of Cardinal more than doing God's will, he will turn over the estate to the Catholic diocese in order to procure his seat in the Vatican. Ralph's faith is further complicated by his bittersweet romance with the passionate Meggy. Unable to choose between her and servitude to the church, Ralph takes a temporary leave of his duties, seduces and impregnates Meggy, then returns to the false piety of his calling. Meggy's bitterness toward Ralph's rejection leads her to keep her pregnancy a secret. Their son, Dane (Philip Anglim) grows up and desires to become a priest. Though Meggy is disappointed, she allows Ralph to re-enter Dane's life, only as his spiritual guide. It is only after Dane tragically drowns that Meggy feels exonerated into exposing the truth to her one time lover - that Dane was actually his son. Masterful performances and outstanding production values made "The Thorn Birds" one of the greatest and most watched television melodramas of the 1980s. Only ABC's miniseries, "North And South" comes close to authenticating the visceral emotions captured in this eight hour plus melodrama. Christopher Plummer, Richard Kiley, Mare Winningham, Piper Laurie and Ken Howard also costar. The transfer is overall pleasing. A well balanced picture with somewhat dated colors and a bit of haze greet the eye on this 2-disc edition. Flesh tones are a tad pasty and age related artifacts abound throughout. Blacks are solid and deep. Contrast levels are generally good. Fine details disappear during some of the darker scenes. It should be noted that television film stock of this vintage was generally not up to today's standards and the resulting shortcomings in video quality on this DVD presentation stem from those shortcomings, NOT as a result of the mastering effort put forth herein. The audio is dated but nicely balanced.
Extras include an all too short documentary in which several cast members reminisce about their experiences while making the series. Quite frankly, the interviews offer very little in the way of interest and are presented as a ramshackle of snippets rather than one cohesive narrative.
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Summary: HE CREPT INTO MY HEART AND NESTLED IN MY SOUL!
Review: The Thorn Birds is the BEST story ever told, and the BEST movie ever made. It's excellence has ensured its endurance. Excellent music, writing, settings, actors, and production/direction, frame this passionate story of love unattainable, forbidden, forever. Richard Chamberlain gave the performance of his life, developing the role of Father Ralph de Bricassart, a character who creeps into your heart, and nestles in your soul! The outstanding cast was perfection personified, but make no mistake, it was Chamberlain whose outstanding performance solidified the success of this epic and catapulted it into the number one spot of "best films of all time". Being the veteran professional, his best scenes were with fellow veterans, Barbara Stanwick and Christopher Plummer, great actors, chiseling each other performances, like iron sharpening iron. Christopher Plummer was never given his rightful due for the magic he brought to the screen as Ralph's mentor and spiritual advisor. Sydney Penny, was another skilled actress, who was overlooked when the accolades were passed out. She was amazing as the young Meggie, and brought wonderful chemistry to the set, as the soul mate to this lonely and troubled priest. Her love and devotion was deeply needed by a man who gave so much to others, and needed love and validation himself. As she grew up, Ralph realized she was his other half, the completion of himself as a man, but his vows to God, kept him from finding wholeness, and he lived out his life deeply troubled. I sensed this was a difficult project for Richard Chamberlain, who himself, is a soul searching man. I observed a great heaviness in his soul as he developed and created the most complex, but deeply loved character in film history. I got the feeling this role took him to places he had never been before. In turn, he took his audience to places we have never been before, and I am still not sure I want to come back.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful but Tragic Love Story.....
Review: For all those "romantics" out there this is definitely one film not to miss!!!!! I was transfixed to the screen from start to finish..... it is something I will watch again and again....but only from time to time as it is about 12 hours long. (By the way, excuse the cliches). I saw this as a teenager only once and I have to say the beauty of this film for me hasnt changed at all and it must be a good 15 years! What is the film about? In short, it is a love story between a woman and a priest spanning over four or five decades. She is denied his love because he chooses God, but for both of them it is an on going battle as he does love her too. As the story unfolds you will see if he stays faithful to the cloth or if she stays loyal to him.....even two decades is a long time to stay committed to anything! Watch it....and you will find out what happens... The story is passionate and charismatic with a well chosen cast that will linger in your thoughts well after you have watched it. Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward are exemplary in their performances but I have to say some of the supporting actors like Barbara Stanwyck, Jean Simmons and Richard Kiley are truly outstanding! I give this a 5 Star rating and would recommend it to everyone!
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