Customer Reviews

Anne of Green Gables Trilogy Box Set

5 star:		(124)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

I watched these on VHS with my family years ago. Back then my daughter, about ten or so, same age as Anne when we first see her, was reading the novels; renting the videos was a natural thing. I was reluctant to watch the first story--my tastes tend more toward gritty crime and action stuff--but I watched them with my wife, daughter, and 8-yr. old son. It did not take me long to get caught up in the enthralling story. Canadian actress Megan Follows with her flaming red hair, which she is initially so ashamed of, is absolutely perfect as Anne Shirley. I would say she was born to play that role. All of the characters and portrayals are so wonderful that you will be thoroughly entertained. The late and indescribably great Richard Farnsworth is his typical screen self: stoic, quiet, restrained, shy, honest, fun-loving, humble, self-sacrificing, hard-working, strong, venerable. And gents: isn't that a list of very admirable traits? What man would not want to be remembered in such a way? So there you have one reason why you, as a man and father, should watch this series: if you pattern yourself after Mr. Farnsworth in this film, you will be on the right track. I absolutely defy anyone, even the most macho guy in the world, to not gush with tears upon viewing the scene where Farnworth's character buys, and then presents the beautiful party dress to Anne.

Another reason to watch this: you and your children will be seeing a solid and dignified life being put together before your eyes. Anne is an intelligent girl, but she understands the value of hard work. She loves to have fun, can be a bit contrary and capricious, but when the job needs to be done, she will do whatever it takes. She is an orphan who, through sheer determination and hard work, overcomes her meagre beginnings to really make a name for herself in the world. She is happy, and she takes life as it comes. Most importantly, she has a good heart and high moral standards. What parent would not want their child to be so described?

While it is very true that nowadays it is difficult to find good "family" viewing, if you look around, you will find it. Start here, dads; buy this set for your family and most importantly, spend some quality time with them watching the set. This is one of the best things you could do for them.

I guarantee it: you will laugh, you will cry, you will be afraid, you will exult. You will experience every emotion life has to offer. There are no cardboard cutout characters here; no one is perfect. That's another reason to watch: it's like life, and through meeting these living and breathing characters with all of their frailties and foibles, your kids will get a taste, albeit a vicarious one, of what the world is like. Perhaps they will begin to understand that life is not quite fair, that you have to work pretty hard, that people can be unkind even when you are kind to them, and most important, to be yourself. Anne the unkempt orphan comes into the life of the dour old spinster and her hard-working farmer brother, and gradually over time she becomes their savior. She saves them from a life of monotony, self-involvement and predictability; she teaches them how to be patient, how to laugh, how to prioritize. Isn't that what children do for their parents, if the parents will let them?

Anne is a girl who becomes a truly successful adult, if you measure success by how happy, intelligent, self-assured, confident, caring and fulfilled she is. If your kids can pick up some of those traits by watching the series, and you can help them, how can you go wrong?

There was nothing like sitting with my children, and now with my grandchildren, and watching them become enraptured by the wonders of what I consider to be collectively "one" of the ten best films ever made. Yes, in terms of overall quality, the Anne of Green Gables Trilogy ranks up there with Ben Hur, Dances With Wolves, The Sound of Music, and the other classics. In fact, even at 69 years old, whenever I feel as if I need some inspiration, or I feel others I love do as well, into the DVD player goes Anne! As others have attested, one will never feel embarrassed by watching or having others watch these wonderful, wholly inspirational films.

I was really disapointed in the presentation of the DVD. It doesn't even have chapter selection on the DVD menu. The point of getting the DVD was to have those amenities that DVD's offer and I had to fastfoward slowly through the movie until I got to the scene where I had last left off. Since the only difference between the VHS version and the DVD is the Cd itself, i felt that it was extremely overpriced. However, it is a wonderful story and I very much enjoyed watching it again. :)

First of all, the actual movies and the actors are great. The series is very entertaining and tells a good story. It is suitable for the whole family.

Now for the bad news, Sullivan Home Entertainment should be absolutely ashamed to sell such poor quality DVDs. I could have done better myself by copying video tapes and burning them to DVD. The video is very grainy like they made no attempt at all to remaster it. At times the audio does not match the video. Also, there is only a rudimentary menu system. You cannot jump to a particular scene like you can with almost all other DVDs on the market. In addition, the set I received had two of the three disks bad.

The price of $59.99 is extremely high for what you get. Given the quality and other problems, it should be in the $5 bin at wal-mart!

My advice is to rent the videos if you can and save a ton of money by not buying this junk.

Let me preface this review. I'm a typical guy. I like movies about fighter jets, fast cars and ninjas that blow things up with their minds.

I also love Anne of Green Gables.

I grew up with this series when I was kid with my sister. Reading about Anne and her adventures lifted our hearts, and we used to spend hours reading stacks of the books. There are almost too many funny, moving, touching and tragic moments to count, but the one thing this story captures so well is the power of the human spirit. Anne changes everyone around her for better with her imagination, positive nature, and strength of spirit. She's not without flaws though, her independent streak nearly costs her her happiness on a few occasions, but she always finds a way to come through in the end. Also great is the supporting cast. Who else wouldn't want Matthew and Marilla as neighbors? Or Dianne or Gilbert as a friends or a girlfriend/boyfriend?

Looking back now, it reminds me of a simpler, purer time far removed from the grim and griminess of the cold, impersonal, so called, 'civilized' life now a days. My fondness for this series, the books, the made for TV films, and even the superb anime by Isao Takahata and Yoshifumi Kondo (who did the heart wrenching Grave of the Fireflies) hasn't diminished as the years have gone by. If you've never seen any of these before, you're cheating yourself out of a great experience. Read the books, watch the films, track down those anime episodes and get ready to be surprised with joy.

Sure, as a guy I can appreciate the carnage of a monster truck rally... but I get just as spell bound as Anne does picturing the White Way of Delight.

I ordered this video set with the intention of revisiting some of my very favorite childhood characters & sets. When it arrived, I opened the box very quickly and rushed to put the dvd into my player. Unfortunately, my experience was brought to a halt & cut short by the discovery that this set IS NOT CLOSED CAPTIONED. Not only does it not have CC, it also has NO SUBTITLES. This product is NOT applicable to every viewer, and it does not accommodate viewers with special needs or handicaps. I am profoundly deaf, and do depend on written translations so I can decipher the words being spoken. I was very, very disappointed that the website failed to include that it did not provide captions or subtitles. I returned this product the very next day! At least I got my money back...

I wanted to confirm some of the other reviews that I have read regarding this product. This is basically a copy to DVD of the VHS tapes. Theres really no quality improvment and there are no chapter breaks or divisions. So, other than taking up less space on the shelf and perhaps lasting a bit longer than the VHS, theres not a whole lot of difference from the VHS.

Anne of Green Gables AND "The Sequel" are all time favorites. Although I didn't care for the long awaited "...Continuing Story", the first two movies were such a huge part of my growing up, it felt right to have the entire trilogy.

The extras are great and fun to see. Truth be told, you most likely can buy the first two for less that the trilogy Box Set price. I suggest going that route.

All of Anne of Green Gables is heart-rendering entertainment which is so rare in these modern times. The series is truly our favorite! We really miss the series that was on Disney some years ago but was replaced with the contemporary junk which is now on Disney.

I watched all three of these movies when they first came on TV and read all of L.M. Montgomery's books. These are all classic and a fantastic set for the whole family to watch. No one will ever be able to top Megan Follows as the heroine Anne, with an "E". She is the quintisential Anne. The third movie was more adult than the first two, but all three are a must have to anyone who has a girl in the family. I watched the whole set with my 13 year old granddaughter and she just loved the whole story. If you have never seen any of L.M. Montgomery's stories in film this is a great way to start. Then move on to "Road to Avonlea" which was done as a weekly series, then "Emily of New Moon" which was also done in a weekly series. This trilogy was just supberb.