 
|
|
DVD
Warner Brothers
Publisher: Warner Home Video
David L. Wolper
Format: Box set, Color, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Actors: LeVar Burton, Olivia Cole, Ben Vereen, Louis Gossett Jr., Vic Morrow
Based on Alex Haley's best-selling novel about his African ancestors, Roots followed several generations in the lives of a slave family. The saga began with Kunta Kinte (LeVar Burton), a West African youth captured by slave raiders and shipped to America in the 1700s. The family's saga is depicted up until the Civil War where Kunte Kinte's grandson gained emancipation. Roots made its greatest impr
Based on Alex Haley's best-selling novel about his African ancestors, Roots followed several generations in the lives of a slave family. The saga began with Kunta Kinte (LeVar Burton), a West African youth captured by slave raiders and shipped to America in the 1700s. The family's saga is depicted up until the Civil War where Kunte Kinte's grandson gained emancipation. Roots made its greatest impression on the ratings and widespread popularity it garnered. On average, 130 million - almost half the country at the time - saw all or part of the series.DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
Documentaries
Electronic press kit
Featurette
Interviews
From the moment the young Kunta Kinte (LeVar Burton) is stolen from his life and ancestral home in 18th-century Africa and brought under inhumane conditions to be auctioned as a slave in America, a line is begun that leads from this most shameful chapter in U.S. history to the 20th-century author Alex Haley, a Kinte descendant. The late Haley's acclaimed book Roots was adapted into this six-volume television miniseries, which was a widely watched phenomenon in 1977. The programs cover several generations in the antebellum South and end with the story of "Chicken" George, a freed slave played by Ben Vereen whose family feels the agony of entrenched racism and learns to fight it. Between the lives of Kunta and George, we meet a number of memorable characters, black and white, and learn much about the emotional and physical torments of slavery, from beatings and rapes to the forced separation of spouses and families. Nothing like this had ever confronted so many mainstream Americans when the series was originally broadcast, and the extent to which the country was nudged a degree or two toward enlightenment was instantly obvious. Roots still has that ability to open one's eyes, and engage an audience in a sweeping, memorable drama at the same time. --Tom Keogh
| Customer Reviews: |
|
| |
| Great value - excellent series |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
 |
|
I love this series. I had a VHS copy and needed to replace it with the DVD collection. I show excerpts to my history students as it gives a sober visual to supplement the unit on the transatlantic slave trade. You can not beat the value at Amazon.com
|
| Human nature at it's lowest and at its best. |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
 |
|
I met Alex Haley once. He was a very proud, dignified man. Rightly so with ancestors like those in Roots. The courage and determination of these people are remarkable. The history is sad. The story is inspirational.
My only complaint: I never realized how much Virginia's Peidmont looks like California.
|
| Moving story. Great acting. Some sets were totally unrealistic |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
|
|
Amazing story. captures some of the really bad brutality of slavery. Slave ships, whipping, manicles.
But the slave cabins were all wrong. Belle's "slave cabin" looked like it belonged to a middle class white family of that era. The room was large. Painted walls. Windows with glass panes and white dividers. nice furniture. A carved head board on the bed with a nice quilt. Shelves for holding things in the kitchen.
I've seen pictures of Thomas Jefferson's slave cabins. thin mats on wood floors for sleeping, no windows, very small rooms, about the size of a modern bath room, very dusty and dirty. And Jefferson's were supposed to be better than most.
|
| Roots |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
|
|
Great condition. I have wanted this item ever since I saw it on T.V. Excellent Quality and condition.
|
| Not happy! |
| Customer Rating: 1 out of 5 |
 |
|
My wife and I were enjoying watching this until we got to about 1 hour and 23 minutes into the fourth disk. The screen went blank. I tried everything going back and forth to see the end of the story but I could not get it to work. Very disapointing! Do not buy this product!!!
|
|
