The Pharisees believed that God gave the Jews both a written Torah and an "oral Torah"/oral tradition, both of which were equally inspired and both of which were open to reinterpretation by the rabbis.  They believed in 1) salvation through perfect obedience to the law, 2) bodily resurrection and eternal life, and 3) angels and demons. Many were more concerned with appearing to be good rather than obeying God. Hence, the term has come to be synonymous with "hypocracy." The Apostle Paul was a Pharisee (Acts 23:6, NKJV). 

The Sadducees were the priests and the aristocrats of Jewish society. The Sadducees believed in a strict, narrow and unchanging interpretation of the written Torah, but rejected oral Torah and the "Old Testament" prophets. They did not believe in bodily resurrection and eternal life, nor angels and demons. The Temple and its sacrificial services were at the center of their worship. Socially, they adopted the ways of the neighboring Greek culture. Politically, they compromised willingly in order to maintain their status and influential positions.

The Essenes were an ascetic and mystical group devoted to strict discipline. They lived in isolation from the world. The Dead Sea Scrolls are believed to be the product of an Essene sect.

Only the Pharisaic movement survived the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD. It is the forerunner of rabbinic Judaism, which encompasses all of the movements of Judaism in existence today.