Average Rating: 
Rating:  - roots
I had been anxiously waiting for the DVD release of this wonderful Television Miniseries since I started collecting DVDs.
Well, it finally happened and looked forward to seeing once again after 25 years one of the top made for television films made.
As I started to watch Disc 1, I noticed that the English subtitles would randomly appear and disappear as the movie progressed. Needless to say, this put a dent on my viewing so I decided to restart the movie again, as I could NOT get rid of the subtitles, either through the remote control or DVD "set-up" menu settings. I repeated this several times but the subtitles kept popping up. At this point my desire to keep watching rapidly declined. I tried it on another player, and yes, same problem, with the subtitles appearing and disappearing at the same points on both machines. I own over 100 DVDs and had never seen this problem before, so I decided to exchange it for another one.
Well, guess what? Same exact problem with the replacement disc! I don't know the technical reason why it happens, and I know it's not the players' problem, so at this point I will be returning the DVD for a refund as this is obviously a pressing problem. Warner Video needs to look into it, and rectify the situation.
Other than that, I look forward to one day actually watching "Roots" in it's entirety, at which time I will be happy to let you know my overall opinion of the DVD.
Rating:  - Roots is for everyone.
Watching 'Roots' as a adult 25 years after its release in 1977 is bittersweet. There are scenes that I could recall very easily, like when Kunta Kinte was named in the moonlight, or when Kizzy spit in Missy Anne's water. But the rest of the 6 episodes were so brand new and fresh. It was a great feast for the eyes, ears and heart. I was overwhelmed.As a 7 year old little girl I watched with great pride. As an adult woman I watch with a renewed sense of how far we have come as a nation. I am in awe of the legacy Alex Haley has presented. A legacy that represents African people in the Western Hemisphere disconnected from our Motherland...Africa. I can't wait for ...The Next Generation to be available on DVD. This is a must for a lover of history...black, white, brown, yellow and everyone in between
Rating: - Must-have TV show
This show aired for the first time when I was 8. I have to say I didn't watch it -but heard a lot about it-, so when I heard it was coming out on DVD, I take a chance and ordered it.It's no wonder this show was the most watched in history. I have to say I'm not American, therefore the history itself isn't my history. Still, I felt totally touched by the series, and had to make an effort after each episode not to watch the next inmediately and go to bed. In my opinion, this is not a story for blacks, or Americans. This is a great story -whether you want to watch is as history or fiction, if makes you feel better somehow- that everyone will enjoy. Anyway, most likely you already know what roots it's about. If you don't, well, it's the story of seven generations of a black family, from the capture in Africa of a free black (Kunta Kinte) to become a slave, to the writer of the book (Alex Haley) himself. Actually note that the DVDs tell the story from Kunta Kinte until the generation where they become free, then explains in the final minutes happened to the rest. The story is told complete in Roots: The Next Generations, which isn't available on DVD yet. I will comment on the DVD now. The box comes with three double sided DVDs (which I don't like, because I think they are more prone to be damaged). Total running time is 573 minutes. Region is 1. The primary track (English) is closed captioned, and there are subtitles in English, Spanish and French. Note that the additional commentary is not subtitled, so if you are impaired you will miss it.
Sound is in mono both in the English and the Spanish tracks (dolby digital, though) and is very decent.
Video is 4:3, and it's quite clean. It's interlaced (if you care about this because you use your PC to watch DVDs).
As for the box itself, it's convinient and doesn't take a lot of shelf space, which I appreciate very much.
There are no booklets included.
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