Roots: The Gift

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Georgan G I had never seen this b4 at it was terrific. Very uplifting despite the sad theme of racial slavery. Even a bit better than the mini-series. Also, an inspiring Xmas movie. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 04/06/23 Full Review Audience Member The MOVIE OF MY LIFE. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Audience Member Great film for a TV film. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member I watched this movie because I heard that it's hilarious to Star Trek fans, due to several leading actors from various Trek series appearing in the film (stars: Geordi La Forge (Kunte), Captain Janeway (bounty hunter), Lt. Commander Tuvok (bourgeois chief slave servant), Captain Sisko (resistance leader)). Captain Janeway enslaving Captain Sisko = much hilarity. Screw the Federation! Anyways, the film turned out to be much more than I expected, and was actually a quite touching look at slave life in the 1800's. I particularly enjoyed how the film explored the varying degrees of feelings the whites had towards the slaves, such as the mothers fondness for the slave woman she grew up with (though she still thinks of her as something less than human, something akin to a very intelligent chimp, one could say), or Hattie's (bounty hunter) feeling of indifference towards them. She doesn't despise them (as you can see in a very interesting conversation she has with her captured slave), yet she cares more about money and adventure than anything else. Then there's the "Fiddler"'s master, who although one of the more tolerant masters, often has moments of thoughtless cruelty (such as destroying the Fiddler's violin before his eyes because he thought it shabby. He wasn't intentionally being cruel, as he gave him a brand new one, yet he simply couldn't imaging a slave having sentimental feelings, just like everyone else). All in all, this film doesn't veer towards any stereotypes. Sure, we have the obligatory apologetic-white-man-hero that appears in all fictional films of slavery, but he's offset by the many much more "gray" characters. Just like reality, slave owners weren't necessarily all "evil" people, the white people of the time were raised with the prejudice that black people were inferior, and despite this, some were better than others. Not all slave owners beat and raped their slaves, but some did. Some were kind (relative to the standards of the time), some weren't. That's really what this film is about; a real look at the society of the time. The story is also touching, although a bit slow. The film is clumsily trying to illustrate the reality of slavery, to try and avoid veering towards any extreme stereotypes (all white people are evil). It illustrated the careless prejudice of the people of the time in much more original ways than just having tons of scenes depicting a white man beating a slave, such as the scene where slaves are made to act as mules for the white children's Christmas pageant. The film eventually came together with a touching ending of hope, using the slightly cliched but well suited "Star of Bethlehem" metaphor. In short, this would be a great film to watch on Christmas Eve (the majority of the film is set in the days leading up to Christmas) for a nice break from the traditional films. The acting is wonderful, the story a good tear jerker, and the Christmas metaphors well implemented. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review Audience Member This is Not the entirety of the Missing "Roots" by Alex Haley from the Mini-Series of 1977, but more in addition to it.Also excellent & Life Altering.Thank You Alex Haley for sharing your Families Story, You made a Difference in the World, you made a Difference in how People View Other People. They may have remade you in 2016, but this original version is still the best Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member This is not the review of this film but of the original 1977 film: Roots. I will give a separate review for the gift when I watch it. Reaction to Roots: Amazing, it's a classic.. watch the 1977 Roots film first before this one. I thought that it was much better then the film Amistad starring Anthony Hopkins. Loyd Bridges, Ralph Waite, Louis Gossett Jr. are even in this. Lavar Burton shows his potential in this film and now am somewhat surprised that his acting career peaked at STNG.He could have done well in film. The film describes how he was kidnapped from his family and tribe in Africa at age fifteen and came as a salve to the United states. He tries to escape several times in the film but fails and finally resigns that he will never leave his plantation. He marries a girl that he knew in Africa that was also kidnapped and has a daughter. The film fallows then fallows the daughter growing up as a slave and shows how she has her fathers(Kunta) headstrong willed nature. I would recommend watching it and it is very well done. It's graphic so would rate it PG14 since they had no rating on it. Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78EioN7A9yA Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Roots: The Gift

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