Rating: 
Summary: The Thorn Birds
Review: I am 31 and from Bloomington,Indiana...I remember seeing this for the first time, I was only 11. I am telling you, watch the first 15 minutes and you'll be hooked. Richard Chamberlain and Rachal Ward, what a chemistary they have. Even Ralph being so devoted to the church, he cannot hide his feelings for Meggie.
The entire story is great. Meggie tries to cover her true feelings by getting married to a man she doesn't love. Time after time Father Ralph comes to her rescue, once again showing their love can't be forgotten.
After years of the secret love they have for one another they can no longer hide what is meant to be...The love they feel for each other makes you wonder, can there really be a love and a connection this stong between two people. I hope to be so lucky.
I have waited years for this to come out on video/DVD. CP
Rating:
Summary: The Thorn Birds - Richard Chamberlain at his very best!
Review: Definitely a 5 Star performance on all counts! Captivating from the very beginning. A dramatic, passionate and intense love story. Excellent character development. Richard Chamberlain is a brilliant actor. The story, setting, music and everything that goes into producing a stellar mini series is evident in this memorable performance. I sincerely hope that they will follow up and make the sequal "The Missing Years" available on DVD soon! Another stunning and brilliant performance no one will want to miss!
Rating:
Summary: Thorn Birds
Review: No other words can describe this series but "awesome". I watched the original when it first showed on tv. I am so glad the dvd finally came out. Thanks for the chance to own this.
Rating: 
Summary: MOST WATCHED TV MINISERIES OF ALL TIME FINALLY ON DVD!
Review: "The Thorn Birds" is a masterfully told family saga. 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 a rich widow's (Barbara Stanwyck) tragic lust for Father Ralph. After rejecting the widow's advances, the widow decides to test Father Ralph's faith in God by bequeathing her Australian outback estate upon her death. If Ralph loves God as much as he says he does, then he'll do the saintly thing and give the estate over to the family who rightfully deserve it. If, however, as the widow predicts, Ralph wants to become Cardinal he will turn the estate over to the Catholic church to procure himself a seat in the Vatican. The story is further complicated by a bittersweet romance that blossoms between Meggy and Father Ralph to which a son is born and then tragically dies without Ralph ever realizing that he is the father. Masterful performances and outstanding production values made this one of the greatest melodramas of not only the 1980s but of all time and such a shame that it's taken this long for the story to find its way to DVD.
TRANSFER: Overall pleasing. A well balanced picture with somewhat dated colors and a bit of haze greet the eye on this 2disc edition. Flesh tones are a tad pasty and age related artifacts abound throughout. Blacks are solid and deep. Contrast levels are generally good. The audio is dated but nicely balances with pretty good spread across all speakers.
EXTRAS: NONE! Quite frankly, after eight hours of story I don't think I could handle any anyway!
BOTTOM LINE: Get ready for the majestic sweep and expanse of television's shining hr. If you only buy one mini-series in your life on DVD make it this one!
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Summary: Thorn Birds finally on DVD
Review: I knew when Paramount released Shogun on DVD a few months ago, Warner would release The Thorn Birds. Next to Shogun, one of the best of Richard Chamberlain's resume (let alone Miniseries). Here he plays a Catholic priest who falls is driven by his ambitious devotion to the church and tormented by the love of a woman (Rachel Ward) he can never have. The miniseries is not completely accurate to Colleen McCullough's best seling novel, but is still an emmy award winning program with talented cast (Richard Kiley, Jean Simmons, Ken Howard, Mare Winningham, Philip Anglim, Bryan Brown, Barbara Stanwyck, Earl Holliman, Piper Laurie and more). With the whole thing on 2 discs, it's a shame that they didn't include, the failed "Missing Years" film also starring Chamberlain (this time with Amanda Donohoe), but I am buying this anyway because it was far superior, and I have other uses for the 8 hour tape I used when I taped it years ago. Buy it while the price is good.:-)
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Summary: Wow.. I've never seen a more wonderful story..
Review: I am 16 and i just saw this on a set of videos about a week ago and i didnt move once, i was hooked! it had me crying through the whole thing and ive never seen any other movie that made me feel like this one did. the actors were so great, richard chamberlain was amazing and i have watched it 2 more times since and i will never get tired of it. it is in fact my favorite movie of all time. i hope to buy the book really soon, and the dvd when it comes out(AH! I cant wait!).. if you havent seen this movie, your missing out on something wonderful, and if you have and dont like it, well.. that cannot be possible, unless you are completely nuts. this is something wonderful for everyone, and now that i have seen it, nothing can beat it. its the most passionate love story of all time, a heart warming story, and very depressing.. but thats how life is.. well, anyways, like i said. IT IS WONDERFUL!!!! Go see it!
Rating: 
Summary: Thorn Birds is not like the book.....
Review: it pretty much follows the book faithfully in circumstances but not much in character. Ralph, in the series, is long suffering but in the book he came across as smarmier. And instead of Justine being distant and flippant, she acted more like a spoiled brat. The heart of the book didn't really translate with the mini-series. Ick!
Rating:
Summary: True Passion Born From Fiction
Review: "The best is bought only at the cost of great pain" says the Reverend Ralph De Bricassart in such a moving film. Never has any actor impressed me into believing his true passion and understanding for his character. When viewing Richard Chamberlain as Ralph, one never feels that he was playing a role, or "acting". He truly was Ralph De Bicassart, and I truly feel only he could be. I definitely congradulate Colleen McCullough for writing such a simple character, with such a complex existence, yet is able to keep his undying love for God and his overwhelming love for Meggie. Meggie and Ralph are definitely motifs to eachother. Both from faultering families whose mother ignored their being, and dismissed their love. Which explains partly, I think, their understanding and deep compassion for eachother. And, what a fight Ralph puts up for his faith. Always a struggle between his heart and mind; both fighting to overcome the other, and to live together in existence. Every character has meaning in "The Thorn Birds", just as every minute of the story has its significance. This is not a story renouncing the papacy, and what its priests stand for, but how love always prevails; whether it be for God or for His creatures. People may call Ralph a pedophile, while I say a strong NO to that statement. Ralph's love for Meggie as a child was just what she was to him, like his own child. He saw her that way for years, which is his "excuse" to stay away from her, for his heart needed her. He had to see her as a child to shun her love from him, but his heart was stronger than his mind for it gives way to her beauty, love, and devotion to him for so many years. Crisis can never tear them apart time after time, for their love is like the wind; has always been there, will always be there, and cannot be told to stop. "The Thorn Birds" is not only a tender account of endless wanting and growing affection to last the decades, but almost an on-screen history of the Church, family, hate, beauty, and love through the eyes of flawlessly written charcters who are revealed seamless and emotionally ideal through the gift of true performance. Long live great theatre like "The Thorn Birds:, for it is our true expression of emotion. May we all learn what love can overcome, and how much it can give.
Rating:
Summary: Thorn Birds
Review: No other words can describe this series but "awesome". I watched the original when it first showed on tv. I am so glad the dvd finally came out. Thanks for the chance to own this.
Rating:
Summary: Best mini series ever
Review: I just received this dvd today and I'm really amazed by the quality, very nice colors and sharpness. Only minor thing is that it's in mono and not stereo (or even better: 5.1 surround). But they've really cleaned this movie up, and I think they have slightly changed the music in the beginning of the series. This is such a beautiful love story and it grabs you from the start. Father Ralph is so torn between his love of God and his love for Meggie. Mary Carson seems to know from the beginning that something's going on between Meggie and Ralph (she herself is in love with Ralph), even if it's not really love at this point in time. But as soon as Meggie Cleary steps into Mary's house you notice the hostility between them even if Meggie is just a child and Mary is old enough to be her grandmother. The mistakes that Meggie's mother Fiona made as a mother (by not loving her daughter as much as she should), those same mistakes are made by Meggie towards her own daughter later on in life. You learn from your parents. I was 12 years old when I saw the series for the first time and it's stuck with me for all these years. It's really a heartbreaking story. The book is good but the series is better.
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