Reviews (7)

Sort of a greatest hits of "Avonlea" from seasons one & two
"Tales from Avonlea: Beginnings" is a mixed bag, with the good news being that you can get the eight of the first sixteen episodes from the first and second seasons of the beloved series (I got the Disney channel just to watch it), but nothing else in this stripped down DVD. Based on characters featured in "The Story Girl," which was author Lucy Maud Montgomery's favorite novel, and its sequel "The Golden Road," the series also adapted tales from two collections of short stories known as the "Chronicles of Avonlea." The eight episodes provided are:

Episode 1.1, "The Journey Begins" tells how young Sara Stanley (Sarah Polley) is shipped off to her late mother's relatives on Prince Edward Island when When her father is threatened with financial ruin. Sara arrives in Avonlea with her Nanny Louisa is tow, only to meet up with the formidable King family, headed by the imperious Aunt Hetty (Jackie Burroughs), who also happens to be the local school teacher.

Episode 1.6, "The Proof of the Pudding" finds Felicity in charge of her siblings when Alec and Janet go to Charlottetown to celebrate their anniversary. Sarah is added to the mix when Aunt Hetty goes to visit the Governor's office to prevent an over-zealous lawyer from denying the King's water rights to the local pond. Actually it is sawdust that ends up in the pudding and the woman who shows up at the King's farm is not the tone deaf Great Aunt Eliza but Agnes Leslie, the wife of the Governor.

Episode 1.3, "Quarantine at Alexander Abraham's" is one of the best adaptations of a Montgomery short story. Mrs. Rachel Lynde (Patricia Hamilton) is put in charge of the boy's Sunday School class and when she finds the young boy who work's Alexander Abraham's farm has gone truant, she heads out to save the boy's soul. However, everybody involved is in for a big shock when they all end up in Abraham's home only to discover he has been quarantined because of the small pox.

Episode 1.4, "The Materializing of Duncan McTavish," begins when Sara asks Marilla Cuthbert (Colleen Dewhurst) "Did you ever have a beau?" Having endured a lifetime of slurs because she never did, Marilla defiantly declares "I had one once" and weaves a fantasy about her beau Duncan (because it is her favorite name) and McTavish (because she sees an advertisement for McTavish Porous Plasters). Of course, who should arrive in town but Duncan McTavish himself and Sara Stanley knows Fate has brought the two former lovers together again.

Episode 1.11, "The Witch of Avonlea" is about Peg Bowen (Susan Cox), who lives in the woods smoking her pipe and doing whatever she wants with no concern for what the good folks of Avonlea think or say. When Felix King (Zachary Bennett) finds himself unable to spell anything during the class spelling bees because he is so afraid of Aunt Hetty, his nightmares convince him she might be a witch. So he goes off to visit Peg, who gives him a "magic" stone to give him confidence

Episode 1.13, "Nothing Endures but Change," finds that Blair Stanley, Sara's father, has been acquitted of the scandalous embezzlement charges that forced him to send his daughter to live with her mother's relatives on Prince Edward Island. Blair arrives in Avonlea ready to take Sara back to Montreal, at which point everyone of Sara's King relatives absolutely freaks, especially Aunt Hetty, who announces she will not give the child up to her father. Sara wants to say goodbye to all her friends and attend the upcoming skating party she has been looking forward to, but her father wants to get out of Avonlea and as far away from Hetty as quickly as possible. Sara cannot abide the thought that two of the people she loves most in the world cannot even talk to each other civilly, and so she hatches up a plan to force their reconciliation.

Episode 2.2, "How Kissing Was Discovered" begins Great Aunt Eliza (the real one) coming for a visit and turning the King household upside down. Meanwhile, Alec discovers that playing cricket is not as easy it was when he was a younger man and Felicity has her eye on a young cricket player on the visiting team. After all, she is now all grown up and has decided it is time to receive her "first kiss." However, Sarah and Felix have made a new friend in Gus Pike (Michael Mahonen), a young sailor recently arrived in Avonlea and looking for work. Alec lets Gus stay in his barn and while Felicity will not give the boy the time of day, it is clear that he finds her rather interesting.

Episode 2.3, "Aunt Hetty's Ordeal" begins the pivotal relationship between Gus Pike and Hetty King begins. Given how Hetty treats Sara, Olivia and everybody else in the extended King family, you have to worry about poor, uneducated Gus. The problem is that everybody in Avonlea knows to take Hetty King with a grain or salt. But Gus thinks everything Aunt Hetty says is carved on stone tablets and when Hetty makes a heated offhand remark to the young man it has significant repercussions. Gus had been a minor character in previous episodes, and "Aunt Hetty's Ordeal" is where he starts becoming more important to the show in general (and Felicity King in particular). This is also the point where Hetty King, who tended to be a bit insufferable for my money, started to thaw, because the big difference between Gus and Sara, is that Gus is not family and Hetty ends up opening her heart to him.

Granted, these are probably the better half of those first sixteen episodes. But the legion of fans for "Avonlea" would be better served by having each season available on DVD and they may well hold out for that then pick this up.

Complete seasons found!
For all of those who would like to see complete seasons of Avonlea, I have found them! Released through Sullivan Entertainment, you can go to www.sullivanboutique.com and purchase the first three complete seasons of Road to Avonlea on dvd. Not only are all of the episodes included, there are also bonus features, such as bios and behind the scenes. I have also found these dvds on ebay, where you might be able to purchase them for less. Hope this has been helpful!

good, but not what I was expecting
This is a wonderful DVD whether you grew up with this show as I did or its your first exposure to the wonderful series. However, I bought this thinking it was the complete first season - for those of you who are familiar with the series, please be aware that it is not. This dvd contains 8 episodes - 6 from season 1 and 2 from season 2, and the episodes are not in direct sequence. However, I still very highly recommend this dvd as the complete seasons are difficult to find and very expensive.

Full Season Sets (Season 1 and 2) are Available
After opening up the box, I was so disappointed to find that only eight episodes were listed on the back. I don't what I had been thinking, but had been under the flase impression that I had ordered a complete season set.

However, if you go to amazon.ca (Canada) you will find much more to choose from on this wonderful series!

Quality of DVD leaves much to be desired...
I was thrilled to find out the television series "Avonlea" had finally be released on DVD in the United States. I was very disappointed to discover that Disney was the one releasing it, however, and not Sullivan Entertainment. Instead of the complete first season on DVD, only eight episodes from the series are available. Disney really ought to reconsider bringing out a complete first season set of the series. I, for one, wouldn't mind spending a little more money to have ALL of the episodes instead of just eight. Another thing I was very disappointed with was the quality of the DVDs themselves. The disc art is great, but the menus on the disc are absolutely horrible. No care was taken into putting them together at all. All-in-all, I'm glad to have at least some form of Avonlea on DVD, but Disney should've taken more care with such a splendid series. Let's hope they fix this if they plan on having future releases of the series. Major fans of the show really ought to consider buying the show on DVD from Sullivan Entertainment's web site. They offer all the episodes from the first three seasons in three sets, complete and uncut. Yes, it's a lot pricier, but at least you get the whole package. If I had the money right now, that's definitely the version of "Avonlea" that I would be purchasing... ... Read more

Reviews (2)

An excellent film! A great family friendly show!
This DVD included the first two episodes of "Road to Avonlea" the TV series, or better known in the U.S. as "Avonlea", as aired on the Disney Channel in the 1990's. A touching and family-friendly series about a little rich girl who moves to Prince Edward Island to live with her relatives when her father is accused of embezzlement in his own company. The adventures that this little girl Sara Stanley has with her cousins, (the "King" family) are hilarious and heart-warming! This is definately worth checking out!!

delightful
Excellent for children, found this film to be one you can learn from mistakes,has values presented,happy ending! ... Read more

Reviews (6)

What a god awful movie
Firstly, the color quality was atrocious. I dont know if its a bad disc, or if somthings wrong with my PAL machine? Might not have read the NTSC format its in propperlly? But its the only DVD that has ever done it on my player. (its an all regioun DVD player, so yes, it does play regioun 1 DVD's fine) But even if the movie was presented in propper color.....

I was expecting it to be great, Tom Arnold, and National Lampoons....sounds great right? Too bad it wasnt :(

The movie has written on it "its the mighty ducks meets caddyshack" or somthing like that? But man, I think i chuckled once during the whole movie! it was completly predictable, not funny, useless things thrown in here and there, and just a plain awfull movie. Maybe a kid under the age of 10 might get somthing out of it? but I dont even know how this came to beeing bothered with to be put on DVD?

National Lampoon's Golf Punks
I'm collecting any movie with National Lampoon in the title. And really most of them are really stupid! But this movie I would however rate average. It's definately not one of my favorites, but it is funny, has a few drama moments and Tom Arnold is a pretty fair actor. It's a family movie and you don't have to worry about your kids watching a horrible movie. It teaches fairness, sportsmanship, and feeling good about yourself (even if you lose). I just got done watching this film with my kids and they are watching it AGAIN! I'm also not one to watch movies over and over, but I can say that I would watch this one at least twice a year. GREAT FAMILY SHOW.

This movie is gooD
when i first saw this movie i thought is was pretty good and i still do if you like golf and are not really old you will probubly like it

lampoon movies aren't like they used to be
i remember a time when i got excited when i saw a lampoon title. Now I dred it. It feels like they are recking there once great name with every new movie. This movie is pretty and it is only for die hard tom arnold fans. I feel that he can't hold a movie but that's another story. Well, it did entertain me for a little bit.

"BAD" expounded.
This film is no more than a preachy after-school special in lowest vein of family fluff as "Mighty Ducks," "Heavyweights," and countless others. While those at least pretend to be real movies, GP somehow manages to be worse in every aspect. Scene changes seem crafted for commercial breaks, the titular "punks" are a motley crew of misfits who (as tradition dictates) couldn't act their way out of a citcom parent trap, Arnold is dumbed down to play his "Stupids" character in earnest, and misguided attempts at slapstick would fail even if the film had any credibility. The soundtrack is the icing on the cake (left out in the rain). Basically, it consists of an alternation between a Casio keyboard demonstration and a slackjawed old guy repeating "we all end up in a hole," forcing an especially bad pun down the viewer's throat for the entire film. The self-respecting viewer will not last through the end. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

What a god awful movie
Firstly, the color quality was atrocious. I dont know if its a bad disc, or if somthings wrong with my PAL machine? Might not have read the NTSC format its in propperlly? But its the only DVD that has ever done it on my player. (its an all regioun DVD player, so yes, it does play regioun 1 DVD's fine) But even if the movie was presented in propper color.....

I was expecting it to be great, Tom Arnold, and National Lampoons....sounds great right? Too bad it wasnt :(

The movie has written on it "its the mighty ducks meets caddyshack" or somthing like that? But man, I think i chuckled once during the whole movie! it was completly predictable, not funny, useless things thrown in here and there, and just a plain awfull movie. Maybe a kid under the age of 10 might get somthing out of it? but I dont even know how this came to beeing bothered with to be put on DVD?

National Lampoon's Golf Punks
I'm collecting any movie with National Lampoon in the title. And really most of them are really stupid! But this movie I would however rate average. It's definately not one of my favorites, but it is funny, has a few drama moments and Tom Arnold is a pretty fair actor. It's a family movie and you don't have to worry about your kids watching a horrible movie. It teaches fairness, sportsmanship, and feeling good about yourself (even if you lose). I just got done watching this film with my kids and they are watching it AGAIN! I'm also not one to watch movies over and over, but I can say that I would watch this one at least twice a year. GREAT FAMILY SHOW.

This movie is gooD
when i first saw this movie i thought is was pretty good and i still do if you like golf and are not really old you will probubly like it

lampoon movies aren't like they used to be
i remember a time when i got excited when i saw a lampoon title. Now I dred it. It feels like they are recking there once great name with every new movie. This movie is pretty and it is only for die hard tom arnold fans. I feel that he can't hold a movie but that's another story. Well, it did entertain me for a little bit.

"BAD" expounded.
This film is no more than a preachy after-school special in lowest vein of family fluff as "Mighty Ducks," "Heavyweights," and countless others. While those at least pretend to be real movies, GP somehow manages to be worse in every aspect. Scene changes seem crafted for commercial breaks, the titular "punks" are a motley crew of misfits who (as tradition dictates) couldn't act their way out of a citcom parent trap, Arnold is dumbed down to play his "Stupids" character in earnest, and misguided attempts at slapstick would fail even if the film had any credibility. The soundtrack is the icing on the cake (left out in the rain). Basically, it consists of an alternation between a Casio keyboard demonstration and a slackjawed old guy repeating "we all end up in a hole," forcing an especially bad pun down the viewer's throat for the entire film. The self-respecting viewer will not last through the end. ... Read more