Anne of Green Gables-Fire and Dew Coming to DVD Sept. 18th #Sponsored #GreenGablesPBS

I received a copy of Anne of Green Gables Fire and Dew for review.  This post contains affiliate links.  All opinions are mine.

Anne of Green Gables Fire and Dew, the third installment in the PBS series Anne of Green Gables, is releasing to DVD and digital September 18th.  

If you haven't watched the previous parts in the series, you will also be able to pick up a two-set DVD collection on Sept. 18th.  

Anne of Green Gables series in order:

First Installment:  Anne of Green Gables

Second Installment: Anne of Green Gables: The Good Stars
Third Installment:  Anne of Green Gables: Fire and Dew

In ANNE OF GREEN GABLES – FIRE AND DEW, Anne Shirley moves to Charlottetown and is overwhelmed by her new surroundings, difficult classes at teacher’s college and a deepening romance with Gilbert. At the same time, Matthew and Marilla deal with health and financial difficulties that jeopardize their lives at Green Gables. After Anne graduates, she must make an important decision, whether to move back home or continue on to University. Anne then must handle the loss of someone deeply special in her life and just when all seems lost, she discovers the dark cloud over her life has a silver lining.

Anne of Green Gables, courtesy of Breakthrough Entertainment / © 2017 Gables 23 Productions Inc.

The third installment, written and directed by John Kent Harrison, will once again star critically acclaimed actor Martin Sheen as Matthew Cuthbert, along with the return of Ella Ballentine as Anne Shirley and Canadian treasure Sara Botsford as Marilla Cuthbert.

Additional cast members include Julia Lalonde (“Catch a Christmas Star”) as Diana Barry, Kate Hennig (“Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould”) as Rachel Lynde, Stefani Kimber (Remember) as Josie Pye, Drew Haytaoglu (“Looks Just Like the Sun”) as Gilbert Blythe, Natalie Lisinska (Total Recall, “Orphan Black”) as Miss Stacy, Amariah Faulkner (“Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood”) as Jane Andrews, and Kate Trotter (Tru Love) as Mrs. Barry

L.M. Montgomery’s ANNE OF GREEN GABLES – FIRE AND DEW was produced by Breakthrough Entertainment in association with Corus Entertainment’s YTV and the author’s granddaughter, Kate Macdonald Butler, who served as executive producer.

Anne of Green Gables is one of my favorite stories by L.M. Montgomery.  It's been a long while since I read the books, but Anne Shirley was a character I could really relate to growing up. I adored the movies in the 1980's with Megan Follows and Jonathan Crombie.  So I cringed when I heard about a re-make, knowing that the original was so good and that anyone else playing those characters just wouldn't have the same magic.

If you look at it by itself, without comparing it to the original, it is a fresh take on the series for a new generation of fans.  {But I have to say in this part of the story line, I couldn't help but compare them.}

It's been a while since I watched the first two parts (why so long between them PBS?), but the third installment picks up where the second left off.  (You'll definitely want to watch the first two in order before seeing the third.)

Anne is taking entrance exams for college (at 14, which I'm sure is a bit hard to process for kids these days who don't have the same adult responsibilities that kids back then did).  There is the same old rivalry between her and Gilbert Blythe to win a scholarship to Queen's College.  I like how the movie kept to the same story line, but I felt like it was a bit rushed. 

Anne of Green Gables, courtesy of Breakthrough Entertainment / © 2017 Gables 23 Productions Inc.

We didn't get to see the close relationship between Anne and Miss Stacy as I remember it from the previous series, nor do we really see much spark between Anne and Gilbert.   There was so much spark and gumption between Megan Follows and Jonathan Crombie in the original, but I just didn't feel it from the current two young actors.  

Overall, the story flows and will leave you wanting to know what happens next.  The ending makes me wonder if they will continue as the previous series did with Anne teaching at a ladies college.  

Watch on PBS

ANNE OF GREEN GABLES – FIRE AND DEW, will air Sunday, September 23, 2018, at 7:30 p.m. ET (check your local listings)