Healthy Living Books DVD

Rating: - amazing mary bryant
the mary bryant story is amazing i loved it when i saw it on t.v but it was so sad as well it made me cry and i thought amaingane that happening to me i wouldn't want to live anymore i'd feel my life was ruiened and theres no need to live and when i saw it i thought "go you" because she stuck to what was best and i think by doing that she diserves to be in the history books it's the best program i have ever watched don't you think? and the man that shot her husband was so evil i couldn't belive that some one could be so meen and terible and so many other things i shouldn't say but how could he be so meen?!
by:niamh dunne

---

Rating: - Unbelievably brilliant!
The richness of Romola Garai's talent is revealed is this mini series. I never thought that a woman of her age could act so compellingly and yet so naturally. What a stunning performance!!!

---

Rating: - A Transport of Delight
A splendid period drama, the kind that some film-makers do so well, this is another of those little-known stories from history, this time from our own colonial past, that makes for inspired dramatisation and compelling viewing. A monument to the determination of the human spirit, as well as a damning indictment of 18th century imperial England. Whatever Mary and her downtrodden fellow-convicts had done to condemn them to transportation to Australia, usually something petty, your sympathies are always with her brave entourage, and not the Establishment and its rifle-wielding redcoats determined to mete out the King's justice. Romona Garai turns in a stirring performance as Mary, while Jack Davenport's portrayal of Lt. Ralph Clarke is sufficiently powerful to foster at least some limited admiration. An absorbing account of the lowliest specimens of humanity and their remarkable capacity for survival against overwhelming odds, this is a tale to savour. Unsettlingly realistic, intensely moving and beautifully filmed; put briefly, a masterpiece.

---

Rating: - definitely one for the romantics!
I found this series really gripping from start to finish, and thoroughly enjoyed it mostly because I'm a big romantic and I absolutely loved Will Bryant ("They said we'd never see the sun down here, but there you are")!! The acting was terrific, there's a great 'girl power' theme going on, and there were some truly emotional scenes that moved me to tears! It's not all romance and tears though, there's a fair bit of action going on, what with Mary's escape from the island and her being on the run! I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes a bit of romance and adventure.

---

Rating: - DULL!!!!!!
I recently watched this Mini series on ITV and thought it was really dull and that the story, although supposedly true, was predictable. I also didn't like the way the story 'jumped' ahead a few months or years every few minutes. The whole thing seemed 'rushed'.

I thought the acting was wooden, there was just no passion! These people were the first 'criminals' to be transported to Australia, crammed onto ships that took months to cross the Ocean, no food, sanitation, nowhere to sleep, no medical help for the sick and dying, it must have been awful to say the least but the whole plot lacked any kind of intesity, especially where peoples feelings were concerned. Where was the fear etc that these people must have felt? I think a lot more could have been made of what technically could have been a fantastic story.

Dont buy this - wait for the repeat on TV!