Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

Excellent, a Must See

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

I don't remember reading the book to know if this adaptation was faithful but it wouldn't have mattered. I watched this on YouTube ,and quite honestly found it to be way too long and rather boring- did it really need to be a miniseries?. I mean the scenery was beautiful and I had actually visited the areas a few years before it was filmed but besides that it had little too offer. Noley Thornton as Heidi was cute and a decent actress but she just didn't move me into caring about her.She just seemed as if she was sleepwalking through her lines half the time. Lexi Randall as Klara was not my cup of tea much either, she came across a bit too whiny in her acting and dull. Jane Seymour basically phones her role in, overacting badly and the kid who played Peter was awful - He looked as if he was bored and couldn't wait to finish his scenes so he could go play video games or something. Now my biggest disappointment is the way the grandfather's part was portrayed. I love Jason Robards and always found him handsome and wonderful to watch even in his twilight years however this was not one of those times. His grandfather is totally uninteresting and has nothing to offer, the synopsis says Heidi charms him too but she really doesn't. Most of the movie he is frowning or scowling at her and just plain mean ,she never charms him. If anything his guilt prevents that and his cowardice too,he even admits it. I was really disappointed as I think Robards should have had something more to work with instead of a one note script that basically had him scowling and walking away. The Shirley Temple version to me seemed much better and vastly different with the grandfather really loving her and going after her whereas Robards character didn't seem to care that she was leaving and even at the end he asks her why shed wanna live with him "she responds ,because i love you grandfather " and while he hugs her ,he doesn't say it back. I just cant see how she could love him when he never really acts as if he truly cares about her. 5/10 mostly for the scenery

As a G rated movie we were taken aback to see so much death, suffering and sorrow. 90 min into it, with our 5 year old crying non-stop, she finally screamed. "My heart is breaking from this movie!" So we shut it off.So this is just a warning to parents. if you have sensitive kids this is not a good pick. Parents Killed, blind Grammy dies, girl sold and dragged away from her home, mean nanny w/a girl whose crippled. We were like, "what's next, a meteor takes out the whole town?!"Saddest Disney film we ever saw. Avoid for kids under 10 - G rating inappropriate in our opinion!

The book was one of my childhood favourite books and still is a personal favourite. Adaptations always deserve to stand on their own two feet and this version of Heidi is not an exception. The beginning did seem over-dramatic; some of the characters could have been more sympathetically written(especially the grandfather who's often too hostile, Clara too on some occasions); Clara's healing could have been more gradual; and keeping the grandmother alive longer, to hear that Heidi can now read(one of the book's most heart-warming parts), would have given the adaptation more heart than it already had. These all aside, this Heidi is still good and engaging. It is skilfully filmed, the Alps scenery is just gorgeous and the costume design and the settings in general are handsomely done. It's not big-budget or lavish, nor did it need to be. The music score is always involving and whimsical, always fitting with what's going on. While the dialogue is thoughtfully adapted and warm-hearted and while over-dramatic at times the story is never dull or abrupt, instead it's heart-warming, charming and engaging. The ending did bring a lump to my throat, then again the ending in Heidi is always emotional. The direction keeps things moving at a steady pace while also giving the story life. The acting is not a problem either, Noley Thornton is outstanding as Heidi being both adorable and strong-willed and Jason Robards supports her firmly in a charismatic and very emotionally committed way, though in the more redemptive scenes he could have been more gentle but he did a wonderful job considering how the Grandfather was written here. Lexi Randall's Clara is passionate and touching while Jane Seymour is temperamental and formidable without hamming things up and Patricia Neal's Grandmother is noble and affecting. So overall, not the best adaptation for die-hard fans of the book but as a standalone film, even with the not-so-great things, this version of Heidi is well worth the watch. 7/10 Bethany Cox

This is well-acted and written, but, if you want a faithful adaption of the book keep looking.This movie does not follow the book. To sum up: the kids know everything and the adults are selfish or cruel or incompetent or some combination of the three.Grandfather never yelled at Heidi in the book. But he did throughout the movie, including the last scene where he tells Heidi, "Go back to Frankfurt!!!". Of course, Heidi doesn't because she knows more than her grandfather. Ridiculous.Maybe if I had never read the book I could have enjoyed this movie, but when they make caring characters cruel, and change the meaning of the book, it just ruins everything for me.