L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables

I thought it was great and wanted to watch the other 2 movies right away!

Would not have spent the money on this rental if I had known it was so off of the old versions. If I had not already known the story and how much was missing I might have thought it was”ok” but nothing special. Some thing are better left alone when they were already great.

Hated it.First,of the book is always better don’t get me wrong but HELL NO!! Who directed this!!A five year old!!! Second,Anne did not talk as much as I wanted her to, like in the book. Third, watch the Netflix series Soooooo much better.

So bad nothing compares to the original with Megan fellows... don’t waste your money .... trust me I regret it every day !

It’s so bland and such a bad version of the story, it’s unbelievable. Anne has twelve DRAWN ON freckles. WTH??? Don’t rent it. Go watch the Netflix series instead, it’s good.

Perhaps a viewer who has never read the books and never seen the '80s version might be okay with this 2016 PBS version, but I really can't say since I watched this 2016 version with strong knowledge of both the books and the '80s version. From that foundation of familiarity, this version comes off as a total failure. Martin Sheen played a very different kind of Matthew, but as such a capable actor, Sheen's version of Matthew does feel sincere onscreen and he pulls it off charmingly. The same cannot be said for anyone else cast in this movie at all, but it would be unfair to say it's because they are bad actors. When THAT many actors aren't pulling off the magic onscreen, it means the problem is usually with the direction they've been given, or with a casting director who didn't find the correct actors to fill the roles. Because this movie relies so heavily on child actors, I don't want to be too severe in my criticism, because I don't think the kids deserve that. They worked HARD and deserve to have bright careers after this. It's the directors, producers, casting directors, and screenplay writers that carry the blame for this train wreck. The film LOOKS beautiful because the scenery is beautiful, but there is something flat and unemotional in the whole film. It's as if the writers tried to pack the whole book onto screen, which doesn't work. The '80s version had a lot of rewrites and was different from the book in many events it showed, but it had the same FEELING as the book. This 2016 version does not feel like the book. Who knows? Maybe that was the goal. Gilbert's dialogue is written to be WAY too modern. He looks younger than Anne, even though his character is supposed to be about two years older. The actress playing Anne seems to be a strong actress who has been trapped in the wrong role, and for that I hope she doesn't receive undue backlash. Maybe this is the version a modern audience needs, because perhaps kids don't read Anne of Green Gables anymore, but this is not the version that literature fans or film fans of period pieces need.

I'm sorry to say it, but this movie is really NOT good. Ok, if you've never ever read the books, or never seen the excellent 1985 version with Megan Fellows, and you are only vaguely familiar with the story, maybe you would think this is an okay movie. But for everyone else, just stay away from this. The thing that is hard to understand is how the writers/director/producers got this so wrong. The main actress who played Anne seems like a fine actress (i've never seen her anything before this), but she wasn't the right fit for this book. The same is true for sibling parts of Merila and Matthew. They seem like fine actors, but were not right for this movie. The writers have stripped almost all of the charm out of these characters. It's just too bad. Really this isn't worth your time. Try the Megan Fellows version of Anne of Green Gables instead. Or even better, read the delightful book.

Where I recognize their attempt of trying to recreate such a classic from one of the best book series ever, it fell flat. Trying to keep an open mind by not comparing it to the perfection from the 1985 version, I gave up about 30 minutes in. Most of the acting was wooden at best, the story was choppy and incredibly rushed. Ella Ballentine who played Anne had that sweet disposition, but felt all wrong for the part. Her "red hair" looked fake and ridiculous, don't get me started on her freckles! Some scenes she had them, others not. When they did, they were in different places. It hilariously reminded me from the movie Robin Hood: Men in Tights of Prince John's birthmark. The actor who played Gilbert looked like he was a year or two younger than Anne, pretty much killing the relationship between characters of Anne and Gilbert. For those who are not all that familiar with the Anne of Green Gables series, you might like it. I'm glad I watched the movie to see a different take on the classic, but it's a one time deal for me.

Being a HUGE fan of the Megan Followes version I was already hesitant about this film. I understand each remake of a beloved story may have some differences, that is not what concerned me about this film. The acting is just simply horrible, the actors seemed as though they were reading straight off the script. Martin Sheen, who is a great actor is terribly miscast as Matthew Cuthbert. The actor who was cast as Gilbert looks to be 11 or 12 and not 16 and charming like described in the book. Yes, it really was that bad - which makes me sad because I really wanted to like it.