Covering three generations of a family, "The Thorn Birds" is a big canvas. It's packed with emotional highs and lows that stretched the abilities of the cast, and over-stretched them occasionally. But the camera loved the three leads: Richard Chamberlain, Rachel Ward and Bryan Brown, while veteran actors Barbara Stanwyck and Jean Simmons added a touch of class.After the Cleary family arrive in Australia from New Zealand to work on Drogheda, the sheep station owned by Aunt Maggie Carson (Barbara Stanwyck), they meet Father Ralph de Bricassart (Richard Chamberlain). He takes their daughter, 8-year old Meghann (Meggie), under his wing leading to a lifelong love between them. Meggie was played by Sydney Penny as a child and Rachel Ward as an adult. Although presented as benign and paternal, after all the revelations about child abuse within the church since the series was made, the relationship between Father Ralph and young Meggie is a bit disturbing. When Meggie reaches adulthood, Father Ralph can hardly control his feelings for her, but his faith and ambition hold him back, except for the odd moment of weakness. Father Ralph's rise within the church is reminiscent of Otto Preminger's "The Cardinal", especially the way his motives are challenged by a mentor played by Christopher Plummer in this case.The Cleary's fortunes ebb and flow and Meggie marries Luke O'Neill, a shearer played by Bryan Brown. One of the most fascinating sequences is when they head off to the cane fields in Queensland before their marriage falls apart. Megan and Father Ralph come together at the end where they are forced to confront the difficulties their love created. "The Thorn Birds" was filmed in California with Hawaii standing in for Queensland. The scenes of sheep and shearing are convincing and impressive. Not quite as convincing are the dodgy Irish accents of the mainly American cast. Maybe they would have been better off tackling dodgy Aussie ones instead. No problem with Henry Mancini's score though. He created a memorable theme inspired by songs such as "Bound for Botany Bay", and "Queensland Drover". "The Thorn Birds" endures with beautiful stars and a script full of insights into the nature of love and faith drawn from Colleen McCullough's novel. There are worse ways to spend a wet weekend.

In my house, The Thornbirds is a go-to classic. I don't know if it is in yours, but if it isn't, rent it during a long weekend and it soon will be.This sprawling epic takes place in Australia, focusing on one family's generational journey, the Clearys. Headed by Richard Kiley and Jean Simmons, the Clearys struggle with their sons and daughter as they run the family ranch with Barbara Stanwyck. As a little girl, the daughter Meggie develops a crush on Father Ralph, who is kind to her and her family. While the main storyline of the epic miniseries is the relationship between Father Ralph and Meggie when she grows up, there's so much more to this wonderful drama than a forbidden romance. Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward play the starcrossed lovers, and after watching The Thorn Birds, it'll be hard to see either of them in anything else. They are Meggie and Father Ralph.This was an enormously successful miniseries, and for good reason. With a huge cast, including Bryan Brown, Piper Laurie, Christopher Plummer, Ken Howard, Mare Winningham, and Earl Holliman, a memorable theme, and a story full of romance, heartbreaking family relationships, religious conflicts, and the drama of finding and forgiving yourself, it's no wonder it won four Golden Globes (with four additional nominations) and six Emmys (with ten additional nominations). I could praise each actor's individual performance, but this review would turn into an essay. But if you're a Jean Simmons fan, she gives the best performance of her career in this miniseries. And if you loved Barbara Stanwyck in her youth, you'll be very touched to see her still feisty at 76 years old, reaching out to the audience and reminding them that there's still a young woman inside of her. Christopher Plummer makes for a very believable Archbishop, and Bryan Brown was so charming, he married his costar Rachel Ward! The Thorn Birds gets its title from the legend of the particular bird. The birds pursue a beautiful rose, knowing there is a deadly thorn attached. They love the rose so much, they can't stand to be apart from it, and they end up impaled upon the thorn. Every character in this decades-long miniseries has a compelling love, one that isn't healthy and practically kills them just by loving it. The love can be a partner, a child, or even God. I won't spoil the plot, but it's a very emotional, tragic story. You'll fall in love, and you'll shake with sobs. If you don't go through an entire box of Kleenex, you need to take some time to find your heart. Then watch it again.

Oh, this is one huge mini-series. But it was one huge novel, too. I first read Colleen McCullogh's novel when I was 13 or so, and loved it. So romantic and they lived on a sheep station in NSW, Australia...as I live on a farm in NSW I connected with it. I still like the novel a lot, of course it's melodrama but it's very well told melodrama and packs a real punch. Oh, yeah and the crux of the story is a young girl, Meggie, and a handsome, ambitious Catholic priest, Ralph de Bricassart, falling passionately in love. But he loves God more. I've always loved the story, with Ralph's ambition and his actual love of the Catholic church, and his position within, robbing him of the one thing that could make him truly divine. And Meggie, much like Rhett Butler, eternally waits and hopes. It's actually considered the Australian GWTW.If you've read the novel, the mini-series changes A LOT of the story around, but I didn't mind so much. The main stuff is there. As it was made for American TV, American actors and some Irish/British were cast, with the one Aussie sticking out a mile (Bryan Brown, whom I like a lot from Aussie TV and films). Rachel Ward is a bit "green" as Meggie (she overdoes many of the early emotional scenes), but she's absolutely gorgeous, vulnerable in the early scenes, and memorably hardened in the later. Richard Chamberlain was phenomenal as Ralph de Bricassart. He was everything I pictured the character to be, and really understood the character. Classics fans will love seeing Jean Simmons and Barbara Stanwyck square off as Fee Clearly and Mary Carson, respectively. It was shot in America, so the great Aussie plains (it's set near the fictional Gillanbone in northern NSW, which I have always thought is a substitute for Bourke or Walgett)are "faked", but I can forgive it. Even though the sheep are all wrong (the Cleary's had Merinos, not bloody Suffolks and some things that look Dorpers! I am from a sheep farm so I take special notice), and the fire mysteriously burns everything green. But they got the shearing method right, so that's okay. I laughed, I cried, it was great viewing8/10

This outstanding film has received many much deserved accolades by most of the reviewers who preceded me here. Some have described it as the best mini-series ever and as an admirer of the many superb British television series, I would agree that it is the best Americans have produced. It seems that many of the Australian reviewers were disturbed by the inaccurate accents which I consider a minor flaw. When you assemble a cast from many countries, all outstanding, it is too much to expect them all to blend into the national origin of the film. there are only so many Meryl Streep's. What amazed me most about the series was that I heard the author hated it. I don't know if it was the lack of red hair, the imperfect accents, the parts of her novel left out but I hope she takes comfort in the fact that most of the world loved this series. I agree that the Emmy's of Barbara Stanwyck, Jean Simmons and Richard Kiley were much deserved but I felt Richard Chamberlin and especially Henry Mancini were equally deserving. The haunting melody of Meggie's theme is enduring. Finally, I cannot offer enough praise for Jean Simmons. It is conceivable to me that this fine actress has never won an Oscar. If anyone is deserving of an Oscar for lifetime achievement or an AFI Lifetime Achievement Award it is Jean Simmons. I urge anyone who has not seen the Thorn Birds yet, to give it a try. It is a shining example of what Hollywood can do when it rises above the endless pap of current films.