The Thorn Birds Collector's Edition (The Thorn Birds / The Thorn Birds 2 - The Missing Years)

This `80's TV series, based on Colleen Mc Collough's bestselling novel, which became a phenomenal hit among TV audiences worldwide derives its thematic concerns from prevailing topical issues surrounding the Papal and Church - which was, at that juncture, surrounded by controversy arising from the illegitimate conduct involving paedophilia by Roman Catholic priests taking advantage of and misusing their position as religious authorities by committing what can rightfully be claimed to be rape against a minor, which gave birth to the notion of Roman Catholic priests being torn between a marriage to God and their natural inclination to satisfy the undeniable biological desire for members of the female gender and committing themselves in such a fashion to marriage with a kindred soul - from which arose the notion of a thorn bird that deliberately searches for a thorn that will inflicted the most excruciating pain upon itself when it impales itself on the thorn while singing the most exquisite song to surpass the song of the nightingale and creating such an exquisite experience that even God himself in Heaven pauses to listen and smile.Episode One revolves around Mary Carson attempting to seduce Ralph de Bricaassart by offering to allow him to inherit her whole estate of Drogheda (which amounts to several million Aussie dollars), if he should surrender himself wholly to her insatiable desire to engage in passionate sex with him, even as she continually searches for a weakness that will allow her to influence him to violate his holy vows of celibacy to the church, and, in so doing, deprive her only relative - comprising of her brother, Paddy Cleary, of his rightful status as the heir to her estate, but, nevertheless, allowing him and his family to remain in Drogheda as managers of the estate, even as he finds himself attracted to Paddy's daughter, Meggie, and convincing her father to permit her, and her aunt to finance her education at the missionary where he is stationed and providing her with special accommodations by allocating her a room in his house; which incenses Mary and induces inexplicable feeling of jealousy in her against her cousin (who, finds herself experiencing an unaccountable desire to commit herself in marriage to Ralph, despite her early age, and confessing her feelings to him during an intimate conversation - which prompts him to recount the story of the song bird that constitutes the theme of this movie to her), and Mary Carson inviting Ralph de Bricassart to her birthday bash, during which point in time, he chances upon the sight of the ravishing Meggie Cleary, (played by the ever so alluring Rachel Ward), and finding himself irresistibly attracted to her and having stolen away from the birthday crowd with Ralph, discovering himself struggling hard to resist his uncontrollable lust for her and to control his emotions to prevent them from overcoming his vows to celibacy, and, having successfully done so, encouraging Meggie to forget him and find herself a suitable husband - something that he and Paddy's wife, Fiona, had been discussing and trying to arrange, while Mary Carson - in payback for her inability to capture his heart and soul, deliberately leaves the whole share of Drogheda to him with the knowledge that he will be unable to resist the opportunity that the contribution of the entire estate to the Church - which will enable him to further his ambition of becoming an Archbishop, given the fact that the church is known to have a way of rewarding those who have brought wealth to the Papal, and, in so doing, leaving Meggie with hardly a single cent save for what constitutes a pittance in contrast to the enormous amount that he will inherit as a result of Mary's passing; while, in the meantime, Paddy's stepson, Frank, discovers himself winning a boxing match in a travelling circus and, upon discovering his illegitimate birth, decides to leave Drogheda to become a boxer, crushing his mother's heart, given the fact that he was her favourite offspring, arising from the fact that she was forced to marry Paddy as a means to restore her family name resultant of her finding herself pregnant due to her affair with a person who remains undisclosed in the storyline and entering the circus as a professional boxer.The story resumes in Episode Two, with Ralph de Bricassart being inducted by the Church into the ranks of Rome in the position of an Archbishop and his superior, Vittorio, being elevated to the exalted position of a Cardinal, while, back in Australia, Drogheda is consumed by a raging fire that ravages the entire ranch and leaves the Cleary's with what constitutes the bad remnants of a badly ruined farm, with Paddy inadvertently being killed when a tree branch topples upon him and his son, Stuie, discovering him and being killed when a wild boar charges at him without his being able to shot it in time; and Ralph de Bricassart rescuing the farm from the brink of oblivion by assisting them financially and returning to Drogheda where he discovers himself unable to control his overwhelming lust for Meggie and abandoning himself to passionate kisses that has him experiencing inexplicable conflicts between his marriage to the church and his desire for her, which he successfully restrains, spurring Meggie to deliberately commit herself in marriage to a newly hired sheep shearer by the name of Luke O' Neil - who demonstrates a penchant for efficient shearing that rivals Fiona's son, Bob, who, upon defeated in a wager which he places upon the condition to forfeit one month's salary provided he is appointed to the position of stockman, and, resultant of having lost, ardently pursues Meggie with the intention of marrying her in order to secure a position of wealth, under the presumption that she has inherited all of Drogheda, and assuring her that he will embark on the enterprise of acquiring a sheep farm where the two of them can have a comfortable lifestyle when circumstances permit, providing that they relocate to Queensland where he intends to seek employment as a sugarcane cutter, given the fact that the occupation provides a greater remuneration than being a stockman; while Frank finds himself being incarcerated to life imprisonment for killing someone during a brawl resultant of the fact that he was a professional boxer.In Episode Three, the story resumes with Luke gaining employment as a sugar cane cutter while setting Meggie up as the house keeper of Luddie Mueller, where she finds herself being side lined while Luke and his cohorts regularly patronize whore houses and leaving her in neglect under the pretext of working every single day including weekends; with Meggie discovering herself regretting her decision to marry Luke and seeking to recapture his devotion by getting pregnant, only to discover him resenting her for her pregnancy, resultant of which she accepts Luddie's wife, Anne Mueller's, advice to take leave on a vacation to a resort where Ralph de Bricassart, having been elevated to the position of Archbishop (upon the discovery by Vittorio - who had now been elevated to the position of Cardinal, that he harbors an unresolved conflict between marriage to the Church and his irresistible desire for Meggie, when a crushed rose petal accidentally falls from the pages of his bible), being ordered by Vittorio to take leave of his position in Rome to seek out Meggie to force him to make a choice between God and his love for Meggie, and returning to Drogheda only to discover that Meggie had married Luke and has relocated to Queensland, and finding himself searching for her and, upon learning that she was on vacation seeks her out in the resort island under the pretext that he was her husband, during which time, he finds himself losing control over his emotions and caving in to his desire for her, resultant of which they end up engaging in passionate intercourse; with him eventually leaving her after informing her that his love for God was greater and that he had to resume his career in the church.The story resumes in Episode Four with Meggie finally confronting Luke O' Neil regarding her dissatisfaction with the manner in which he has been treating her and seeking to leave him after having borne his child, Justine, to leave for Drogheda, where she resumes her relationship with her mother, who immediately realizes that the second child that she had borne, Dane, was the offspring of Ralph de Bricassart, following their romantic triste and passionate bout of loving making in the resort island and that she had left Luke resultant of the fact that she no longer needed him after she had fulfilled her deep harboured desire to seek consummation with Ralph, and Ralph, having return to Rome, confesses that he had broken his vows of chastity to Vittorio, and, rather than finding himself sanctioned by the Cardinal, discovers that Vittorio retails the story of a Greek play that they had witnessed when Ralph was first inducted to the Vatican in Rome that culminated in a tragic end resultant of the fact that the woman's lover was incapable of loving due to the sin of pride, and counsels Ralph into accepting the fact that his greatest sin arose resultant of his being too proud to love and considering himself an arch-bishop and placing his role as arch-bishop above the station of an ordinary man, resultant of which, Ralph returns to Drogheda, after a passage of time, and chances to meet Dane and Justine - during which point in time he rekindles his spark with Meggie and engages in passionate sex with her again, in the privacy of their bedroom, following which he is approached by Dane, who confides to him his desire to surrender himself to God and become a priest - something which Ralph fervently encourages, given his calling, which leads to a huge argument with Meggie that culminates with her deciding to surrender Dane to Ralph and have him follow Ralph to Rome where he shall be able to look after Dane, and, in so doing, hoping to have finally made peace with a vengeful God who has stolen everyone she loved from her (all the while concealing the fact that Dane was Ralph's offspring), and, having followed Ralph to Rome, discovering Ralph and him deciding to invite Justine to Rome by requesting a German MP, Rainer Hartheim, to extend her an invitation, and, Justine, having accompanied Rainer to Rome, comes face to face with Ralph and Dane, during which point in time, she recounts her disbelief in God while Justine seeks ordination as a priest which he is gratified in receiving years later - the ceremony of which was performed by Ralph, who had, by then, attained the position of Cardinal and was rumoured to be favoured for elevation to the position of Pope (which he fails to secure), and, having been so ordained, decides to take leave from pursuing an exalted career in the Vatican to return to Australia as a priest so that he may be close to his mother, with Justine following him and discovering herself being taken with Rainer and, despite the fact that she had prepared a speech in which she seduces him, discovering that they end up in a heated argument where she blurts out all the wrong things that has him incensed but finally confesses her feelings for him, and, having done so, arranges for Dane to remain in the beach, where they were all vacating, so that she may engage in a passionate liaison with Rainer and, Dane, having remained behind at the beach, in seeking to rescue two girls who were taken with him, and attempting to catch his attention, from drowning finds himself being suck under and drowning; with the news reaching Meggie through a wire that her mother, Fee, receives, and discovers that Justine blames herself for Dane's death and is attempting to seek atonement by sacrificing her prospective marriage to Rainer by remaining behind at Drogheda as penance, and Fee, having so learned, counsels Meggie not to commit the same mistake she had made by neglecting her as a daughter and favouring her son, Frank, resultant of which, Meggie, has a heart to heart talk with Justine, during which time, she learns that her daughter never realized how much she had loved her and confesses that she had committed the sin of loving Dane more than her, and brings her to the realization that she should not sacrifice her life by attempting to take Dane's place by her side; while, Ralph, having returned to Australia, discovers himself confronted with the fact that Dane was his son when Meggie reveals the secret to him, and finds himself breaking down in tears and weeping piteously and reaching out his hand for Meggie, who, having decided that there was no peace to be made with a vengeful Christian God - given the fact, that she had now lost all she could ever claim to have possessed of Ralph de Bricassart, for the first time in time her life, refuses to accept his overtures and turns a blind eye to his immeasurable suffering; only to have Ralph, after a passage of time, having decided that he had made the mistake of remaining a priests rather than surrendering himself to his love for Meggie, requests her presence at the juncture when he is at the brink of death, and having him recount the story of the thorn bird again - where he puts to the question the true morale of the tale which he explains to Meggie being that we, as intelligent beings, seek to endure excruciating suffering all in order to pursue our heart's desires and deliberately pierce ourselves against the thorn in order to sing that beautific song that all the world stills to listen and God in his Heaven smiles.Highly recommended, with a haunting and one of the best musical scores for television by Henri Mencini.

This is an informative and entertaining series.

This series had a certain appeal for me on two counts. The first pertaining to the fact that I had once served in active ministry as a priest in the Roman Catholic Church, However, unlike Father (later Cardinal) Ralph, I actually departed from active priestly ministry in order to marry, later transferring my credentials to another ecclesiastical jurisdiction and thus returning to active priestly ministry, this time with wife and family. The second count pertains to the principal setting of the series in the country of Australia, to which I have traveled twice, as my wife is a native-born citizen of Australia.However, the series seems most appealing in that it would seem to be an implicit commentary on the whole phenomenon of mandatory celibacy for priests and bishops in the western rites of the Roman Catholic Church. My own experience has taught me that mandatory celibacy is an unnatural state that tends to be problematic for priests serving among people who are married with families. Perhaps celibacy is more appropriate in settings in which it has been voluntarily undertaken in a religious community of monks or nuns. Mandatory priestly celibacy certainly has its defenders, but I am not one of them, as the Bible indicates that the Apostle Peter was married and that St. Paul asserted the right of an apostle to take with him a believing wife (1 Corinthians 9:5). While some other Scripture passages could be proposed as a defense for celibacy, my reading of the New Testament does not indicate a clear, mandatory connection between celibacy and priestly ministry. Celibacy was simply a man-made discipline imposed by the First Lateran Council in 1123 on the Latin rite of the Roman Catholic Church; piety probably had less to do with its imposition than the institutional Church maintaining control of its property in the hands of its clergy.Anyway, all such editorials aside, the Thorn Birds could be seen as a plea to restore within the western rite of the Roman Catholic Church a married clergy, who might be better equipped emotionally to counsel married church members regarding their marriages and their family challenges.

The Thorn birds and the Thunderbirds missing years are just as excellent now as they were when I first seen them as a young girl. Thank you Amazon for them

This is one of my mom's favorite movies. I gave this to her for mother's day. She loved it. Definitely recommend for those who love the movie. I wasn't able to find it anywhere other then Amazon.

Happy

I just loved this movie. Saw it when it first came out and was happy to see it again this year.

Great buy! Arrived the next day. .

Great mini series

Awesome product and service highly recommend this seller

I got the movie the same time with a bonus movie at that with the book

I remember being glued to the TV when this series was playing. It is no different now, except we're older and we have a chance to revisit what happened. Barbara Stanwick who fades from the seen relatively early is a cunning artist in her portrayal of Mary Carson, the extremely wealthy Matron of Drogehda, aged 76. She is hopelessly in love with the young handsome priest played by Richard Chamberlain but she turns his life upside down, and robs her only brother of her wealth and places it in the hands the Church of Rome. He has the opportunity to tear the will up, but he choses to accept the gift for personal gain. A heart wrenching moment Of course the young child, Maggie Cleary grows up and we all know the rest of the story. CHamberlain (Cardinal DeBrickassar) is defrocked by the beautiful and enchanting Rachel Ward (Maggie) at an idyllic beach hideaway. A truly hot romantic scene, one of the best in TV history. This series you can sit and watch and never get bored with tragedy after tragedy, twist after twist, and painful betrayal of self. Great performances for everyone of the cast including Bryan Brown who plays a very tough young smart-ass, but in real life gets the girl and marries (Lady) Rachel Ward.

Was a gift. No complaint from receiver