21 of 23 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining, Romantic and Interesting Historically, April 23 2002
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Manions of America (VHS Tape)
This story of the Manion family, led by Rory Manion(formerly O'Manion), is an interesting and pretty accurate depiction of the trials and triumphs of the Irish immigrants driven out of Ireland by the Great Famine of the mid-1840's and "washed up" on the shores of America. This was the first time I ever saw Pierce Brosnan (who plays Rory O'Manion)and it seemed very likely that he was going on to bigger and better things because he was the perfect romantic Irish rebel. The saga of how he meets and falls in love with the daughter of the local British landlord (Kate Mulgrew) brings into play a great deal of the history of the Irish struggle for independence from the time of the Young Irelanders through the years of immigration, the American Civil War (and the Irish Brigade) and the discrimination against the Irish when they first came to America. The subplot involving Rory's sister (Linda Perl) and her suitors is less involving but overall the movie captures a great deal of the turbulence of that era and introduces us to the young, and very sexy, Brosnan. My biggest complaint is with the darkness of the tape--I've seen it on video and on TV and it is always quite dark--apparently not just a defective individual tape.
20 of 23 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Manions of American.....a Classic!, Nov 10 1999
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Manions of America (VHS Tape)
Came upon this series on the Romance Channel quite by accident. Missed about 1 hour of the first part of the series. I was completely caught up in it within minutes. I've always admired the work of Kate Mulgrew. In spite of most of the scenes being very dark....could have been the quality of the cable transmission...the production was absolutely spell-binding.
By in large, it was a marvelous treatment of a part of history not often covered....the reason the Irish left Ireland and their struggles in America.
The cast was stupendous. Lina Purl is a delight.
I would recommend this video to any American History buffs.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
My review of Manions of America, Oct 19 1999
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Manions of America (VHS Tape)
Grab your tissue you'll need the whole box. Kate did a great job on this movie. So did Pierce Branson. It was a movie that I will continue to watch for a long time. If you love drama this is your movie.