Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning

How sad to ruin a great story with a series like this! Do not see it, if you have good memories of the Anne of Green Gables tv-series or the books!

I feel like it's all about the money at this point. Again, the magic from the first two is gone. Visually, it's a nice film to look at. I loved seeing Green Gables itself again and happy we got to see more of it than part three. But in my own opinion it's a step down yet again. Three was a let down and so is this one. They should have stopped after Anne 2; and left Anne and Gil on the bridge. I would have preferred to leave it up to the imagination than having this film. Where is the movie with Anne and Gil having children together? Anne fans deserved better. After viewing this installment, I can't believe how anyone who loved the first two movies would ever accept this film. It wasn't what I imagined at all and trying to tie this in simply to make a buck is awful. Thanks, Kevin. I liked three better than this. This film visually is an improvement over Anne 3 but come on, Diana and Rachel fans will be disappointed for one thing! The smartest people in the whole development of Anne '4' are the original actors who decided to stay OUT of it. Especially Megan Follows. You'll always be Anne to me.

As if Contonuing Story was not enough, here comes this. It's just awful what they made with the books. Bad script, bad directing, bad story in general. Bad story badly told just about sums it up. It doesn't even deserve a vote.

And I just can't forgive for making references to continuing story and Dominic and not to the books, which are far far better than this and at the same time killing Gilbert. And a nostalgic Anne? Where's her spirit? Much as I respect Shirley MacLaine, the actress wasn't convincing at all. None of the cast were. And it just goes off show- it doesn't matter if you bring in good actresses- if the plot is undigestible. This movie butchered the characters. Butchered. The first two movies were very much in tone with the books, very much like Anne should be.

But this final installment is just a disgrace to the entire series of my beloved books. No thank you. It annoyed me beyond all possible measure. And I do not consder myself a purist when it comes to movie-book adaptations. Except this one time.

But I suppose if you're not too big on the books, you may like it, especially if you like parent- child focused stories. But it's just as bad as Secret garden two, where another lookalike steps in and a story is supposed to give the viewer a sense of circular repetition and closure. Which is really bad with Anne. I was really discouraged to see this disaster.

Total nonsense. please, let someone make Anne movies based more on the books. Please, do the books justice!

Don't waste your time. Others had warned me not to bother, and I did not heed the warnings. This production is inconsistent with the Montgomery Books. Barbara Hershey is likely a miscast on top of a weak script. The production feels rushed with extremely awkward editing that has made the TV Movie hard to follow. Truly not worth watching, and will slightly ruin what you remember from the original WonderWorks Production. This version of Anne is depressing. They had a great character in Anne and turned her into that Lady in Black from The Natural. Not surprisingly, portrayed by the same actress. I didn't believe all the one star reviews, but I see clearly what everyone else has seen.

Mr. Sullivan does not have a good track record in terms of his faithfulness to Mongtomery's books. The first movie was his closest and best adaptation. Anne the Sequel, though a well done movie, strays greatly from the original text. By the time we enter into the third movie all is lost. Hard to believe they would keep going, even after Anne: The Continuing Store was critically and publicly panned!

There is not a shred of Anne Shirley's character in Barbara Hershey. And although a fine actress, she struggles to bring merit to the character. The younger Anne comes closer, but her over acting (probably due to poor direction and terrible writing) renders her a mock-up of Megan Follows.

Even worse, Mr. Sullivan completely disregards Anne's back story, told in the first novel. He turns Anne into a liar and Marilla's moral judgment is jeopardized by a cheap subplot! The backdrop of Green Gables is always enchanting, but as a devoted fan I was distracted by the reused footage from previous movies and several episodes of Road to Avonlea. Who do they think they're kidding? It is too bad the powers that be do not listen to what Montgomery fans want and deserve. Movies that would have followed the novels more closely would have been more cherished than this invented drivel, only produced to make an easy buck.

The only redeeming quality is a brief glimpse of Mrs. Rachel Lynde at the very tail end of the movie. Her presence reminds us of what could and should have been.