Part 1 

In the river region of the Gambia in 1750, Omoro Kinte and his wife, Binta, have a son named Kunta. Kunta is kidnapped in 1767 and sold to British slave traders. After he arrives in ... See full summary »

Director:

Phillip Noyce

Writers:

Alex Haley (based upon the book by), Lawrence Konner (teleplay by)

Stars:

Laurence Fishburne, Matthew Goode, Malachi Kirby

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Laurence Fishburne	...	Alex Haley (voice)
Matthew Goode	...	Dr. William Waller
Malachi Kirby	...	Kunta Kinte
Derek Luke	...	Silla Ba Dibba
Chris Obi	...	Kintango
Babs Olusanmokun	...	Omoro Kinte (as Babatunde Olusanmokun)
Ike Amadi	...	Narrator (voice)
James Purefoy	...	John Waller
Forest Whitaker	...	Fiddler
Kedar Williams-Stirling	...	Sitafa
Simona Brown	...	Jinna
Tony Curran	...	Connelly
Hakeem Kae-Kazim	...	Samson
Katie McGuinness	...	Elizabeth Waller
James Gracie	...	Edward (as James Alexander)

Storyline

In the river region of the Gambia in 1750, Omoro Kinte and his wife, Binta, have a son named Kunta. Kunta is kidnapped in 1767 and sold to British slave traders. After he arrives in Annapolis, Maryland, Virginia planter John Waller purchases Kunta.

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Plot Keywords:

bach's air on the g string | annapolis maryland | rival families | axe | tune | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

TV-14

Did You Know?

Trivia

[All trivia items for this title are spoilers.]

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Goofs

When Kunta Kinte is on the ship heading for America in 1767, the flag used has the red diagonals in the Union Jack. These were not added until the Act of Union with Ireland in 1801.

User Reviews

Blood lust & gore soap opera

13JAN2020 {1/10 stars F} Recommend? No

I did not choose to play this TV miniseries, but watched anyway. Like many movies and TV shows that have been remade, this series is a disaster compared to the original Roots. This version has made-up events and story lines that are not factual history or true to the original 12 Years A Slave book. For added shock value there is a lot of gore, violence, screaming, fighting and loud brutal physical fighting.

CONTENT ADVISORY: Gore and graphic violence abounds with dismemberment, impaling, suffocation, rape that results in children, partial nudity of women's breasts, sexual activity without full nudity, gruesome dueling scene that lasts several minutes with two men shooting and running each other through with swords, gruesome Civil War reenactments and more. Many bullets and swords shown piercing human flesh up close so the moment of impact and release of a lot of blood can be seen in detail. A LOT of blood and blood splatter is shown from MANY injuries and deaths in every episode, this might as well be a horror movie.

Black and white people shown fighting for their lives and being hanged well above the ground. Numerous times slaves are shown brutally attacking and killing their masters and other people. Gambling for rooster fighting that is shown frequently. A rooster appears to be killed by another rooster during a fight. A slow motion close up is shown of the roosters throat being slit by a talon, blood spilling out, the rooster collapsing and shown lying dead for a minute while the other rooster pecks at it to see if it is still alive.

{1=F 2=D- 3=D 4=C- 5=C 6=B- 7=B 8=A- 9=A 10=A+}

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Mandingo

Release Date:

30 May 2016 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fiction Film & Television Limited, Film Afrika Worldwide

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD