Roots

UPC: 085391144854

Studio: Warner Home Video

MPAA Rating: NR   Contains:[Violence, Adult Situations, Questionable for Children]

Summary: This award-winning six-part historical epic was one of the first examples of the miniseries format and one of the highest-rated television programs in broadcasting history. Based on the best-selling novel by author Alex Haley, Roots chronicles the progress of Haley's own family across many generations, from the kidnapping of an African warrior by American slave traders to eventual post-Civil War freedom. Kunta Kinte (LeVar Burton) is a young tribesman of coastal Africa who has passed the rituals marking his transition into manhood. Searching for wood to build a drum, he is set upon by slavers who sell him in the United States after a nightmarish Atlantic crossing. Defiant, Kunta refuses to consider himself a slave, despite some sage advice from his mentor, the more mature Fiddler (Louis Gossett Jr.). As the years pass, the aging Kunta (John Amos) is hobbled for his repeated escape attempts. Realizing he'll never return to Africa, Kunta settles down, becoming husband to Bell (Madge Sinclair) and father to Kizzy (Leslie Uggams), a girl infused with her father's independent spirit. Sold and then raped by her new master, Kizzy has a son, Chicken George (Ben Vereen), a happy go lucky cockfighting expert who uses his skills to buy his freedom. George paves the way for his children, the great-grandchildren of Kunta Kinte, who finally become free in the aftermath of the Civil War. Roots (1977) was followed by a sequel miniseries, Roots: The Next Generations (1979), and a made-for-television feature, Roots: The Gift (1988), as well as another telefilm based on the family history of the Haley clan, Queen (1993). ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Category: Epic

Awards: Best Television Series - Drama – null Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama – null Outstanding Miniseries – Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Best Television Series - Drama – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama – Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Features: cc
All new 2007 documentary - Crossing Over: How Roots Captivated an Entire Nation
Roots: One Year Later - hosted by Louis Gossett Jr.
Cast/crew commentaries with video option

Roots

Format: DVD

Release Date: 05/22/2007

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Pre-1954 Standard

Audio: DD1 Dolby Digital Mono

Runtime: 573 Minutes

Sides: 7

Number of Discs: 4

Language(s) English,Spanish

Subtitles: English,French,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Cast and Crew: Ed Asner  Actor 
Madge Sinclair  Actor 
Moses Gunn  Actor 
Leslie Uggams  Actor 
Chuck Connors  Actor 
Burl Ives  Actor 
Georg Stanford Brown  Actor 
Sandy Duncan  Actor 
Richard Roundtree  Actor 
Vic Morrow  Actor 
Lloyd Bridges  Actor 
Lorne Greene  Actor 
Cicely Tyson  Actor 
Olivia Cole  Actor 
George Hamilton  Actor 
Andrew Duncan  Actor 
Robert Reed  Actor 
Ossie Davis  Actor 
Lynda Day George  Actor 
O.J. Simpson  Actor 
Ralph Waite  Actor 
Gary Collins  Actor 
Carolyn Jones  Actor 
Thalmus Rasulala  Actor 
Beverly Todd  Actor 
Maya Angelou  Actor 
William Watson  Actor 
Paul Shenar  Actor 
Lynne Moody  Actor 
Hilly Hicks  Actor 
MacDonald Carey  Actor 
Scatman Crothers  Actor 
Doug McClure  Actor 
Hari (Harry) Rhodes  Actor 
Ren Woods  Actor 
Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs  Actor 
Ji-Tu Cumbuka  Actor 
Brad Davis  Actor 
Ian McShane  Actor 
John Schuck  Actor 
Raymond St. Jacques  Actor 
James Lee  Screenwriter 
Marvin J. Chomsky  Director 
Gerald Fried  Composer (Music Score) 
David Greene  Director 
Quincy Jones  Composer (Music Score) 
Ernest Kinoy  Screenwriter 
Gilbert Moses  Director 
David L. Wolper  Executive Producer 
Stan Margulies  Producer 
William Blinn  Screenwriter 
M. Charles Cohen  Screenwriter 
John Erman  Director 
LeVar Burton  Actor 
Louis Gossett, Jr.  Actor 
John Amos  Actor 
Ben Vereen  Actor 

Country: USA