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Colleen McCullough's bestselling romance novel was the basis for this enormously popular 1983 miniseries, joining such small-screen sagas as Roots and Rich Man, Poor Man in the pantheon and setting a new high-water mark for bodice-ripping dramas. The sprawling story -- nearly eight hours in length -- covers six decades in the lives of the Cleary family: brought from New Zealand to Australia to run the ranch of their aunt Mary Carson (played by screen legend Barbara Stanwyck), the clan is led by hardworking parents Paddy and Fiona (Richard Kiley and Jean Simmons), who throw themselves into the task, while their beautiful daughter Meggie (Rachel Ward) falls in love with the local priest, Father Ralph de Bricassart (Richard Chamberlain). Realizing their relationship is doomed, Meggie tries to forget Ralph by marrying dashing stockman Luke O'Neill (Bryan Brown, Ward's real-life husband), but that union doesn't stop the star-crossed lovers from eventually renewing their affair -- with heartbreaking results. What distinguished The Thorn Birds from other series was its unusually precise direction (by TV veteran Daryl Duke), colorful characterizations, and marvelous performances from a truly star-studded cast, the most prestigious ever assembled for a miniseries up to that time. Chamberlain and Ward sizzled in their scenes together, and their conviction helped put over the story even when the inevitable melodramatic absurdities reared their ugly little heads. During its initial airing, The Thorn Birds kept a nation glued to its TV sets, hankies in hand, and secured a place for itself in pop-culture history. This new DVD box set will be perfect for those fans who long to replicate the memorable viewing experience and again feel the powerful emotions that accompanied those long-ago screenings. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

Based on the best-selling novel by Colleen McCullough, the mammoth four-part, ten-hour TV miniseries The Thorn Birds proved to be a ratings bonanza. Indeed, its viewership was surpassed only by the 1977 blockbuster Roots. Set in Australia, the story covers 42 years in the life of Ralph de Bricassart (Richard Chamberlain in an Emmy-winning performance), a Roman Catholic priest engaged in a constant struggle between his calling and his carnal desires. In the three-hour opening episode, originally telecast by ABC on March 27, 1983, young Father Ralph becomes the object of desire for powerful sheep rancher Mary Carson (Barbara Stanwyck, who also won an Emmy), while the priest himself expresses concern — and sometimes more than concern — for the well being of Mary's niece, Meggie Cleary (played as a youngster by Sydney Penny and as an adult by Rachel Ward, in her first American TV role). In part two, which aired March 28, 1983 — and which, like the subsequent third episode, runs two hours — a cataclysmic brush fire destroys Mary Carson's ranch. Later, having already succumbed to their mutual passion, Father Ralph and Meggie experience an uncomfortable reunion, and later still, the politically ambitious Ralph forms a strong and beneficial alliance with Archbishop Contini-Verchese (Christopher Plummer), one of Rome's most influential religious leaders. Part three, which aired March 29, 1983, finds a disillusioned Meggie entering into an unhappy marriage, ending up a housemaid on a Queensland sugar-cane plantation. Her subsequent pregnancy is but one of the intriguing and surprising plot developments in this crucial episode. The miniseries concluded with part four, first telecast in a three-hour slot on March 30, 1983. Covering a timespan of nearly 30 years (1935-1962), this final chapter focuses on the lives of Meggie's children — flamboyant aspiring actress Justine (Mare Winningham) and would-be priest Dane (Philip Anglim) — neither of which have any inkling (at least, not at first) of the past relationship between their mother and Cardinal De Bricassart, aka Father Ralph. The Thorn Birds was followed 13 years later by a "lost years" miniseries, again starring Richard Chamberlain. Hal Erickson

Product Details

• UPC: 085393162429
• Source: WARNER HOME VIDEO
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Full Frame
• Editions: Special Edition, Subtitled
• Time: 8:07:00
• Sales Rank: 802

This set contains DVDs which may be available separately:

• The Thorn Birds, Vol. 1
• The Thorn Birds, Part 1
• The Thorn Birds, Part 2
• The Thorn Birds, Part 3
• The Thorn Birds, Part 4

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