If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

This 2 part series was spectacular. I was surprised it was not made into a movie and shown at the cinema. I loved Mary's character that was portrayed brilliantly by a very talented actress. As a great fan of period dramas, I would definitely consider this one of the best I have seen and would highly recommend it. All the characters were portrayed well and the quality of acting was Superb. The scenery and settings were spot on. Having read books on the topic of convicts in Austalia. I found this incredibly real to what life must have been like for those who traveled on such ships. Mary's will to live and the story of her journey was remarkable. Sam Neil is fantastic as the Admiral and 'Will' was played, again superbly, by yet another talented actor. By the end I was in tears and couldn't sleep for thinking of this fantastic mini-series. I will definitely buy this on DVD and no doubt watch it again and again.

I sat through Mary Bryant and I was completely bored. It was a totally overblown and long drawn out saga, heavily padded with long, lingering, meaningless close ups and many trivial mistakes. Without those close ups which added nothing, the piece would have been half as long which would have been better. It was also totally unrealistic and laughable to watch.In the very first scene Mary (Romola Garai) robbed a women in an isolated wood in Cornwall and then, from nowhere, up came two men and arrested her. That was just funny. It looked for all the world as if the robbed woman had called the police on her mobile. Where did they come from? How did they get there?Then Mary was sentenced to go to Australia, and the appalling conditions on the boat were depicted in great detail. People were starving and dying of disease, the lucky ones survived. Mary's baby was born on this boat and then arrived at Sydney Cove fit, clean and healthy. Yes, Mary's baby truly did survive this voyage, presumably fed by Mary, but if Mary herself was starving, how was the baby so bouncing? In spite of the desperate hunger and hardship the baby then grew up to be quite a sturdy little girl (Charlotte). At Sydney Cove there was one scene where a character wrote a list of supplies with what looked suspiciously like a ball point pen, it could have been a fountain pen, but it certainly wasn't a quill pen. The quills appeared later.Then Mary Bryant had another baby. This one also thrived and stayed healthy looking throughout the drama never losing any weight during it's long 3,000 mile journey in a boat with few supplies and what did they do for water? In fact none of the actors lost so much as an ounce on that long journey. They did have signs of scurvy at one point but that miraculously disappeared in sight of land. Also realistically their white skins would have been terribly burnt in that open boat. Why was that not shown?The scenes in Timor were just ludicrous. Jack Davenport (as Lt. Ralph Clarke) is always worth watching, but even his endless close-ups began to pall, and Mary Bryant's husband (Alex O'Loughlin) was very handsome in a 2006 way and had cosmetically perfect, shiny, white teeth which helped very much with his close-ups, but added not atouch of realism to the drama.Romola Garai was great in "I captured the Castle", but I did get tired of staring at close ups of her. Her expressions were rather blank as well.As befits British people arriving in Australia the convicts all had British accents, bar one, actor David Field, who had an Australian accent, however he was one of the few convincing looking convicts. I don't expect accents to be uniform, but uniformly British would be desirable.As this was a true story I stayed with it in order to see what happened to Mary.At the end Mary Bryant all dressed up, clean and looking not a minute older, returned to Cornwall. Presumably she had received financial assistance, however she had absolutely no luggage. With nothing in her hand at all, she walked cheerfully down to her village, which we never see (and in which she was originally starving) and then we do not know what happens to her. Not even a little hint in the credits at the end.I think when actors are portraying great suffering they should miss a few meals on location and perhaps a smaller baby could be used to show malnutrition. I also expect more from the make-up department. I do not expect the children to be starved for the role, but perhaps less bonny looking children could be used, and less obviously well fed actors.A lot of money went into this production but God is in the details and the details weren't there.My husband's comment was "Well I'll sleep well tonight!"

Mary Bryant was a remarkable person and this mini-series starred remarkable actors who held together a wonderfully moving recollection of a dark time in the history of Brittan and the beginnings of Australia. It frightens me that my country was essentially founded with such atrocities and in such inhumane ways. I knew of the injustices that would later come about with more force for the Aboriginal people, but scarcely thought of the convicts that were dumped there. I had never really looked at the first fleet the way I did when watching the series, it opened my eyes and those of all of us who've seen it, that I'm sure. All in all there were top film making and superb character portrayals in a very important story to remember of the right of each human being to live and to have redemption from there (often petty) mistakes. I will be listening up for Alex O'Lachlan's name in the future and am sure to follow Romola's acting career with deep interest.

'The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant' tells the breathtaking tale of Cornish convict Mary Bryant (Romola Garai), convicted for stealing a bonnet and bread and sentenced to England's new Colony on the other side of the world in Australia. Mary, who had never been more than 5 miles outside of her village, made the journey with the first fleet in 1787, on the boat commanded by Captain Clarke (Jack Davenport). Clarke has a vision of reform for the convicts, an idea which clashes with the beliefs of Governor Arthur Phillip (Sam Neill) who sees no hope for England's trash. Clarke has particular hope for the wide-eyed angelic Mary; raped while in jail in England, Mary was pregnant during the voyage and the birth of her baby girl in the horrendous conditions of the boats is miraculous in itself, but Mary's journey doesn't end there. Arriving at the new colony in New South Wales in 1788 Mary marries Will Bryant, another Cornish convict they and other newly-wed convicts reap the benefits of their marriage as they are granted permission to build a house. Mary and other female convicts are outnumbered by the men 5:1, a gory scene of rape, pillage and plunder harshly depicts exactly how terrible the colonies conditions were for the women of 1788. Not only that, but water is scarce and crops do not grow in the poor soil. Mary, now with 2 children, proposes a plan with her husband to escape from the island prison, by stealing the colonies cutter boat and sailing 4 thousand miles to Timor with 5 other male convicts. But, as Governor Phillip exclaims; "the burden of carrying a woman, and children, no - even if they survive the sea, they'll never survive each other" – so begins Mary's truly incredible and heart-breaking journey.This is a truly spectacular Australian mini-series, and no surprise since it had a budget in excess of $15 million and is the largest television mini-series ever made in Australia. Directed by Peter Andrikidis and shot over 12 weeks in 22 locations, 'Mary Bryant' is a real accomplishment. The sets are spectacular; from the claustrophobic, sickening hull of the convict ships, to the stifling and scorching colony; every set perfectly evokes the atmosphere of the times and adds to the grandeur of the mini, aided with the beautiful music score of Iva Davies. Of course 'Mary Bryant' isn't always historically accurate, but it's practically impossible for it to be; there are few records of the first fleet's journey and following the events depicted in this mini, Mary Bryant all but vanished from the face of the earth. And despite Mary and Clarke being on the same ship in the first fleet, there is no evidence that they ever had a tumultuous love affair. But where there were plot-holes in history, writer Peter Berry adequately fills in angst-ridden characters and suspenseful plot.The characters for this larger than life tale are perfectly cast. Romola Garai stars in her first epic role but is no stranger to period pieces; having starred in 'Nicholas Nickelby' and 'Vanity Fair'. Despite Garai's milk skin and doe eyes, she brings sharpness to Mary's strong-willed character; sometimes you resent her, but Garai knows when to make you sympathize and warm to her, and you do. Alex O'Lachlan is a NIDA graduate and his character of Mary's husband, Will is his first big role. He has charm and like Garai, can evoke feelings of bitterness towards the character which gives Will more depth. Jack Davenport rounds out the major leads as Captain Clarke; like O'Lachlan and Garai, Davenport portrays a complicated and multi-faceted character. We see tender moments of real love on Clarke's behalf when Mary seduces him as apart of her plan to escape; one criticism may be that the storyline and lengthy character development between Mary and Clarke means that the audience sees more reason for Mary to be with him, rather than Will. Just as quickly Davenport evokes bitter resentment as Clarke's obsession with Mary destroys and devastates. Even the minor characters deserve praise; Abe Forsythe's innocent charm and adorable looks stir sympathy as Sam, and Sam Neill's stony demeanor perfectly suits for the unsympathetic Governor Phillip assigned the almost impossible task of creating a new society on the barren Australian land.This is a truly spectacular Australian mini-series, an accomplishment on all fronts, and what makes it truly amazing is it's derived from a true story.