Roots

Roots

2016
Roots
Roots

Roots

7.9 | TV-MA | en | Drama

An adaptation of Alex Haley's "Roots", chronicling the history of an African slave, Kunta Kinte sold to America and his descendants.

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Seasons & Episodes

1
EP4  Part 4
Jun. 02,2016
Part 4

Chicken George returns to the Lea farm after 20 years. George's son, Tom, nurses a grudge against his father. George and Cyrus join the Memphis Colored Battery. Tom returns home after the war to embark on a new life with his family.

EP3  Part 3
Jun. 01,2016
Part 3

George becomes an accomplished trainer of gamecocks and earns the nickname of Chicken George. George marries Matilda, a preacher's daughter, and fathers many children. Tom Lea loses a wager with an Englishman and sells George to save his farm.

EP2  Part 2
May. 31,2016
Part 2

Redcoats attempt to persuade slaves to run away and join the English army. Kunta escapes but slave catchers apprehend him and amputate half of his foot to ensure he never runs off again. John Waller sells Kunta to his younger brother, William.

EP1  Part 1
May. 30,2016
Part 1

In the river region of The Gambia in 1750, Omoro Kinte and his wife, Binta, give birth to a son, Kunta. Kunta is kidnapped in 1767 and sold to British slave traders. After arriving in Maryland, Virginia planter John Waller purchases Kunta.

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7.9 | TV-MA | en | Drama , Action & Adventure | More Info
Released: 2016-05-30 | Released Producted By: The Wolper Organization , A+E Studios Country: United States of America Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website: http://roots.history.com/
Synopsis

An adaptation of Alex Haley's "Roots", chronicling the history of an African slave, Kunta Kinte sold to America and his descendants.

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Cast

Malachi Kirby , Matthew Goode , James Purefoy

Director

Ruth E. Carter

Producted By

The Wolper Organization , A+E Studios

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Reviews

j-44566 Hello, Firstly I personally like this movie,Roots is a great movie,there is breathtaking settings.The boat,The landscape,Houses,etc... are notable. The acting is correct from my point of view.I liked the soundtrack they are remarkable there was a lot of blood and violence i liked too.That I destet is the camera used for the movie there was a lot of grain in darks scenes.I think the storyline is a overly falt maybe a little bit lifeless,you know like an impression already seen and the point I most hate is the end... I was very dissapointed of end of the movie if you see the movie you probably see what I mean!!
iloepatouillat Hello, my name is iloë, i am 16 years old. I am in second at the high school chevrollier. I saw this movie within the framework of court of English about the slavery. At first I did not like too much the subject but in finaly I was interested in it. "Roots" is a movie realised in 2016 by 'history' . directors is Will Packer and Marc Toberoff. It tells the story of kunta. kunta a young man living in Mandinka with his parents and uncle Silla surrounded by all the tribe is capture to be sold and served as a slave. We see each step of his journey until its depletion. The film is interesting because it shows the reality of the facts with all the violence. The story is very beautiful, we feel the emotions of Kunta, including his love for his father, his mother and Jinna the girl he loves. The actors are very talented. unfortunately i was disappointed since i hate movies that end badly and the end is really sad because Kunta is to finish and do not want to fight anymore for his convictions. We do not know if he is going to die or live because he closes eyes.
mouillearthur For me, being 15 years old, I thought this film would be average, a simple movie on slavery. However, the movie was splendid and well put together. ''Roots'' (2016) is an adaptation of an older series. We follow an African man sold to slavery in the America of the 18th century. For the acting, I especially like how Malachi Kirby show his emotion in his role of the lead character. We see is panicking, troubling. The role of Forest Whitaker is just as notable when he is speaking, he shows his emotions to Kunta. The soundtracks of the movie are very fine and show emotions to the spectator. Differently, I especially like the game of languages, the Mandika and the English. Finally, for the scenes, some are shocking and others were excellent.
catesa When I heard in 2013 that The History Channel (sorry, I forgot, it's just called "History" now) was going to remake "Roots", I was mostly just confused. Considering it wasn't even 40 years since the original, I thought "Is this really necessary?" The '77 miniseries is one of the most important cultural events of the 20th century. It seemed kind of blasphemous to do a remake, especially so soon. Why don't we re-cast and re-shoot "Star Wars" while we're at it? Yeah, it IS that stupid an idea. However, I also understand that a lot of Americans' entire understanding of slavery is based on having watched the miniseries, and some of the history in the original is certainly flawed. I was skeptical that a new one would be anywhere near as good, but I was drawn in with promises that it would be "truer to the book," and include "new information discovered since the original," etc. And frankly, in a day in age where BLM protesters are referred to as "thugs" by subconscious racists, and Barack Obama is somehow viewed by a lot of white people as more "divisive" than his successor (go figure), I think as many (particularly white) people as possible need to be reminded where all these racial problems came from. So sure! Let's give it a whirl! To me this new version only outshines the original in a couple instances: The updates to Juffure and the portrayal of Mandinkan culture/clothes/housing is really cool to see. The inclusion of the internal West African slave trade is also really important. We know now that having Kunta and co. running around in loincloths in the woods and white men strolling through the jungle kidnapping people at random is just plain inaccurate. On the other hand, the original tale Alex Haley heard was that Kunta was out chopping wood to make a drum when he was taken - kinda weird that this was entirely omitted, but I suppose I can let that go if it means seeing a more accurate Juffure. The other thing I appreciated was the removal of all those goofy sympathetic white characters. Anyone who knows the story behind the original miniseries knows those characters were created because ABC thought white people wouldn't tune in if there weren't some nice white guys sprinkled in to make them feel better. As someone whose ancestors owned slaves, I don't think that's what white audiences (especially in the south) need to see. We already have too many white people going on about how slavery's evils were exaggerated, or "most people didn't own slaves," or "most slaves weren't treated that badly," etc. I think it's more important to drive home the overwhelming racism, violence, and brutality that permeated every part of southern society (again, so as to better understand how deep-seated racism against African Americans is in our culture). Aside from these two updates, the new version (particularly after Kunta arrives in Virginia) doesn't really improve on the original, nor is it accurate to the times. No doubt there were dignified, proud, sly slaves who could find ways around or out of the system (as Kunta's descendants do in the original), but let's be honest: to have Kunta killing his overseer and not immediately having his head cut off is ridiculous. Any kind of violent resistance to a white person would have been met with totally gratuitous cruelty on the part of the slave-owners. For most slaves there was little to no relief from the constant terror, violence, and depression that loomed day in and day out over the plantation. That's really what makes the history of slavery so heart breaking. There was very little mercy on the part of slave owners as they tormented their "property" throughout their lives. I can understand that it might provide some catharsis for the audience to have Kizzy hold a knife to Tom Lea's throat, or to have Chicken George just shoot Murray's son and walk away like nothing happened, but it's also a false narrative that allows white people today to feel better about their ancestors' cruelty (as if revenge was an option for slaves). It also downplays the real perseverance and strength black people of the time had to have considering there really were no opportunities for them to settle the score unless they were prepared for certain death (granted, many were, and didn't survive their attempts at revolt, but that's my point - they didn't just walk off into the sunset).To make a long story short, the new series is definitely more accurate when it comes to the Africa scenes. Once Kunta's in America, the original miniseries was probably far more accurate - not in terms of violence (there was a lot that couldn't get past the censors in 1977), but in terms of the slaves' attitudes and actions. We see fiddler with his backhanded compliments, Kizzy spitting into Missy Ann's water, Tom and the family setting a trap for Evan Brent; they get away with as much as they can without the master noticing, and that was fairly typical. Also, as to be expected with something put out by The History Channel (Sorry - History), there's a bunch of time spent on unnecessarily working in historical events that could've been spent on the characters and the inner-workings of slavery. Having Kunta join the Ethiopian Regiment, or Chicken George at Ft. Pillow? Totally lame, and not important to the story at all. I could go on, but I won't. Check it out if you're a black history buff, but it doesn't hold a candle to the original for me.