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Summary: me--the movie lover
Review: Oh, my gosh, I cannot even begin to describe this movie! It was sooooooooooo good! I would tell everyone to watch it with their family.
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Summary: A Word for Peter
Review: I can't really add anything to the reviews already written, but I'd like to add a word or two of praise for the young man who played Peter van Pels. Having spent many years teaching Anne Frank, this fellow's performance was spot on! Well nigh perfect, in fact. Understated but with amazing clarity of characterisation and sincerity. The scenes between him and Anne are some of the most heartwarming in the film because of their shy simplicity. I only wish I knew the guy's name: the credits at the end don't have the complete cast list, and the up-front credits don't include "as".People should check out the stunningly comprehensive CD-ROM from the Anne Frank House too, which includes film of the real Anne Frank.
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Summary: I Loved This Movie!
Review: Of all the Anne Frank movies I've seen, this movie surpasses all the other movies! Ever since I saw the first preview for the movie, I knew I had to watch it!
Hannah Taylor Gordon really rocked! She delivers one of the most extraordinary performances I've ever seen! It's just amazing how much Hannah is like Anne! I don't think that there is anyone else who could play Anne as well as Hannah did! Hannah deserves high praises and a lot of credit, as well, for her stunning performance! The other actors and actresses gave quite a stunning performance, as well. I don't think I've ever seen people play the other Annexe residents as well as the actors and actresses in this movie did!
As a lot of people would say that the whole movie was sad, I, on the contrary, think that there were happy parts, as well. Everyone actually got to see what Anne's life was like before going into hiding, and I really liked that, because a lot of the other movies don't show Anne's happier times!
As opposed to the happy parts, there were, of course, the sad, and maybe a bit frightening parts, too. As some people would say that the concentration camp scenes were too unbearable to watch, I, on the other hand, was able to watch all of the camp scenes without bringing tears to my eyes. It's great that the movie gave us a taste of what Anne's life was like in the camps, that it just kept going after the raid of the Annexe, for all the other movies that I've seen do not!
Now that I've seen the movie, it's one of my very favorites of all time, and I'm terribly happy that such a fantastic movie is finally out on video! I hope to own the movie very soon!
Rating: 
Summary: Well worth watching
Review: On balance, I found this an excellent account of Anne Frank's life, and superbly acted, with Ben Kingsley and Hannah Taylor-Gordon beyond praise. The script also manages to provide some insight into people's motives and behaviours and counterbalance Anne's harsh(if not necessarily inaccurate) portrayals of some of the adults in the Annexe without sentimentalizing them or glossing over their faults, not an easy task.
I would have awarded it five stars were it not for a number of inaccuracies, though. Some, on balance, are insignificant ("Putti" was Mr. Van Pels's nickname and "Kerli" Mrs. Van Pels's, not the reverse, and the inhabitants of the Annexe were sent to Westerbork and Auschwitz in summer, not midwinter), others troubling. The "Janny Brandes" of the film was actually Marianne ("Janny") Brandes-Brilleslijper and her sister was Lientje Brilleslijper, and it is a real pity that these heroic women (far more heroic, actually, than depicted in the film) are not named accurately in the roll-call scene. Nor do I like the idea of openly fingering the cleaning woman - although she is indeed a potential suspect, the fact remains that to this day no one knows who was the betrayer.
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Summary: Why Anne Frank Is the Best
Review: Anne Frank: The Whole Story to me actually told me allot about her life that I didn't even know. I've seen movies about anne frank but none like this it's very interesting and it also tells a little history of there lifestyle as jews and knowing Adolf Hitler was out to destroy them. and when she died at 15 years old even today she remains a spot light to young readers and remains in history she told you about her life in her diary the movie goes beyond that so in other words the movie is the best movie in the world
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Summary: Powerful But Tragic Tale
Review: Through many months of my early adolescence, which I spent cooped up behind the barbed wire fence of a military base in Texas, I'd considered Anne Frank's diary to be my best friend. I read it constantly, partially because I could identify with many of her experiences. I too have a sister who is three years older, who was a much better student than myself. I was born 40 years after Anne was, and am part of a minority group, and I can remember being tormented by certain people close to me and not being able to fight back very often. Like Anne, I also love to write.
That her diary is now the most widely read work of nonfiction after the Bible comes as no surprise to me now because the world is full of teenage girls in need of reassurance.
I taped just about every documentary and/or film on Anne Frank's life since my teens. This latest one, which reaffirms events first featured in Ernst Schnabel's 1958 biography on the last seven months of Anne's life, is definitely one of the most profound.
Hannah Taylor-Gordon's Anne Frank is the most accurately portrayed version of the character I've seen since Lisa Jacobs' portrayal in 1988. This actress who also appeared in "Jakob the Liar", another Holocaust drama, gives the young diarist the bubbly, effervescent personality described by those who knew her in real life. Ben Kingsley looks a lot like Otto Frank. His gentle, kind, authoritative mannerisms make it easy to accept him as the father on whom Anne doted. Jessica Manley's Margot has a gracious, ladylike quality like the real Margot Frank, and Tatjana Blacher's Edith Hollander-Frank is caring but overprotective towards her children.
About the only inaccuracy I can detect is the fact that in this miniseries, there was no rain falling the day the Franks went into hiding. Brenda Blethyn's portrayal of Mrs. Van Pels adds levity to life in the cramped attic. Nicholas Audsley's Peter is warm and amiable. New dimension is added to the lives of Van Pels and Dr. Pfeffer because we see more of what they were like before they went into hiding. The protectors of the Annexe members, led by Lili Taylor's Miep Gies were appropriately staid and stoic, looking very much like people who had to work hard to keep certain secrets hidden from the outside world and from other factory workers. Rob Das looks more like Jan Gies than any other actor I've seen portray him. The role of Charlotte Kaletta in boosting the morale of Fritz Pfeffer is included as well. Her ultimate reaction to his fate is a moving one.
The scenes of the refugees at Westerbork are somewhat hopeful looking, although viewers know that the worst is yet to come. Even as I watched the women of the annexe being shorn of their hair upon their arrival at Auschwitz, having read Melissa Mueller's book on which this film is based, I'd say that audiences should be greatful that Disney spares them the full reenactment of that degrading procedure because the hair on top of the heads of the prisoners was actually the last section of hair to go.
From there on in, Anne's life grows more and more abysmal, although she meets a few friends along the way. Of all the Secret Annexe members who perish in the death camps, the only death witnessed by the audience is the one which, by all accounts, finally defeated Anne. The film concludes with the revelations of what happened to Anne's friends and family. Some revelations were triumphant and others tragic.
To date this is one of the most emotional, complete, and reverently told versions of Anne Frank's life. --A highly commendable effort!
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Summary: Best Portrayal I Have Seen
Review: I have been studying the Holocaust ever since I was in the third grade, mostly because that's about the time that I read Anne Frank's diary. It has always been a very moving story to me. It has inspired me to read volumes about others who were in the same or worse situations. I have seen other movies about her, but this was by far the best portrayal that I have ever seen. Hannah Taylor-Gordon was Anne Frank to me. Every character that was selected to play in this movie was excellent. As to the scenes in the concentration camps, I think it is important to educate people about what happened. Some people say that it is a little much, but you know what, you can't change history. That is how it happened, horrible as it is to watch. Many of the survivors are beginning to die and if people aren't willing to pick up a book and read about it, I think the best way to educate people is to show them. Nothing like that should ever happen again. Never forget.
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Summary: WHY ARE THE EXTRAS ON THE WEB SITE?
Review: I haven't watched this yet, except for the first 20 minutes or so. I expect it to be great, based on all the reviews here. But...WHY did Buena Vista put all the "extras" on their Web Site (video.com) -- instead of on the DVD? There are some streaming videos on the Web site, some other information, etc., all of which should have been on this DVD. Yet, the only "extra" we get is a commercial for the DVD of "South Pacific."
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Summary: AS POWERFUL AS SCHINDLER'S LIST ( Anne Frank 4 1/2 stars)
Review: Anne Frank gets 4 1/2 stars, NOT 4.ANNE FRANK is the powerful story of a teenage girl put through the horrors of the concentration camps. This is the only movie I have ever seen that made me break down and cry. This movie in some ways is more powerful than Schindlers List (which is another powerful concentration camp drama)because it put these people in prospective. It felt like you knew Anne, she was easy to identify with, so you felt what she was going though throughout the whole movie. Disturbingly powerful, I loved this movie.
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Summary: I couldn't watch the whole thing.
Review: When I saw this on ABC I was excited.I thought it would be a great movie.I know everyone pretty much knows what happend to the jews during this time,but still,it was way too much.The first part of the movie was fine.I thought that they portrayed Anne Frank's life well.The second part was very intense.I think ABC told the viewers which ages could handle this movie.I think the minimum age was 13,but let me tell you, it should have been twenty.I got to the part where Anne and her family went to the camps.I couldn't watch any more after they started to cut the hair.I don't think I have ever seen such a depressing,intense,and heart wrenching movie.I'm thirteen,and I'm sure different kids can handle different things.If your kid wants to see this movie,make sure they understand the history and what happened, and why it happened,and definatly make sure they can handle this kind of stuff.Of course I'm not against the movie,because I think it's good for adults and kids to see what happened back then.ABC did a wonderful job making this film realistic,and everything it is.I give it four stars because I couldn't shake off this depressing feeling,and the movie's bad immages for about two days.You should be the judge though,of what you think you can handle.
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