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on the title to order - huge discounts Roots:
The Next Generations
Roots: The Next Generations picks up where the original epic series left off, following one African-American family from reconstruction into the 1960s. One of the unfortunate aspects of this sweeping American epic is that it looks like a TV production from the late-1970s; the era when this miniseries was produced was not TV's finest hour, which makes it all the more miraculous that Roots: The Next Generations is as compelling as it is. From the product description: Could there be a worthy follow-up to the most-watched miniseries ever? "We felt the other did so well," Alex Haley said, "that we should just let it hang there." But Haley began carrying around a tape recorder, dictating more of his family's tales as they came to his memory. Those remembrances filled a 1,000-page transcript: raw material for Roots: The Next Generations. Winner of the Emmy for Best Limited Series, this landmark continuation of a landmark event - with 53 stars and 235 speaking parts - "is in many respects a superior achievement," Newsweek said in comparing this to Roots. Twenty-five years later, it has lost none of its dramatic and emotional power to make us confront history and examine ourselves. One man's family remains everyone's! Addictive and profoundly disturbing as it picks at the scabs of history, Roots: The Next Generations is understandably melodramatic at times - I mean, how can you resist when you have a story as appalling as this one? It's not like this shit didn't actually happen. On a daily basis. I'm not sure how much of this story is true, Alex Haley's Roots (the book the original series was based on) was a blatant plagiarism, called one of the greatest literary hoaxes of all time. Presumably this sequel would have been easier to research since it only goes back to the late-1800s but apparently everything that came before this series was completely or mostly made up and presented as fact. Since those earlier stories form the lynchpin of this miniseries it calls into question what was real and what wasn't. For one thing, it's highly dubious given what we know now that Haley found the actual village he was descended from as depicted in the dramatic ending. Not that that negates the gut-wrenching impact this miniseries has. Man, there were some wicked and stupid white folks back then - every time one comes on the screen you want to hiss. Especially if they're smiling, that's when you know the crackers are up to no good! Some of the acting is a bit off key, but then again you have actors of great stature like Henry Fonda (in one of his best roles), Andy Griffith, Olivia de Havilland, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Marlon Brando, Paul Winfield, and, of course, the magnificent James Earl Jones. TV actors Georg Stanford Brown (who also directed an episode), Pam Grier, Robert Culp, Richard Thomas, Harry Morgan and Diahann Carroll all turn in sterling performances as well. The crystal clear picture provided on the DVD collection does point out some bad makeup jobs in the closeups and the music too often sounds like a bad TV detective show. Still, these slight flaws can't dull the impact of this powerful drama. Roots: The Next Generations the DVD set consists of 7 episodes running about 90 minutes each and they all pack an emotional wallop. Also included - episode commentaries, a 'making of' documentary and Roots: The Next Generations: the Legacy Continues. If the production values had been a little better and the music not so canned this could have been one of the greatest dramatic presentations of all time. As it is, it's not to be missed.
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Roots:
The Next Generations
Number of discs: 4 Georg Stanford Brown - Tom Harvey
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