The Thorn Birds - The Complete Miniseries

The Thorn Birds 2 - The Missing Years The phenomenally popular The Thorn Birds was one of TV's hardest acts to follow, so it's a surprise that The Missing Years turned out as well as it did. Produced 13 years after the original 1983 miniseries, this is not a sequel but an "in-betweener," filling part of the 19-year ...	James Clavell's Shogun What better way to escape from the onslaught of so-called reality television than to sail away with Richard Chamberlain to "the Japans" for a little samurai action and some discreet "pillowing"? From the golden age of the miniseries comes this television benchmark, the 10-hour, G...	North and South - The Complete Collection Two friends one northern and one southern struggle to maintain their friendship as events build towards the american civil war. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 10/05/2004 Starring: Patrick Swayze Kirstie Alley Run time: 561 minutes Rating: Nr Director: Richard T Heffron	Gone with the Wind (Four-Disc Collector's Edition) 1939 David O. Selznick wanted Gone with the Wind to be somehow more than a movie, a film that would broaden the very idea of what a film could be and do and look like. In many respects he got what he worked so hard to achieve in this 1939 epic (and all-time box-office champ in terms o...	Centennial: The Complete Series Journey to the Wild West in the sweeping sensational epic drama Centennial: The Complete Series! Relive the grand hopes dreams loves and adventures of generations of residents in Centennial Colorado - from their risky attempts to establish a settlement in 1795 through the politic...
Doctor Zhivago (Two-Disc Special Edition) David Lean focused all his talent as an epic-maker on Boris Pasternak's sweeping novel about a doctor-poet in revolutionary Russia. The results may sometimes veer toward soap opera, especially with the screen frequently filled with adoring close-ups of Omar Sharif and Julie Chris...	The Thorn Birds Now, 25 years after it first took the world by storm, Colleen McCullough's sweeping family saga of dreams, titanic struggles, dark passions, and forbidden love in the Australian Outback returns to enthrall a new generation. As powerful, moving, and unforgettable as when it origi...	Roots (Four-Disc 30th Anniversary Edition) From the moment the young Kunta Kinte (LeVar Burton) is stolen from his life and ancestral home in 18th-century Africa and brought under inhumane conditions to be auctioned as a slave in America, a line is begun that leads from this most shameful chapter in U.S. history to the 20...	The Winds of War Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 05/15/2007 Starring: Robert Mitchum Jan-michael Vincent Run time: 879 minutes Rating: Nr	Lonesome Dove Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones star as Gus McCrae and Woodrow Call, aging cowboys and former Texas rangers and who organize a 2,500 mile cattle drive for one last great adventure in this excellent 1989 miniseries adaptation of Larry McMurtry's novel. The best friends, who stea...

In Defense of Rachel Ward
Although most agree that this was a gripping storyline and a classic miniseries, there were some people that criticized Rachel Ward. I would like to point out the following: 1) She was extraordinarily beautiful, hard to look away from when she was on-screen. It was plausible that a priest or any other man would be drawn to her. I can't imagine a better-cast Meggie than Rachel Ward. 2) Ward did a remarkable job of portraying convincing love scenes with a gay actor (Richard Chamberlain). I do not know if the cast was aware of his proclivity. If nothing else, Ward's gaydar may have signaled her to the truth of Chamberlain's orientation. Both actors deserve credit for pulling this off. 3) The reality on the set was that Ward had found her "masculine counterpart" in Bryan Brown. They would marry, raise a family, and see one of their daughters act on screen. Kudos to Ward for convincing the camera (and everyone else) that Richard Chamberlain was the love of her life. 4) Unforgettable goodbye scene #1: Meggie parting ways with Ralph on Matlock Island. I admit I was rather young when I first saw this, but I felt terribly torn and grieved watching this scene. The only comparably wrenching scene that comes to mind is Debra Winger saying goodbye to her kids in Terms of Endearment. 5) Unforgettable goodbye scene #2: the riveting portrayal of Meggie telling Luke their marriage was over. She was a commanding presence, lancing Luke's ego with surgical precision. Don't feel badly for him. He had it coming. 6) Ward was a former model with limited acting experience at this point in her career. That she could pull off items 2 - 5 so beautifully was remarkable. Item number one just added icing to the cake. Thank you Rachel Ward for a once in a lifetime portrayal. All the better that you met your true man (Bryan Brown) on the set.

great
I first saw this series when I was a child and found it to be wonderful. It still stands as a terrific miniseries, even if it is melodramatic. Ward is radiant, Chamberlain is excellent, Stanwyck and Simmons are remarkable. Incredibly tragic and romantic.

A Simple Review
The Thornbirds Its been almost thirty years since the novel The ThornBirds was Published and this miniseries captures the feel,depth,and asepect of this Novel by Colleen McCullough. I recommend though reading the novel first and then watching the miniseries .

Great movie
I got this movie, Beautiful movie, My daughter got out of work around 5pm I asked her to look at some of the movie with me around 10pm I went to sleep, Around 3 PM I heard my daughter who is 22 yrs old crying and crying I thought something happen bad to her. I run into the TV room to see her still sitting in front of the TV looking at the movie telling me mom it is such a sad movie her eyes puffy red telling me. I love this movie. I had to laugh going back to my bedroom.

"What Sin Did You Commit?" ~ Necessary Sacrifices On The Journey To Becoming The Perfect Priest
The `70's and early `80's were the "Golden Age" of the television mini-series producing such excellent films as; `QB VII' ('74), `Rich Man, Poor Man' ('76), `Roots' ('77), `Shogun' ('80) and of course `The Thorn Birds' ('83). `The Thorn Birds' boasts an excellent cast of well-knowns and lesser-knowns along with some bright, new faces that for the most part delivered the most memorable performances of the production. Of course if you've seen the film you already know that when I speak of bright new faces I'm primary referring to the enchanting, adorable Sydney Penny in the role of little Meggie Cleary as the child who steals the heart of Father Ralph de Bricassart (Richard Chamberlain), the ambitious Catholic priest who is to become trapped forever between his desires for both divine and human love. The first half of the film featuring Sydney Penny is by far my favorite. Her relationship with the adoring Priest is innocent and nurturing and Sydney's smile lights up the screen with such warmth and love you can't help but fall in love with both her and the storyline. Eventually Meggie grows up and is replaced by the stunning Rachel Ward, definitely not a bad swap but unfortunately from that point onward the film takes on the mood and texture of a harlequin romance dominated by Father Ralph's inability to act decisively and choose who he loves more, God or Meggie. The portrayal of his constant "inner struggle" made the plot a little too redundant at times. I think if I had heard him say "but I love God more" just one more time I might go mad. Of course what irritates one viewer is quite often just what other viewers are looking for and I'm certain that some of what I've written will be preceived as a lack of sensitivity and experience in the ways of the heart (such is the fate of men). Be that as it may, the long enduring popularity of this film certainly cannot be denied, nor dismissed and its long overdue release on DVD is without doubt going to find a large, passionate audience anxiously awaiting to have their hearts broken all over again. My Rating: -4 ½ Stars-.