Plot: What’s it about?
It would be very hard to sum up the premise of Roots in a single paragraph, due to the scope of the material involved. In addition, I don’t want to reveal too much and lessen the impact of some scenes, which would be a shame. So instead of doing too much or too little, I will simply pen a brief introduction and overview, then allow you to discover the rest of Roots. This miniseries follows the path of one family through hundreds of years and through all the twists, turns, and surprises, never turns away from them. It all begins with Kunta Kinte (LeVar Burton), a young man taken from his African village, pushed inside of a cramped ship, and carted off to America, where he is to be sold as a slave. But he doesn’t want to suffer that fate and stages a series of escape attempts, only to be caught and beaten each time. On the same plantation is Bell (Madge Sinclair), the cook of the family and the two get married, with a daughter named Kizzy (Leslie Uggams) soon to follow. Then Kizzy follows her own path, which leads to the path of Chicken George (Ben Vereen), whose path leads beyond even further. As time passes and the family sees all kinds of historical events, their lives are changed forever in the process. In a story like Roots, you’ll discover that the journey holds much more impact than the destination…
This is one of television’s first and most revered miniseries, so I am pleased to see Warner issue this terrific three disc set. I’ve seen Roots a couple of times before and while it is a good miniseries, I don’t find it to be as impressive as a lot folks do. Yes, it has some great performances and the sheer scope is at times reason enough to watch, but the production seems held back at times, due to budget limitations and such. I give the production crew credit for doing the best they could, but Roots rarely rises above the poor set design, costumes, and other touches that hinder the impact of the material. If you just want to focus on the material itself, then Roots is a success and defies the limits of the its production, but as this is a televised miniseries, I want to be immersed in the material and that doesn’t happen here, at least in my opinion. At the time Roots was probably a breakthrough in many ways, but it has not aged well if you ask me, in terms of visuals, production design, and the like. Even so, those interested should still visit Roots and thanks to Warner, they can do so in grand style, with this deluxe three disc release.
Video: How does it look?
Roots is presented in a full frame transfer, as intended. As this is a low budget miniseries made over two decades ago, I didn’t expect much in terms of the transfer here, but Warner has issued Roots in fine form indeed. The print used looks clean and while some wear signs are noticed, this is to be expected and in truth, the flaws are far more infrequent than you might assume. In giving this lengthy material three discs to call home, Warner ensures compression issues are nil and had they opted for less discs, I think the transfer would have suffered greatly, no doubt about it. I found the colors to be brighter than expected and with minimal fades evident, while contrast is smooth and effective at all times. Although this transfer won’t stack up against more modern efforts, as far as Roots is concerned, this is a terrific looking effort in all respects.
Audio: How does it sound?
The original mono track is used here and I think that was a wise decision, as a new 5.1 mix simply wouldn’t have enhanced this material much. The audio suffers at times, but this is due to the age of the material and technological limits of the time in which it was made, so we can overlook some of the flaws here. The dialogue is clean and usually easy to understand, although some scenes are a little too soft and a result, a little harder to take in. I had no problems with the music or sound effects either and while never too impressive, the elements come through as well as can be expected, given the age and nature of the production. This release also includes a Spanish language option, as well as English, Spanish, and French subtitles.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Although the miniseries runs for almost six hundred minutes, Warner has amassed a full length audio commentary track here, which is no small feat. The track is loaded with participants of all kinds and all have a lot of comments to make, which means that while this track is a long one, it remains interesting throughout. You’ll from producer David L. Wolper, cast members such as Cicely Tyson, Ed Asner, LeVar Burton, John Amos, and countless others, as well as the directors, the writer, and various other members of the production crew. You can also enable a special “video commentary” feature in which at certain times, an icon will appear on the screen and when you click on it, a video clip from the commentary session is shown. The final bonus is an eighteen minute collection of interviews, which were taken from the commentary session, but are moments not used in the main commentary utilized in this set. I suppose a more in depth piece would have been welcome, but the current selection of extras is still more than solid.
