Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Binding: VHS Tape EAN: 9786302571257 Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC ISBN: 6302571251 Label: Warner Home Video Manufacturer: Warner Home Video Number Of Items: 6 Publisher: Warner Home Video Release Date: December 12, 1994 Running Time: 563 minutes Studio: Warner Home Video Theatrical Release Date: January 23, 1977 Sales Rank: 1263
Amazon.com essential video: 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
Average Rating:
Rating: - Highly recommend but I have a couple of suggestions
I was a month short of 9 years of age when Roots was first broadcast on TV. Til only recently I had never ever seen it. I heard a lot about it but never actually sat down to watch it. I was recently ... Read More
Rating: - Best TV Miniseries Of All Time
"Roots" traces the family history of writer Alex Haley back to the late 1700's when his African ancestor, Kunta Kinte, was brought here as a slave. The show goes on to tell the stories of Kuntas's daughter, Kizzy, ... Read More
Rating: - A Really Great Story!
This miniseries is well worth watching again or for the first time if you never have. It is very moving and tells the story of slavery from the point of view of the slaves. Beginning with Alex Haley's book, which ... Read More
Rating: - Roots review
This production brings this sad part of history to life superbly. I remembered it from 30 years ago when it screened on German television and have now shared it with my husband and our teenagers in New Zealand.
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Rating: - Roots
I have always loved the movie, Roots. It was hard to watch when it first came out and it was even harder to watch now. I got this DVD for my son to watch because not a lot of Black history is taught at his school ... Read More
- Highly recommend but I have a couple of suggestions
- Roots