Anne of Green Gables (1985)

Absolutely Fantastic

Too much about the plot just didn't add up, the writing was bad, some of the scenes were cringey and awkward,

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Let's start with the positives, which are numerous. The adaptation is mostly accurate, with plenty of time to unfold; and the scenery and casting are top-notch. All the actors do a splendid job but Richard Farnsworth and Colleen Dewhurst as Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert steal the show, giving absolutely definitive portrayals! As for Anne and Gilbert, apparently it's almost blasphemy to criticise Megan Follows or Jonathan Crombie in any way. They are both totally winning in their roles, but I can't help wishing that the young versions of these characters had been played by more age-appropriate actors. Anne's aging throughout is impressive, but nowhere does she or Gilbert look 11. The young Anne's escapades are always charming but quite childish in nature, and would be more endearing if she didn't look 14 or 15. But she's such a lovely Anne, you can overlook this.As a lover of the novel, my main gripe with this adaptation is that the chronology is jumbled up. If you compare this against the novel you'll see that the incidents are all there but out of order. This is completely needless: when you have the luxury of a miniseries, why not just use the novel's structure as a model? Pretty simple really! Consequently many "small" changes have been made which are actually quite big. For instance, in the novel there is no "trial period" for Anne at Green Gables, as Marilla informs her early on that she can stay; in the tv series, keeping her in suspense seems cruel. Similarly there is a scene in the miniseries where Anne confesses that she inadvertently let a mouse drown in the sauce. People often single this out as a warm and funny moment, but nobody ever mentions that it's not actually in the novel! In reality Anne flavours a cake with Anodyne Liniment. So even though this adaptation is more or less accurate, one can see the beginnings of Kevin Sullivan's disregard for the source material - which becomes increasingly more blatant in his subsequent Anne movies.However, when all is said and done, this is a wonderful adaptation and easily the best out there! But that isn't hard since all the others to date are basically a waste of time. 8/10

Anne of Green Gables is directed by Kevin Sullivan, is based on the series of novels by Lucy Maud Montgomery and stars Megan Follows, Jonathan Crombie, Schuyler Grant, Richard Farnsworth and Colleen Dewhurst.Young red haired orphan Anne Shirley (Megan Follows), is adopted by elderly brother and sister Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert(Colleen Dewhurst and Richard Farnsworth). The Cuthbert's had originally wanted a boy so he could help them on the farm. As they spend more time with Anne, they both grow to love her and decide that they want to adopt her.The film chronicles Anne's life with the Cuthbert's, her friendship with Diana Barry(Schuyler Grant) and her relationship with Gilbert Blyth(Jonathan Crombie)who is the man she is destined to be with.Megan is superb in the lead role and captures how much this girl want's to be loved and accepted. The entire cast are superb and the film is funny and moving in equal measure.

Megan Follows gives a superb performance in the title role. She is ably supported by Colleen Dewhurst, who once again proves what an under-rated actress she was.Miss Follows is simply perfect as the orphaned Anne, a free spirit with tremendous intelligence and understanding of life, way beyond her age. Of course, there are comic overtones here as Anne gets into one predicament after another. She almost reminds me of a character in Roz Russell's "The Trouble With Angels."The movie really depicts middle-aged women as cruel, uncaring individuals.While he may have been miscast, Richard Farnsworth gives a somber performance as the low-key brother of Dewhurst, whose kindness is forever remembered.The scenery is absolutely breathtaking.Megan Follows gets it so right as she matures into a beautifully played woman.The story is so good because it depicts how a girl can overcome adversity. Anne was brilliant from day one, she has such instinct, ambition, and time after time, she certainly proves her mettle to overcome the misfortunes in life.

Annne of Green Gables is the kind of movie that has everything, it makes you laugh, cry, etc... My favourite one is the first one when she goes to Avonlea for the first time. My favourite scenes are the ones with Anne and Matthew like the one where he gives her the dress with puff sleeves and the one when he goes to buy the dress, and he buys a whole bunch of other stuff trying to get the courage up to buy the dress. All the actors and actresses for the movie are perfect for there roles. The writing is brilliant and some of the scipts are really funny. The actress who does Rachel is perfect playing the town gossip. And the love story between Anne and Gilbert is very good and her friendship with Dianna is good too. I've watched this movie over and over again and it's the type of movie you can re-watch and enjoy it as much as if it was the first time your watching it you can't say that about too many movies. I'm from New Brunswick and my province is a neighbor to Prince Edward Island where the film was shot. It's nice to see the province in a movie and it's so beautiful there as you can see in the movie. The theme song is so nice too. Anyway this movie is up there in the top 5 movies i've seen.