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List Price: $19.98 | | Label: Warner Home Video
Salesrank: 32650
Released: June 7, 2005 |
| Our Price: $3.77 |
| Used Price: $3.74 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
What happened to Father Ralph de Bricassart and Meggie Cleary O'Neill during the mystery years not covered in the original 1983 smash-hit miniseries? Now every fan can be in the know. "The Thorn Birds: The Missing Years" provides the spellbinding answer. The time is World War II. De Bricassart heroically rescues refugees in Rome then is sent by the Vatican to the sprawling Australian sheep ranch he though he had left behind forever. There a fateful reunion with Meggie leads to new temptations and a profound crisis: Meggie may lose custody of the beloved son concieved during the season of forbidden love she shared years earlier with de Bricassart.Running Time: 180 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 012569693487
Description of The Thorn Birds 2 - The Missing Years:
The phenomenally popular The Thorn Birds was one of TV's hardest acts to follow, so it's a surprise that The Missing Years turned out as well as it did. Produced 13 years after the original 1983 miniseries, this is not a sequel but an "in-betweener," filling part of the 19-year gap in The Thorn Birds and beginning in war-torn Rome in 1942, where Father Ralph de Bricassart (Richard Chamberlain) is struggling to rescue Italian refugees after the latest wave of bombing. He is sent back to Australia to investigate the potential for refugee relocation there, and is reunited with his former lover Meggie Cleary (now played by Amanda Donohoe, replacing Rachel Ward), whose beloved farm Drogheda is in the grip of a two-year drought. Their still-powerful love must remain unspoken, however, because Meggie has reconciled with her estranged husband Luke (Simon Westaway, assuming Bryan Brown's role), and is about to be engaged in a heated custody battle for her son Dane, whose father is actually (and secretly) Father Ralph.
These family secrets, and the turbulent emotions of Meggie's teenaged daughter Justine, create enough familial tension to fill The Missing Years with the kind of ripe, involving melodrama that fueled the original miniseries. Accepted on its own merits, this is a respectable, above-average TV production, bolstered by the fine performances of Chamberlian and especially Donohoe, who intelligently plays Meggie with warmth, inner torment, and plucky tenacity, making the role fully her own. The sweeping wall-to-wall score is excessively manipulative in its attempt to elevate The Missing Years to Gone with the Wind proportions, and some viewers may question the integrity of a plot (bearing no relation to Colleen McCullough's bestselling novel) that forces a noble priest to solve his dilemma with a vengeful fistfight. Still, this is an eminently watchable TV romance that can stand on its own, without the long shadow of its much-beloved predecessor. --Jeff Shannon
The Thorn Birds 2 - The Missing Years Reviews:
"We've All Done Things We Regret" ~ One Thorn Too Many 
2008-07-22 - One extremely important detail one should notice before watching `The Thorn Birds 2 - The Missing Years' ('96) is that Richard Chamberlain is the only member of the original Thorn Birds cast to return for this re-visioning of the classic mini-series from '83.That one simple fact says volumes about what lies ahead for the unfortunate viewer. No matter how much one may like Richard Chamberlain this is not a one-man-show and the supporting cast of fill-ins do little to make this one believable or acceptable.
Touted as an "in-betweener" rather than a sequel, the storyline looks backward to explore events left out of the first mini-series. New situations and encounters between the two forlorn lovers are concocted and the plot strives to add depth and meaning to the film by presenting earlier events intentionally designed to serve as foreshadows of what took place in the '83 production. Their ploy is unsuccessful and comes across as pretentious rather than thought provoking.
If you really love the original you're better off not watching this one, it offers nothing to help you further appreciate this classic love story between Father Ralph de Bricassart and Meggie Cleary. `The Thorn Birds 2 - The Missing Years' simply doesn't work on any level I can perceive. However having offered my warning, I know you're going to watch it anyway.
This film is pathetic
2007-03-13 - I LOVE RICHARD CHAMBERLAIN, but this film is horrible!! I don't know how I could spend my money on this!
Just sorry I couldn't give it less
2007-01-19 - The Thornbirds is one of my favorite novels, and though I liked the movie (Richard Chamberlain mainly) I couldn't have been more upset with this movie. It's reaching, pure and simple. It goes against whole concepts in the book, such as Luke coming back. The entire point of Luke was that he was a dead beat, couldn't have cared less, and certainly wouldn't have gone so far as to try to get custody. He loved nothing more than himself and the money he made, he was more than happy to let Meghann have the children he never wanted in the first place and only begat due to his hormones. Above and beyond all the inaccuracies and reachings, another Maggie? Are you kidding?
It's just plain rubbish, and quite frankly it sullies my love of this epic and adored saga.
I like it! 
2007-01-17 - Thornbirds - The Missing Years really entertained me. I liked it A LOT. I enjoyed it so much I bought it. Chamberlain reprises his role from the original miniseries and he's great. I agree with a previous reviewer about the final scene. It's one of my favorites too. I also agree with another reviewer who said this one makes good soap opera. Fans of good soap opera should like it. I'm happy to have this miniseries in my DVD collection.
Their great love... in the last shot! 
2007-01-15 - The last scene was for me the most touching... The ambitious priest was leaving for Rome... He was waiting to say goodbye... He was anxious to see Meggie... Where is she?
As the train begins to move, every time with more speed, the best shot of the film came when we saw Meggie on her horse in that lovely place, awaiting for the train to pass, barely able to utter last minute thoughts about what she really feels...
Suddenly Ralph sees her from his window... In this precise moment 'everything' was in slow motion... Of course, two lovers were communicating, the world had to stop!
Meggie's eyes were more focused, intense, commanding, and Ralph seemed, momentarily out of himself to bond with her in this gorgeous place... He knew the intensity of this moment would fade... Then we read Meggie's lips saying: " I love you."
This scene said everything... The two lovers were enjoying life at this very moment... Their senses awake and alive, passion burning through their veins, love pounding out such a sweet song in their heart and soul... Love is everything they need... Love is everything humans need...
