Anne of Green Gables Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		2.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Anne of Green Gables Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman September 16, 2025

Anne of Green Gables originally aired in 1985 as a television mini-series. It is, as many will recognize, a filmed adaptation of the beloved book of the same name by Lucy Maud Montgomery, which was first published in 1908. Upon its debut more than a century ago, Anne of Green Gables was an instant hit and has maintained popularity with all ages and through the ages since. The film (and its sequels) has arguably surpassed the book series in popularity and aired in countries around the world. The story of Anne of Green Gables remains in fashion today and has even inspired a tourist industry built around visiting the locations featured in the books and movies alike. For its 30th anniversary, Sullivan Entertainment released this Blu-ray issue which contains high definition video, lossy audio, and a couple of good supplements.

Orphan Anne ("with an E") Shirley (Megan Follows) mistakenly arrives at Green Gables farm when siblings Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert (Richard Farnsworth and Colleen Dewhurst, respectively) send for an orphan boy to help with their work around the farm. While the Cuthberts plan on returning her to the orphanage, the irrepressible orphan wins them over and ultimately stays at Green Gables. The film follows her childhood antics in the town of Avonlea and the friendships she makes as she navigates the tumultuous path to adulthood.

When a movie is inexorably tied to its protagonist — to the point that the film’s title bears said protagonist’s name — the performance of that character is going to be the make or break element of the film (assuming at least general technical competence in direction, editing, score, cinematography, etc.). The film’s success hinges on the lead performance, and in the case of Anne of Green Gables that lead performance is delivered by Megan Follows. She doesn’t disappoint. She takes the role of Anne Shirley and effortlessly brings the larger than life character to life with her facial expressions and attitudes, capturing the broad strokes from the book and the finer character nuances alike with striking precision and depth. She was born to play a part that was first published 60 years before she was born.

Surrounding Follows is a supporting cast that’s nearly as good. Richard Farnsworth provides an excellent counterpart to Follows as the shy and reticent Matthew Cuthbert who falls in love with the overly imaginative chatterbox orphan. The bond between the two characters from the book shines through on the screen. Colleen Dewhurst delivers an amazing performance as Marilla Cuthbert, carrying over the character’s signature dry humor and stern persona from the novel to the screen as if Lucy Maud Montgomery had written the part just for her. Schuyler Grant’s portrayal of Diana Barry, Anne’s best friend, creates a perfect foil to Follows’ more exuberant character; together the duo effortlessly sells the “best friends” relationship. Jonathan Crombie’s work as Gilbert Blythe is very well done and the love-slash-hate, friendship-slash-romance between the two is believable and full of chemistry.

The natural beauty of Prince Edward Island and the surrounding areas is beautifully depicted in the film and engenders a driving desire, accomplished by only a few other films, to make a pilgrimage to the filming location. In fact, for as good as the story and the acting are, the setting and scenery almost steal the show. The backdrops and clothing add to the allure of the film without nary an anachronism to yank the audience out of the world of late 1800s Avonlea. The score is likewise beautifully supportive, as is the editing; even sneaking up on four hours the film never overstays its welcome. If anything else, it will leave viewers craving more from the world of Avonlea.

Director Kevin Sullivan himself adapted the book into a screenplay suitable for television and did a fine job of capturing and maintaining the spirit of the book while making necessary adjustments to bring the story of Anne Sullivan to the screen. The movie contains a nice mixture of small town dramatic currents that are familiar in overall plotting but nevertheless unique within this cozy setting and and enveloping timeframe, including the quintessential town gossip, school room pranks, and family drama as Anne, Matthew, and Marilla navigate the sometimes troubled waters en route to growing into a family.

The sprawling support players, representing the local townsfolk, help bring the story to life by adding unique characters and relationships for Anne to discover and develop, some sourced straight from the book and some sourced from Sullivan’s imagination. The school room pranks stand as some of the highlights, the driving force behind Anne’s ongoing feud with Gilbert as one of the center stage elements after their memorable first day of school. The family drama develops with a fine cadence and believable novelty with Matthew and Marilla raising Anne as siblings rather than a married couple, adding a fresh plot dynamic to what might otherwise be seen as a rote plot driver. Nevertheless, those dynamics still play out in fairly similar fashion with Matthew serving as the easy-going and “fun” parent while Marilla fills the shoes as the no-nonsense, “authoritarian” parent. Their budding relationship with Anne plays out beautifully with enough drama to keep things intriguing and with enough exasperation to keep things interesting.

Anne of Green Gables Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

This Blu-ray release of Anne of Green Gables is not up to par, sad to say. This presentation rises only marginally over what I expect to see from an upscaled standard definition DVD presentation. Detail and definition fall well short of the original film source. The 1080p resolution allows for basic enjoyment of core facial and clothing features and some of the more roughhewn details around homes and towns and other locales, but there is no mistaking the rather flat and bland look of everything from skin and clothes to schoolrooms and living rooms. So many elements simply lack real, precise definition. Background trees are one such example (look around the 3:55 mark of part one), appearing as little more than globs of green rather than well defined leaves as part of the would-be beautiful natural world around Avonlea. Snowy noise prevails throughout as well. Likewise, the odd splotch and pop appear on the screen, but these are not too terribly frequent or troublesome. Finally, look for some odd examples of edge enhancement as well, such as along a roofline at the 14:20 mark of part one.

Colors are unfortunately lacking vitality. If they're not drab and lacking brilliance, they're struggling to find nuance and variation. Like the smeary, clumped-together leaves mentioned above, natural greens often look like a glob of color with no realism or subtlety to speak of. Black levels struggle to hold accuracy and flesh tones are pasty and flat. Color is there, and sometimes bold, but the lack of vividness, accuracy, and nuance drag them down. Despite all of this, Anne of Green Gables is watchable. It could be far worse, but it could also be far, far better.

Anne of Green Gables Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack doesn't offer much in the way of expansion or expression. It's well confined to the front, even in would-be more "boisterous" moments, such as outdoor parties or select classroom scenes, or more "high sound output" moments, such as at a sawmill during a key scene very early in the film. Music is flat and lacking serious space or surround accompaniment. Minor environmental cues remain largely front heavy. Dialogue is centered and is intelligible, but it lacks the crispness and realism of superior tracks.

Anne of Green Gables Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Anne of Green Gables includes an audio commentary and a documentary. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover.

• Audio Commentary: Director Kevin Sullivan navigates the audiences through the original story and film(s) that were born from it.
• L.M. Montgomery Documentary (1080p, 22:30): This extra, narrated by Director Kevin Sullivan, explores Lucy Maud Montgomery's written work and how she wove herself into the character of Anne Shirley and used the books as both an escape and means of better understanding the world around her as it rapidly changed in the industrial revolution of the late 1800s. Sullivan also discusses Montgomery's upbringing, literary influences, childhood home on Prince Edward Island, and her own vivid imagination that mimics Anne's in many ways. Sullivan additionally covers his journey of discovering who Montgomery was and how he wove her into the films as he created them.

Anne of Green Gables Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Great movie, solid supplements, substandard video and audio: that's the Anne of Green Gables Blu-ray review in a nutshell. Like the book is well worth owning a nice copy of (I have the Barnes & Noble Collector's Edition), there is every reason to desire a nice copy of this wonderful film adaptation. Sadly, this isn't it. Here's hoping for a 4K remaster somewhere down the line.