Customer Reviews
Important notice to all buyers WATCH THIS SPACE - By: CHRIS, 01 Sep 2008 
I bought the thorn birds series 1 dvds as a gift, & was about to send them back as she said they where not complete when I realized they are double sided dvd's. So she is going to check them out.It would have been nice of Warner Bro to have put a note on the case, perhaps the ink cost to much any way watch this space because if its wrong Ill be back to tell you. ps app it's quite racey!!! prob why my x watched it when I was at work...
A mini series masterpiece! - By: Mark Shaw, 30 Jul 2008 HI THERE, MARK'S WIFE HERE. MY VERY FIRST MEMORY OF THE THORN BIRDS WAS AT THE TENDER AGE OF TEN, WHEN IT WAS SHOWN ON TV FOR THE FIRST TIME. I CAN ALWAYS REMEMBER MY MOM CRYING HER EYES OUT, AND NEITHER ME OR MY BROTHERS AND SISTER WERE ALLOWED TO TALK TO HER WHILST SHE WAS WATCHING IT!! SHE WAS SO ENGROSSED IN IT, BUT ALTHOUGH I DIDN'T QUITE UNDERSTAND WHAT ALL THE FUSS WAS ABOUT, I DO REMEMBER THINKING HOW HANDSOME AND KIND THE PRIEST WAS, ESPECIALLY TO THE LITTLE GIRL. YEARS LATER, I BORROWED MY MOM'S BOX SET...AND FROM THEN ON, I WAS COMPLETELY SMITTEN! MY HUSBAND LATER BOUGHT ME THE DVD BOX SET FOR CHRISTMAS, A FABULOUS SET, WITH PLENTY OF GREAT EXTRAS.
SET ON DROGHEDA, THE LARGEST SHEEP FARM IN THE ENDLESS AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK, AND SPANNING OVER MANY DECADES, RICHARD CHAMBERLAIN PLAYS FATHER RALPH DE BRICASSART, A YOUNG, HANDSOME, AMBITIOUS PRIEST WHOSE LIFE CHANGES FOREVER THE MINUTE HE SETS EYES ON MEGGIE CLEARY, A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE GIRL PLAYED SUPERBLY BY SYDNEY PENNY. FOR MANY REASONS, HE IS DRAWN TO HER, MOSTLY AS SHE IS THE ONLY DAUGHTER OF A COMPLEX FAMILY FULL OF SONS. OFTEN LEFT OUT AND ALONE, HE HELPS HER SETTLE INTO LIFE ON DROGHEDA, ARRANGES FOR HER TO ATTEND SCHOOL, TEACHES HER TO RIDE A HORSE AND, IN A PARTICULARLY POIGNANT SCENE, TEACHES HER ABOUT THE BIRDS AND THE BEES.
AS TIME GOES ON, SHE GROWS INTO A BEAUTIFUL YOUNG WOMAN (LATER PLAYED BY RACHEL WARD), AND RALPH'S LIFE IS INCREASINGLY TORN BETWEEN HIS LOVE FOR MEGGIE AND HIS SACRED VOWS TO THE CHURCH. THE STORY IS VERY MUCH A "WILL THEY? WON'T THEY?" STORY, AND IS ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL FROM START TO FINISH.
ONE OF MY FAVOURITE SCENES HAS TO BE WHEN TWELVE YEAR OLD MEGGIE RETREATS TO THE WOOL SHED, THINKING SHE IS DYING, WHEN IN FACT SHE IS MENSTRUATING FOR THE FIRST TIME! THE WAY FATHER RALPH DEALS WITH THIS DELICATE SITUATION IS SO TOUCHING, SO TENDER TO WATCH, PLAYED SO BRILLIANTLY BY RICHARD CHAMDERLAIN. ANOTHER SCENE THAT STAYS IN MY MIND IS MANY YEARS LATER, AFTER THE HUGE FIRE ON DROGHEDA,WHERE FATHER RALPH FINDS A DEVASTATED MEGGIE IN THE WOOL SHED. AFTER HE HAS COMFORTED HER, HE KISSES HER EYELIDS SOOO SOFTLY, SO TENDERLY, AS THOUGH TRYING TO KISS BETTER THE PAIN THAT RESTS IN HER EYES (HARK AT ME!). SHE THEN OPENS HIS SHIRT WHEN HE WINCES AT HER TOUCH, TO FIND A BRUISE ON HIS RIBCAGE, WHICH SHE BEGINS TO KISS BETTER. YOU CAN FEEL THE SHEER URGENCY OF HIS RESPONSE AS HE KISSES HER PASSIONATELY, BROUGHT ON BY YEARS OF HAVING TO CRUSH ALL OF HIS DESIRES FOR HER.
I COULD GO ON FOREVER ABOUT RALPH AND MEGGIE, BUT, WELL WORTHY OF A MENTION IS THE FABULOUS JOHN FREDRIECH, WHO PLAYS FRANK CLEARY SO ACCURATLY, AND WITH SUCH PASSION. ALSO BARBRA STANWICK, WHO IS THE POISONOUS MARY CARSON, DEVOTING HER LIFE TO RUINING FATHER RALPH.
ALL OF THIS, TOGETHER WITH AN ABSOLUTELY STUNNING SOUNDTRACK BY THE LATE HENRY MANCINI, MAKES THE THORN BIRDS AN ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE!
Both discs the same - again - By: G. FLEMING, 26 Jul 2008 
I recently ordered this set for my girlfriend whilst away abroad - little bit of nostalgia for the weekend. As usual it arrived promptly but she seems to have received the same thing as the previous reviewer - 2 DVD's, both EXACTLY the same - she has Episodes 1 & 2, twice. Naturallly she & I are a bit miffed. She is just about to start the returns process - & will be VERY annoyed if, like Damien, receives the same thing again. This needs sorting out Amazon.
confused - By: Damien Casserly, 09 Mar 2008 I was delighted to receive my dvd in quick time as amazon always does, but the two dvds in the box were the very same, they showed episodes one & two. i was very dissapointed so i contacted amazon & they sent me out a new box set but unfortunatley they were the same. The last bit i seen was when meggie said "im gonna marry luke o neil" that was it. has anyone had the same problem???????
Exceptional mini-series - By: Helen, 27 Feb 2008 Compulsive viewing. Grabs you from the very first moment. Chamberlain was in his heyday & the whole cast are splendid. Chamberlain plays the tormented yet ruthlessly ambitious priest extremely well. Of his series that I've seen, I'd rate this third - with Shogun first & the old b/w BBC TV Portrait of a Lady second. I only rate this one after the other because they are of such exceptional quality just as this is. For sheer enjoyment, I'm tempted to put this first but the Henry James story is a great favourite of mine & Chamberlain, unrated on the whole before as an actor, showed what he could do as Ralph - yes, another Ralph!
The thing I remember most about this series from commentaries at the time was that they filmed a whole sheep station, ie an enormous Australian location if in real life, in a tiny area with the same one flock of sheep (reportedly) wandering about. You don't notice unless you know, I think. How much this is true I can't say.
Apart from actors & story I particularly enjoyed the scenes set in North East Australia amongst the sugar cane.
Don't forget there's also a one-off TV episode that fits in during the long period when according to the original series Ralph & Maggie do not meet for a very long time. I wonder if that was made due to popular demand? Unfortunately they had to cast Maggie by someone else & Chamberlain was perhaps past his "youthful" best & more of an older character actor, but he's still so lithe & handsome that it doesn't notice much, & the story's a nice little insert. It's callled The Thorn Birds The Missing Years.
