The Thorn Birds

Very good movie!

Wonderful series. But come on Amazon, only 48 hours to watch an eight hour series. Unreasonable.

Love this mini series. I remember watching it on tv as a preteen. I had owned it is vhs now I got the dvd. Nice for a binge watch.

In my opinion, The Thorn Birds is the best mini-series ever made. Based on Colleen McCullough’s bestselling novel, this masterpiece boasts a star-studded cast with Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward delivering outstanding performances. Their chemistry is nothing short of mesmerizing. The series follows the Cleary family as they navigate life in the Australian outback, centering on their lifelong connection with Father Ralph de Bricassart, a priest torn between his devotion to the Catholic Church and his forbidden love for Maggie Cleary. This timeless story of passion, sacrifice, and forbidden love is brought to life with exceptional storytelling and unforgettable characters. A true classic and a must-watch for fans of sweeping romantic dramas and of Richard Chamberlain.

Beyond outstanding, beyond excellent. I remember seeing this when it first came on the TV, 34 years ago. This is in my TOP-10 best movies or TV mini-series. The acting is incredible, and the actors/actresses were perfect picks. This is a once in a lifetime love story about a woman and a Catholic priest. At first when it was advertised 34 years ago, it was such a taboo hush-hush subject, that everyone had to watch it because it was shocking. Now today, the shock is not there anymore, but the great story remains. I'm so glad I bought this, and it's worth the $20.- to own it. I've looked countless times for this, on various sites and even at video stores, but never found it. Thank you, Amazon, for having this on your site. Once again, I was crying and crying, throughout this, but I'll watch it again and again. It's just something you have to watch, to understand how great it is. And let's not forget all the awards it won, and the nominations It also has an all-star cast, with Richard Chamberlain, Rachel Ward, Christopher Plummer, Barbara Stanwyck, Jean Simmons......just to name a few. And a huge shout-out goes to the spectacular Henry Mancini, for writing/producing all the music to this. I can understand how they'd pick the #1 music man, Mancini, to do the music for this brilliant mini-series.

The book, as always, was more detailed and interesting, but for creating it for the eyes to see, this was pretty good. The story and acting were good. The production felt a tad dated. I'd kind of like to see it remade with more modern directing, but then they'd probably spoil it with lurid sex scenes, bad language and such. I know it's the story of a priest, but they'd figure a way to dirty it up. Though there's romance and absolutely a sexual attraction between the main characters, it's handled with dignity and grace. Doubt that today they would leave that alone. So I say keep the movie as is and overlook the slightly dated feel and just enjoy the story and journey of the ambitious priest and his life-long love. The priest from the very first meeting is attracted fondly to a dark-eyed little girl. They remeet many years later as she is on the brink of adulthood and a lovely beauty. She is magnetically drawn to him. He tries to resist her affection in favor of his ambitions to climb the ecclesiastical ladder to grab the brass ring of Pope one day. Through it all, he suffers watching her get married, pregnant, divorced and agonizing over her love for him (and he for her). There are stolen kisses and affections along the way that cause guilt for him and hope for her, and are noticed by those around them. But alas, though we wait anxiously for the moment all ambition and caution is cast aside and they rush into each other's arms to vow their love to each other, it is never fated to be. It's frustrating and yet a sad and beautiful story of true love that never connects.

One of Richard’s nice movies. Together with Shogun and Count of Monroe Christo. He was a great actor in his time.

Just as I remembered this movie. So many memories.

Diesen Film habe ich bis jetzt 2x im TV gesehen und jedesmal berührt er mich zutiefst. Es ist eine Familiengeschichte über 2 Generationen hinweg und handelt von deren Schicksal, Ehrgeiz, Stolz, Eifersucht, Liebe und Hingabe. Dazu die wunderschöne Musik von Henri Mancini. Die DVD enthält 2 CDs die vorne und hinten abgespielt werden, also 4 Teile mit einer Spielzeit von 465 Minuten das sind pro Teil fast 2 Stunden. Einziger Wehrmutstropfen ist, das die 4 Teile keine Bezeichnung haben und man durch probieren beim Abspielen die Reihenfolge Teil 1 - Teil 4 selbst darauf auf die Scheibe schreiben sollte. Für mich war das aber kein Problem, weil ich ja die Handlung bereits durch die TV Ausstrahlung kannte. Jeder Teil hat eine ca. knappe 3 minütige Vorschau immer nur in Englisch und erst dann beginnt der Hauptfilm. Also Teil 1 in den Player nach unten einlegen. Es erscheint ein Menü mit Play, SceneSelections und Language. Die Tonsprache ist Englisch, Deutsch und Spanisch. Nach den Language aussuchen werden dann die Untertitel angezeigt und zwar zuerst Englisch, Deutsch, Spanisch, Französisch, Italienisch, Portogisisch, Dänisch, Finnisch und Norwegisch. Dann kommt noch OFF Main Menu und NEXT. Wenn man dann mit seiner Fernbedienung NEXT anklickt, erscheinen dann die restlichen Untertitel und zwar Schwedisch Kroatisch, Slowenisch, Tschechisch und noch einige andere. Das es so viele Subtitles gibt finde ich super, denn ich habe diese DVD Dornenvögel für eine Serbische Ärztefamilie in Beograd gekauft und die können diesen Film mit Englischen Ton und mit Kroatischen Untertiteln sich jetzt anschauen. Die Schauspielerische Leistung aller gespielten Personen besonders die Farmerstochter Meggie (Rachel Ward) und des Katholischen Priesters Ralph de Bricassart (Richard Chamberlaim) sind einzigartig. Dazu die Australische Landschaft und der melancholische Soundtrack, einfach großartig, für mich 5 Sterne oder 5 Oskars.

La qualité est à peine au niveau des anciennes copies VHS. À certains moments la vision se bloque et il faut passer en avance rapide pour retrouver image et son. Cela dit cette mini-série en 4 épisodes est superbe et les acteurs sont géniaux.

En la imagen trasera de la caja del DVD señala que incluye subtítulos en español pero dentro de las opciones de idioma y subtítulos solamente incluye ingles y francés, por lo que no sirvio como regalo.

Excellent!!

My earliest memory, and maybe my happiest one, is of watching The Thorn Birds with my mother. I must have been only 3 or 4 years old at the time, but for years I carried this vague landmark of childhood with me. I couldn't remember the story clearly at all, I only remembered loving the theme music and loving the colourful settings and loving Richard Chamberlain. Twenty years later and I saw the series advertised here on Amazon, but I didn't buy it. I was just really reluctant to alter that sacred memory in any way. I finally caved in, though, and I watched the series this week. I know this probably sounds a bit over the top, but it was just such a wonderful experience, seeing it again, seeing it properly for the first time really, but getting sudden little flashes of memory from the happiest time in my life while I watched it. It gave me a great feeling of warmth, poignant but very comforting. I can see now why the series made such a lasting impression on me as a very young child, even if the particulars of the story had been forgotten. The atmosphere and vivid richness of the settings, the excellence of the acting, the wonderfully lush colours, the haunting music, the sense of timeless high romance... they all stayed with me. I've grown into a confirmed romantic, and I'm pretty sure that The Thorn Birds must have been the formative keystone in that aspect. The hauntingly lovely Rachel Ward gives an excellent performance as Meggie, and there is a sterling line-up of extremely high calibre actors in supporting roles (special mention has to go to Sydney Penny who plays Meggie as a child), but this series really belongs to Richard Chamberlain. I think he comes as close as anyone ever has to capturing the male romantic ideal. It's almost impossible to believe that he was nearly 50 years old when he starred here, he's so youthful. And Rachel Ward is simply his ideal screen counterpart - they make such a perfectly matched couple. Just from an aesthetic point of the view, the series is a joy to watch due to the brilliant casting of Meggie and Ralph. I could gush for hours here, but let me just say that if you're contemplating buying this series, please don't hesitate. It's a magical way to spend a few hours. There are no extras on this release, though, which is a terrible shame, but there are subtitles, and the picture and sound quality are first rate. The series comes on 2 double-sided discs, which do require a little fevered wrestling to dislodge from their cases, but even the artwork and designs of the cover and the dvd menus are beautiful. This really is televisual chocolate for anyone with even the tiniest streak of romance in their blood. You'll laugh, cry, grin like a moonstruck idiot, and thoroughly melt. Enjoy! :)