Roots (Four-Disc 30th Anniversary Edition)

Description

Based on Alex Haley's best-selling novel about his African ancestors, Roots followed several generations in the lives of a slave family. The saga began with Kunta Kinte (LeVar Burton), a West African youth captured by slave raiders and shipped to America in the 1700s. The family's saga is depicted up until the Civil War where Kunte Kinte's grandson gained emancipation. Roots made its greatest impression on the ratings and widespread popularity it garnered. On average, 130 million - almost half the country at the time - saw all or part of the series.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
Documentaries
Electronic press kit
Featurette
Interviews

Customer Reviews:

Roots.......2007-09-08

This is a FANTASTIC movie! The DVD's are wonderful! Thank you for selling it!

A must have for ANY DVD collection!!!.......2007-08-20

I recently rented this from Blockbuster and was TOTALLY BLOWN AWAY!!! Not only is it VERY true to the book (which I read several years ago), the acting is SUPERB from both sides (white and black). I esp. loved John Amos, Georg Stanford Brown and Lloyd Bridges; they were really "in the moment" when doing this. Queen is good too, but the acting caliber here probably WON'T be beat for a LONG TIME!!!

New Light.......2007-08-14

I watched the roots series when it came on T.V. sometime ago. It was a pleasure watching it again. This time I saw things that I didn't see before. I will give this DVD to my grandchildren so they can see how really important family is.

Roots-the best.......2007-08-12

I originally ordered the Roots dvd and the Roots chapter book for my African American history class since it was required study material at my college, and i was going to sell them to the next student for next quater BUT i have changed my mind. The Roots saga is a very heart touching story. It is very well made and the actors are just fabulous. I would definitely recommend this for everyone who wants to learn more about the history.

Roots DVD.......2007-08-09

good movie,but the DVD has a small hesitation about every 30 minutes throughout the movie. Just a bit distracting.

Average customer rating:

These cuts are moronic.
Paramount, issue a legitimate DVD release
One of the rare cases of the movie being better than the book!
BEWARE: Hacked-up version
Ragtime is one of the greatest movies ever!

Ragtime
Starring: James Cagney , Brad Dourif , Moses Gunn , Elizabeth McGovern , and Kenneth McMillan
Director: Milos Forman
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0002WZTO8
Release Date: 2004-11-16

Amazon.com essential video

Fact and fiction intertwine in Milos Forman's colorful kaleidoscope of E.L. Doctorow's sprawling novel of turn-of-the-century America. Anchored in the true story of the murder of architect Stanford White (Norman Mailer) by Harry Thaw (Robert Joy) over the affections of his wife Evelyn Nesbit (Elizabeth McGovern), Forman weaves a portrait of early 1900s America in a tapestry of intertwining fictional tales. The primary thread involves the proud black pianist Coalhouse Walker Jr. (Howard Rollins) and his demand for justice when a racist fireman destroys his automobile, which escalates into a reign of terror by Walker and a band of revolutionaries. A secondary story involves an ambitious immigrant artist (Mandy Patinkin) whose primitive flipbooks send him on the road to creating early cinema. Centering all of these stories in one way or another is an upper-class family known simply as Father (James Olson), Mother (Mary Steenburgen), and Younger Brother (Brad Dourif). James Cagney came out of a twenty-year retirement to play the irascible Irish police commissioner, a character created for the film. Forman's biggest departure from Doctorow's novel, however, is his focus on Walker's story, cutting away the other threads to little more than asides in the final half of the picture, the primary dramatic weakness of an otherwise rich evocation of America's past. Randy Newman's lyrical score and Miroslav Ondricek's understated cinematography earned two of the film's eight Academy Awards nominations --Sean Axmaker

Description

Based on the popular novel by E.L. Doctorow, RAGTIME tells the story of four New York families at the turn of the 20th century. Starving immigrant artist, Tateh sets off to make his fortune in Hollywood, but along the way encounters showgirl Evelyn Nesbit who is at the center of a murder investigation. Meanwhile, an upper-class family finds their seemingly perfect existence ruined when black pianist Coalhouse Walker Jr. begins to romance a pregnant girl living in their home.

Customer Reviews:

These cuts are moronic........2007-05-18

What a stupid piece of vandalism to cut 40 minutes out of such a great picture! Fortunately the Region 2 version is complete, a good reason in itself to buy a multi-system DVD player.

Paramount, issue a legitimate DVD release.......2007-03-20

I can't overemphasize the level of disappointment I have at the hack censorship Paramount management has engaged in with the DVD release of Ragtime. How they got Milos Forman to participate in adding commentary to that blatant smear of his efforts is is beyond me.

Does the studio actually think that diluting the film to "reposition" it (ergo, move it from an R to a PG rating) is going to dramatically grow its appeal? The core market for this DVD is the universe of film fans old enough to fondly remember seeing the original theatrical release in the early 1980s -- but what the studio is offering them (as many reviews here clearly state) is unacceptable.

I want to see Elizabeth McGovern's entire performance, Paramount - so I went to the secondary wholesale market and purchased a new old stock VHS copy, which contains the FULL original release.

Or put another way, one less DVD sale for you.

Because yes, while it's your right as the copyright holder, I won't purchase censored goods.

One of the rare cases of the movie being better than the book!.......2007-03-17

I read the novel RAGTIME years ago and was rather underwhelmed possibly because of my prejudice at the time against books that mingle fiction with real historical characters and events - a literary style I have now come to accept and appreciate. Even so, the movie is much more enjoyable and emotionally moving than the novel. The sets and costumes look authentic, the acting is convincing and the film simply transports the viewer to the early 20th century. One caution, though the movie is rated PG, the version I saw on DVD had some scenes that would probably put it in the R category today and would definitely make it PG-13 though that rating did not exist in the early 1980's when the film was produced.

BEWARE: Hacked-up version.......2007-02-13

BEWARE: the VHS version is 156 minutes long - the DVD version is 115 minutes long. THEY DELETED 41 MINUTES FROM THIS.

The long version is worthy of 4.5 stars - this short version is useless.

Ragtime is one of the greatest movies ever!.......2007-01-19

The central theme still resonates with how America was, and is, in this classic turn-of-the-century period piece. Intertwining multiple storylines with know historical events gives the movie a real sense of being. The directing is brillant, the music even better and the acting is stupendous!!!

Average customer rating:

Bad screenplay, bad directing, bad acting
Not want I wanted
Wow!!! What A Disaster
HEY...QUESTION....????
"Sorry" to all reviewers who purchased the DVD; but "Thanks" for the heads up

The Women of Brewster Place
Starring: Oprah Winfrey , Mary Alice , Olivia Cole , Robin Givens , and Moses Gunn
Director: Donna Deitch
Manufacturer: Xenon
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000560W1
Release Date: 2001-02-03

Customer Reviews:

Bad screenplay, bad directing, bad acting.......2007-08-06

Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor is a powerful, wonderfully written book. I admire Oprah Winfrey for what she's done in the media - and getting people to read. But this is just a stilted mess, with one scene jerking into the next, no character development ... really a disappointment. The acting is flat; no affect - As if saying the lines and raising eyebrows is enough.
Not enought fleshing out of the characters to be able to relate to them.

Not want I wanted.......2007-05-13

Why do they put the movie on dvd and cut some of the good parts out of the movie? I thought I found this movie, but I was a sucker.

Wow!!! What A Disaster.......2007-03-14

Thanks to the other reviewers who warned of this horrible dvd. Such a fine movie deserves A+ treatment. Hopefully the movie will be re-released with widescreen, total digital restoration, and bonus features. Even though it was made for t.v. it still should be done right.

HEY...QUESTION....????.......2007-01-13

Has anyone ever bought this movie on VHS through amazon? and if so is that version chopped up too?

"Sorry" to all reviewers who purchased the DVD; but "Thanks" for the heads up.......2006-12-30

I am truly sorry to those who purchased the DVD. I read ALL the reviews and some critical scenes seems to be left out. I would have been totally pissed because I know this movie like that back of my hand. Obviously for those who never saw the movie/VHS, they got to enjoy the movie as is, but for those who had the opportunity to see this GREAT movie uncut, I feel the anger and frustration via your words.

I will not get this DVD, because I believe you all when you say they screwed up this DVD.

Maybe we should tell Oprah about this? Flood her with emails about how they chopped up HER film. With Oprah...you never know!

Average customer rating:

The show that started the P.I. wave
"Blue is Just the Color of the Sea"
Essence of cool
Peter Gunn
Sophisticated television Noir

Peter Gunn, Set 1
Starring: Craig Stevens , Lola Albright , Herschel Bernardi , and Minerva Urecal
Director: Boris Sagal , Lamont Johnson , Robert Ellis Miller , Robert Altman , and Alan Crosland Jr.
Manufacturer: A&E Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000062XDK
Release Date: 2002-03-26

Customer Reviews:

The show that started the P.I. wave.......2007-08-23

Look up "cool" in the dictionary and you might get a picture of "Peter Gunn." This show started a wave of private eye/detective shows in the late 50's, "77 Sunset Strip," "Johnny Staccato," "Mike Hammer," "M Squad," and many others. Craig Stevens starred as "Peter Gunn," sort of a lesser Cary Grant -- but solid nonetheless. Lola Albright was a real dish as his squeeze. Throw in Emmy winner Herchel Bernardi as his Lt. pal, Hope Emerson as the 6'2 "Mother," and last, but surely not least, Henry Mancini's jazzy score and you have a real winner. The show ran first on NBC, then ABC, for a total of three season. The discs are a bit pricey, but you'll get some terrific retro stuff. The picture quality of the 50-year-old prints are not pristine (as you might imagine) but the sound quality is first-class. Highly recommended viewing for a chilly, rainy evening.

"Blue is Just the Color of the Sea".......2006-09-14

Long before Crockett and Tubbs, before Magnum and Dan Tanna, and before Tony Franciosa as Matt Helm or Mike Conners as Mannix, there was Peter Gunn. He was cool. He was the guy every girl wanted and every guy wanted to be like. He lived in a cool world of jazz and bad guys, and girls who needed his help. He had a cool and sexy girlfriend, a little on the sweet side. Some of his friends, like Lt. Jacoby, were squares. It somehow made Gunn even cooler, that you didn't have to be cool yourself to be his pal.

Craig Stevens was Peter Gunn and Lola Albright was his girl, Edie Hart. Hershel Bernardi was his cop pal Lt. Jocoby. Hope Emerson was "Mother." She ran the jazz joint Gunn frequented. Blake Edwards was the guy who dreamed up Peter Gunn in the first place. By accident, he ran into a guy by the name of Mancini while getting his hair cut, and the music Mancini would write for Gunn would change television forever. It would also begin a long and fruitful friendship that would give moviegoers and music lovers such classics as "Days of Wine and Roses" and "The Pink Panther."

While there is an occasional washed out look to these black and white episodes, the convenience of having so many great episodes on the two discs sort of makes up for the occasional lack of quality. Volume one contains great episodes like "Rough Buck" and "Streetcar Jones," while the second disc contains fabulous entries such as "Death House Testament." My favorite "Peter Gunn" episode of all time, "Lynn's Blues," is included on the first disc.

This is one of the best episodes of Peter Gunn ever aired. Linda Lawson portrays Lynn Martell, singing hauntingly about being blue. It is obvious she needs someone on her side. Lynn is an old friend of Peter Gunn's girlfriend, Edie, and Gunn noses around the jazz club where she sings as a favor to her. He soon learns that Edie was right to be worried.

A knife-wielding guy named Santano (David Tomack) guards Lynn and doesn't take well to Gunn asking questions. Gunn's old pal, Lt. Jacoby, warns him about Santano, who works for the club's owner, Nat Kruger ( Guy Prescott). Peter suspects it all ties in to the murder of Roger Dwyer (William Masters). Gunn is just in the nick of time to keep Lynn from ending it all, and she finally tells him her story of love and sadness.

Linda Lawson gives a great performance as the distraught Lynn Martell, and sings beautifully, adding a lot of atmosphere to this episode. Gunn gets to flirt with his girl Edie and talk to "Mother." Lt. Jacoby will have Gunn's back when everything comes to a head, and the last scene of Gunn and Edie dining at the club and listening to Lynn's final number makes this one really special.

This particular episode was written by Lewis Reed and the show's creator, Blake Edwards. Like all the others, it had Mancini's West Coast jazz score. Craig Stevens will always have a special place in TV history as the very cool, Peter Gunn. This show broke new ground in television for its blend of music and action, and set a tone for what cool really was. This is a must have for "Peter Gunn" fans and anyone else who loves classic television. There may indeed not be much that's new here, but that is only because Craig Stevens as Peter Gunn started it all.

Essence of cool.......2006-08-13

Great entertainment from the fifties. Peter Gunn was the cool detective of his day. From the great opening theme to the fine cast of supporting and guest characters, this show is an institution from the golden days of television. In watching these episodes, it is hard to believe that they only run thirty minutes each rather than the hour long dramas we have become accustom to. Drop into Mother's for a nightcap, some cool jazz and good tv.

Peter Gunn.......2006-07-31

I was hoping this was going to be a lot cooler than it was. PETER GUNN has a solid reputation, the redoubtable Blake Edwards behind it as creator and, of course, Henry Mancini's justly famous, driving theme song. In this series set you get two disks covering the first 16 half-hour episodes of the show.

Anyway, here's what I learned from the first seven-hours (series set number two is in transit, but the mold was cast by episode two, and I don't think it's gonna change much.) PETER GUNN stars actor Craig Stevens in the title role. At certain angles Stevens is a dead ringer for Cary Grant, a fact not lost on the show's producers. Gunn is suave, cool, unflappable, and well dressed in the latest of late-`50's fashions. Each episode, which lasts about 25-minutes without commercials, begins with a crime or a scene of violence happening to someone we've never seen before. A girl falls through a swank nightclub skyline to her death, for instance. Opening credits and theme roll and Peter Gunn is soon drawn into the case. Gunn can usually be found at Mother's, a smoky jazz joint on the right side of the river run by `Mother,' played by the imposingly tall (6'2") Hope Emerson. Pretty Edie Hart (Lola Albright) is the lead singer at the club and, not surprisingly, Gunn's girlfriend. Rounding out the continuing cast is Herschel Bernardi as police Lieutenant Jacoby. For those who keep track of such things, Gunn has a cordial, respectful, and mutually supportive relationship with Jacoby.

The episodes may start with a bang, but there's an awful lot of whimper that follows. The crimes aren't terribly imaginative, the guest stars sturdy but unspectacular (the names I recognized from disks 1 & 2 include Gavin MacLeod, Whit Bissell, J. Pat O'Malley, Billy Barty, Ross Martin and - for old music fans - Nino Temple plays the girlfriend of a young hood in disk two's "Sisters of the Friendless,") and, although a time or two the light'll grow harsh and the shadows grow long and fat, for the most part the stories aren't all that visually appealing, either. A lot of dingy back alleys and under-furnished rooms, mainly.

The show did make me laugh once, unexpectedly. Poor Lola Albright's Edie is left without much to do besides look beautiful - which she does uncommonly well - breath a tune every half-dozen episodes or so, and worry, wait, and be elegantly wooed by Cary Grant-clone Stevens. Some of my favorite scenes involve the two of them, leaning over a railing in the back of Mother's, nuzzling. In the episode entitled "The Frog" Whit Bissell plays a character named Daniel Swink (a debonair crime boss from `the other side of the river.') Another character's name is Vernon Lilly, yet another is simply called The Frog. When Gunn tells Jacoby and Edie he has to go see Loretta Gymps Edie exclaims `Gymps! What is it with these names!?' If PETER GUNN had spent more time gently poking fun at itself, in particular, and crime thrillers, in general, I probably would have enjoyed it a lot more. There's a beatnik bar Gunn visits in a couple of episodes that was fun, too, as was a rockabilly bar. Beatniks and rock-a-billers lost their edge a long, long time ago, but they were `out there' back then, and they add a nice sense of time to the program. Too bad there isn't more of that here.

Sophisticated television Noir.......2004-11-23

Craig Stevens is the poor man's Cary Grant--perfect for the small screen. The show is the epitome of 50's cool from the long cars with the big fins to the beat coffee houses,jazz clubs and interesting characters. For a half hour show the stories are fairly well rounded too. I only wish the episodes had been an hour long, but, alas, they were not. Our loss.

Average customer rating:

still banging
Compelling
Cornbread Earl and Me
"One of the Best movies out there
Superb !!!!!!

Cornbread, Earl & Me
Starring: Moses Gunn , Rosalind Cash , Bernie Casey , Madge Sinclair , and Jamaal Wilkes
Director: Joseph Manduke
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005N7Z4
Release Date: 2001-10-16

Description

He had all the right moves to put the ball away...until the cops put him awayfor good. UCLA All-American and NBA Rookie Of The Year Keith Wilkes and Academy AwardÂ(r)* and Golden Globe** nominee Laurence Fishburne III give spectacular debut performances in this "touching...sensitive and gripping movie" (Cue) that's "guaranteed to take your emotions for a reckless ride" (L.A. Herald-Examiner)! Step into the court with Cornbread, Earl And Me...you'll be glad you did. Wilkes is "Cornbread," a promising high school basketballer who has what it takes to shoot himself right out of the ghetto...until two cops mistake him for a rapist and gun him down in cold blood. But when the police attempt to cover up their mistake, strong-arming the community into silence with threats of jail time and violence, it's up to Cornbread's 11-year-old brother Wilford (Fishburne) and his pal Earl (Tierre Turner) to find the courage to speak the truth and clear Cornbread's name. *1993: Supporting Actor, What's Love Got to Do With It **1995: Actor, "The Tuskegee Airmen"

Customer Reviews:

still banging.......2007-03-20

The movie was excellent. The best thing I liked about my purchase was that I got it in less than a week. I was able to give it to my mother who has found Amazon to be a great place to buy all the old movies she use to watch as a child.

Compelling.......2007-01-29

Great movie for the entire family. Lots of good moral and character lessons on this flick. It's not about race. It's about doing the right thing and standing up for the truth.

Cornbread Earl and Me.......2005-06-10

Way back then, when I was a child growing up in Guyana, South America, I saw this movie on big screen. It touched an entire audience that night and I am happy to have seen it on Amazon.com. I am now lucky to be able to buy it because I have often thought about this movie, about the nice kid whom everyone called Cornbread. I remember both him and his basketball which was replaced that fatal day with a bottle of soda pop when he was shot. I can never forget this story, because it is indelibly encraved into my mind and I turned out pretty good, now living here in America. These movies are the real classics of all times, only...no one every says so! I rate this movie a classic and I am sorry Amazon.com. I love you but you don't have a buttom to rate a true classic of our time!

"One of the Best movies out there.......2005-05-16

One of the most shining examples out there of the blackploitation era is this film; You have a dilemma, and you have a solution. A young brother just about to go to college on a basketball scholarship was killed by the cops thinking that he was a suspect; All the witnesses of the crime get intimidated with the exception of one young brother played courageously by Laurence Fishburne, who tells the story just like it is even after he and his mother were intimidated by the prosecution. Most of the witnesses were intimidated and denied what actually happened. But Fishburne's character unbought and unbossed told Cornbread's story simply and saved the day;If you ever want to see a film and come across a situation that needs clarifying, THIS is the film to see;

Superb !!!!!!.......2003-10-23

I remember when I had saw this movie when I was a little girl and I had saw it on BET last year this is a great movie it is sad but it is still good I enjoyed this movie and I would recommend anyone who enjoys blaxploitation movies would enjoy this movie this is a great film about a little boy and his friend Cornbread he was a great basketball player and he had just recieved a scholarship to go to a college to play basketball and had dreams of becoming a pro- basketball player and one day a white cop accidentally shoots him and he dies and a big contorversy stirs in this small towm and causes havoc and trouble for everyone and really takes a toll on his friend and
makes it hard for him to cope with his loss but eventually things get better and then he goes on with his life but he never forget about his friend "Cornbread" . This is a touching heartwarming film that would make you just want to cry so therefore when you watch this movie be sure to have some tissue on hand. I would recommend anyone who is fond of dramas to purchse this video!!!!

Average customer rating:

TIMELESS LOVE STORY
Disappointing
The Clock
Not as wonderful as I'd hoped.
A Perfect Classic Film by the great Minnelli

The Clock
Starring: Judy Garland , Robert Walker , James Gleason , Keenan Wynn , and Marshall Thompson
Director: Vincente Minnelli , and Tex Avery
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
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ASIN: B000JU8H8S
Release Date: 2007-02-06

Amazon.com

Sometimes simplicity can be heartbreaking. So it is with The Clock, a wonderfully simple love story that stands as one of the gems of the MGM golden years. It should be noted right off that this 1945 film is not a musical, despite a talent roster led by the maestro of MGM musicals, producer Arthur Freed. Rather, it's a straight, black and white romance about a soldier (Robert Walker) with a two-day pass in unfamiliar, overwhelming New York City. He meets an office worker (Judy Garland), and in the glow of the city and each other, they fall in love. Underlying the sweetness of the romance is the time limit of the soldier's leave, after which he will be sent overseas; the clock brings an urgency to the action, especially after the lovers lose each other in the crush of a subway. Veteran character actor James Gleason provides lovely support, as does his real-life wife, Lucile. Director Vincente Minnelli brought his designer's eye to the film, turning (by his own avowed intention) New York City itself into the third main character in the drama. It's not difficult to guess the reason for the film's strong emotional tug, or for Judy Garland's radiance; Minnelli had fallen in love with Garland during the making of Meet Me in St. Louis a year earlier, and they would marry after filming The Clock. She was never lovelier than in these two pictures. --Robert Horton

Description

Soldier Joe Allen is on a two-day leave in New York, and there he meets Alice. She agrees to show him the sights and they spend the day together. In this short time they find themselves falling in love with each other, and they decide to get married before Joe has to return to camp.

Customer Reviews:

TIMELESS LOVE STORY.......2007-08-07

ONE OF JUDY GARLAND'S BEST PERFORMANCES, WITHOUT HER SINGING! IF YOU LIKE GOOD OLD FASHIONED LOVE STORIES, WHERE BOY & GIRL BUMP INTO ONE ANOTHER AND ETC.., YOU'LL LOVE THIS MOVIE!!!

Disappointing.......2007-07-12

I have always been a fan of Judy Garland, but this film was a big disappointment. I don't suggest any one buy this film.
If you like Judy Garland stick with the musicals.

The Clock.......2007-06-25

Minnelli's sentimental, spirited and touching wartime romance was a small picture by MGM standards, but Garland's star power and the backdrop of bustling Manhattan (actually Hollywood sound stages) give the picture a dynamic, worldly feel. Walker is likable as the earnest hayseed, and doe-eyed Garland is grand as ever without once singing a tune. (Minnelli, of course, married Judy as soon as the film wrapped!) Great support work from James and Lucille Gleason as a milkman and wife round out this sweet film about love on a very tight schedule.

Not as wonderful as I'd hoped........2007-05-30

This movie, only now out on DVD, does not impress me as a classic. It's slow. The writing is adequate. The characters are not that engaging. It's not baaad. It's just nothing to write home about.

A Perfect Classic Film by the great Minnelli.......2007-05-01

I thought I had seen all of Vincente Minnelli's greatest films, well, I was so wrong... 'The Clock' is truly comparable to his great 'Meet Me in St. Louis', 'Gigi', 'The Band Wagon'... He has so many great classics, but I believe this one may be his third best.

As it starts you don't expect anything great: an aerial view of New York, Central Station, lots of people going on their daily routines... it goes increscendo though. And how! This is the romantic story of a young soldier (Robert Walker) in 1945 who has a couple of free days to spend in NYC before returning to serve in the Army (probably to go to England). He's never been in the big city before but he will meet a girl (Judy Garland) who will show him around. Love is in the making meanwhile, but there's only 2 days to spend. What can happen in two days? Well, that's exactly what they both are thinking too, while watching at the "clock" to see how much time is left for them together (more rapport between the characters and the viewers is hardly possible).

I say this film is perfect because it looks so simple, its story, its characters... it must be really difficult to tell when there's not that much plot going on. But the viewer gets so involved with these young couple that he won't have time to blink. I mean, every second of film is purposeful, meaningful, and beautiful. You can't do more with less. That's why Minnelli is one of the greatest American directors, comparable to Ford, Hawks, Vidor... Personally, it took me some minutes to forget Robert Walker's role in 'Strangers on a train', which left an indelible impression on me. He wouldn't be my first choice at all for this role, but he is fine. A must see classic.

Average customer rating:

Thoroughly enjoyable
Peter Gunn television series
Gunn Gets Better
Have a drink at Mother's
Second shot

Peter Gunn, Set 2
Starring: Craig Stevens , Lola Albright , Herschel Bernardi , and Minerva Urecal
Director: Boris Sagal , Lamont Johnson , Robert Ellis Miller , Robert Altman , and Alan Crosland Jr.
Manufacturer: A&E Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000062XDL
Release Date: 2002-03-26

Customer Reviews:

Thoroughly enjoyable.......2007-05-16

I bought both season one and two of Peter Gunn, both because it sounded like something I would enjoy, myself, but also because we are caring for my aged mother. She is bed bound and there is not much on TV these days that she finds entertaining.

These episodes have been a great find for us. Each one finds a new situation, interesting characters, some wonderful jazz, and a great deal more humor than I had expected. (Not "fall in the floor laughter" but very amusing and lovable characters, and some very challenging and entertaining situations for both Gunn and his police lieutenant pal, Jacobi.)

If you love really good jazz (by some wonderful guest entertainers), and good character development, you should find the Peter Gunn series (both seasons) a real forgotten treasure.

Peter Gunn television series.......2007-05-07

This is a great series from the late fifties. Done well. I think anyone would enjoy this.

Gunn Gets Better.......2006-09-16

Have a drink at Mother's.......2006-08-13

As my review of volume one went, this is classic tv from the golden age. Short concise plots with good characters make this fun and entertaining. From the beginning, this show was great. Throw in one of the most famous themes of all times and a cool, very cool, jazz score and that is the icing on the cake. It is amazing to watch a detective show without a lot of shoot-em-ups, no foul langauge and no overt sexuality. Not that those elements are gone entirely, they are done with style.

Second shot.......2006-08-06

Having just watched Set 1, I didn't expect a whole lot of evident changes in PETER GUNN SET 2. Set one contained the first sixteen episodes of the private eyes series from 1958, Set 2 episodes seventeen through thirty-two. Peter Gunn (Craig Stevens) still hangs out and headquarters at Mothers, the smoky jazz club run by the imposing Mother (Hope Emerson.) Gunn's girlfriend Edie (Lola Albright) is still huskily breathing out torch songs and melting butter at ten feet. And Herschel Bernardi as Police Lt. Jacoby is still tucked underneath fedora and trenchcoat, every ready to collaborate with Gunn in solving crimes.

Still, I enjoyed the second set more than the first. The first set seemed to be aiming at some kind of gritty realism, and most of the stories took place on the docks, the pier, or the abandoned warehouse. They missed, and in place of realism they seemed over-populated with dingy locales and Poverty Row-worthy plots and characters. The episodes in the second set seem to breathe a little more. It helps that the locations are comparatively exotic - a Texas cattle ranch, an overstuffed antique shop, and the ever reliable carnival midway are just a few of the places where crimes are committed and solved.

Of course, the music is still great. After the ultra-cool Cary Grant-lookalike Craig Stevens, the hero of these programs in the Henry Mancini scores. Well, that and a little more. `Peter Gunn' has a few repeating characters, the most welcome of which is the 3'9" Billy Barty and the pool shark (he drags the box he stands on around the table as he surveys his next shot) and sometime informant. Another treat are the jazz musicians who appear as themselves now and then - included among that crew in this set is drummer Shelly Manne and flamenco guitarist Laurindo Almeida. There are a few clunkers in the set, of course, but I suppose that's to be expected. It's hard writing a twenty-five minute crime story. You have to create the crime, present a handful of likely suspects with plausible motives, and leave enough time for Pete & Edie to sneak away for some sincere snuggling now and then. In this set of episodes that happens more often than not, and merits a strong recommendation.

Average customer rating:

Another epic 70s classic
Anti-white propoganda
Just my thoughts
this really happened?
Groundbreaking Mini-Series

Roots
Starring: Maya Angelou , Ji-Tu Cumbuka , Moses Gunn , Thalmus Rasulala , and Hari Rhodes
Director: Marvin J. Chomsky , David Greene , and Gilbert Moses
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005QW6Y
Release Date: 2002-01-15

Amazon.com essential video

From the moment the young Kunta Kinte (LeVar Burton) is stolen from his life and ancestral home in 18th-century Africa and brought under inhumane conditions to be auctioned as a slave in America, a line is begun that leads from this most shameful chapter in U.S. history to the 20th-century author Alex Haley, a Kinte descendant. The late Haley's acclaimed book Roots was adapted into this six-volume television miniseries, which was a widely watched phenomenon in 1977. The programs cover several generations in the antebellum South and end with the story of "Chicken" George, a freed slave played by Ben Vereen whose family feels the agony of entrenched racism and learns to fight it. Between the lives of Kunta and George, we meet a number of memorable characters, black and white, and learn much about the emotional and physical torments of slavery, from beatings and rapes to the forced separation of spouses and families. Nothing like this had ever confronted so many mainstream Americans when the series was originally broadcast, and the extent to which the country was nudged a degree or two toward enlightenment was instantly obvious. Roots still has that ability to open one's eyes, and engage an audience in a sweeping, memorable drama at the same time. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Another epic 70s classic.......2007-09-10

Roots acclaimed as one of the all time best miniseries boast some classic performances
Ed Azner as he did in Rich Man Poor Man again terrific also Brad Davis as he did in Chiefs. The young Kunta Kinte played by Levar Burton and Kizzie by Leslie Uggams as well amongst a host of great performances. The story is well known so no need for me to repeat what other reveiws allready explain.

Anti-white propoganda.......2007-08-27

Having seen this as a youngster, I can admit the acting is superb. Hence the 1 star review. That's where it ends though. "ROOTS" is, for the most part, a fictional tale Mr. Hailey plagiarized from WHITE AUTHOR Harold Courander and his book "The African". Yet this mini-series is held as indisputable fact. The slave trade was already going when whites went to Africa. Only a fool could think African warriors would let Europeans run roughshod over their country, taking slaves at will. The slaves were bought and sold by their own, this has been proven. It also has, to a certain degree, painted whites as the epitome of all that is evil. It's also interesting that Jews produced it(but that's for another story)If this tale of fiction could ever be challenged in schools all over the country, it'd be a step toward improving race relations, albeit with many angry blacks. It'd also challenge the doctrine of Jackson and Sharpton who make their living off of white guilt and extortion. Not to mention the innocent whites who were bullied and assaulted by blacks after this program premiered. Until then, expect the white resistance movement in America to continue growing. Good day.......

Just my thoughts.......2007-07-08

I got this movie because I wanted my son to see it. I know when I watched it when I was young, it really had an effect on me. I could not believe how the slaves were treated. I watched the mini-seris on TV back in the 70's & when I watched this movie, it seemed to me that there was a lot of stuff not included in it but I am not sure. It still got the message arcoss to my son. I think it is a great movie that everyone, needs to see.

this really happened?.......2007-06-20

this film truly allows for viewers to experience 2nd had the cruelties of slavery. i 1st saw this film back in 1993 and it still hits hard everytime i watch it .

Groundbreaking Mini-Series.......2007-04-26

Still the most compelling program ever aired on televion. I bought this set so my children could experience a bit of their history. Great transfer to DVD, and still packs a powerful blow to racism. The cast is one of the best ensembles ever assembled for any project. A great adaptation of Mr. Haley's years of research.

Average customer rating:

Takin' it to the Man!

Black Gunn
Starring: Jim Brown , Martin Landau , Brenda Sykes , Luciana Paluzzi , and Vida Blue
Director: Robert Hartford-Davis
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000WN154
Release Date: 2004-01-20

Description

A successful and popular nightclub owner who believes financial independence is the path to equality and success must act as a go-between for his militant-minded brother and the white gang syndicate his brother has attacked and robbed. Their involvements lead to a breathless race-course chase, the destruction of a dope pusher and a violent waterfront climax. Stars Academy Award® Winner Martin Landau (1995, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Ed Wood) and Jim Brown (Any Given Sunday, Mars Attacks!, The Running Man).

Customer Reviews:

Takin' it to the Man!.......2005-10-14

If you're tired (like me) of The Man keepin' you down, then Jim Brown is the brother you got to dig! Black Gunn is a satisfying slice of Mob mayhem vs. righteous dudes. Takin' it upside the head is Martin Landau as the Mob boss, doing a lot with a relatively small role. The soundtrack is real fine, especially the chase scene at the horsetrack. But can you believe that white boy trying to outrun the World's Greatest Running Back? Disrespect The Man and check this out!

Average customer rating:

D.D.
Big Shrug (spoilers)
dysfunctional family so real, it hurts.....
Creepy - nobody EVER discusses anything REAL ..........
disfunctional Wyle

The Myth of Fingerprints
Starring: Randee Allen , Arija Bareikis , Justin Barreto , Chris Bauer , and Nicholas Bourgeois
Director: Bart Freundlich
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 0767847466
Release Date: 2000-05-09

Amazon.com

A Sundance Festival special, this indie family comedy-drama was given unduly harsh treatment by critics when it was released. Starring as the long-estranged son of an emotionally distant father, Noah Wyle comes home to his family for Thanksgiving in hopes of reconnecting with his old girlfriend, and receives unexpected results. But he's not the only one coming back. There's the brother with a cute fiancée (Hope Davis), who doesn't quite understand what all the tension is about. There's the glum sister (a hilarious Julianne Moore) who is down on love and everything else until she connects with a childhood acquaintance. And Mom (Blythe Danner) is there to referee it all. But the central conflict involves Wyle and his father (Roy Scheider in a wonderfully eccentric performance). --Marshall Fine

Customer Reviews:

D.D........2006-12-17

Is the family both the centerpoint of our adult strength and the source of our weakness?
The question lingers upon coming to the end of Myth of Fingerprint, and one is left with the age-old family conundrum of love as both an unspoken bond and a lonely device.

This movie about a family gathering at Thanksgiving - always the best time of the year to resurrect demons and compare scars - deals with familial relationships from the aspects of four adult children home for the holiday. The isolated setting of the large New England house amidst the backdrop of the cold and bare landscape is perfect for a film about the difficulties of family communication rendered more glaring when thrust together in an enclosed social setting. Noah Wylie as the son Warren, and Julianne Moore as daughter Mia are the most powerful of the sibling characters, with different and yet similar personalities. Mia is all anger, Warren all emptiness and regret. Both are uncomfortable in their own skin and seem confused about what makes them this way. The mother is the glue of the house, warm and caring, and yet gently and firmly willing to hold up a mirror for each family member to see their reflection.
But it is the father who is central to the story. Emotionally constipated and rigid, he seems almost fearful of his children when he isn't cultivating a detached, yet powerful presence over them. Though he speaks rarely the actions and expressions of the father expose the quiet source of his childrens reciprocated fear. By not saying much verbally he seems to say a lot emotionally.
The beauty and complexity of the movie are the lack of background as to why exactly the children have such a strained relationship with their father, though by his aforementioned actions one hardly needs to guess. Each persons relationship with their family and their significant other (or lack thereof) is examined without intense or excessive social history allowing the viewer to draw their own conclusions - perhaps based on their own personal experiences (another powerful aspect of the movie). And at the end a lingering memory, an emotional scar, will explode shattering the tension percolating below the surface of the family living room on Thanksgiving night. The closing two scenes of the father lend a quiet, powerful, and yet tragic beauty that best exemplify the crushing inner weight some carry preventing them from expressing themselves even to those they love.

Unavoidably opinions will differ on particular aspects and the overall enjoyment of the movie, but those differences will say more about the viewer themself and their relationship with their own family than it does upon the film. At its core the capacity to make us examine ourselves and our own relationships is its very power.

Big Shrug (spoilers).......2006-04-19

Some pretty pictures, some good acting on the parts of some of the actors as they portray a bunch of dysfunctional people home for Thanksgiving.

However, a plot seems to be missing. We meet the parents and grown kids, as well as dragged-along boyfriend/girlfriend of two of the grown kids as they gather at the parents' home for the holiday. All of them seem to have deep seated weirdnesses and problems, ranging from the oldest daughter, Mia (Julianne Moore) who seems to be stricken with a near-terminal case of the redass to the youngest daughter who seems to think it is hysterically funny to leap out from behind doors at people, screaming at the top of her lungs. The father, played by Roy Scheider, is distant and boorish and seems to be obsessed with the time and adhering to a schedule. The mother (Blythe Danner) acts as if nothing is going on at all, even though her children and their assorted guests are acting like twerps and her husband acts like he needs a lobotomy.

Fine, a good portrait of dysfunctional family dynamics - but it doesn't go anywhere from there. We never find out just why the kids are estranged from their father. The most shattering thing we see that he's done is that he gets bombed at some previous gathering and makes a pretty strong pass at his son, Warren's (Noah Wylie) then-girlfriend, kissing her in the hallway of the family home. In another scene, we see the father watching an old home movie of a birthday party for Warren, where he breaks a couple of eggs over the kid's head. Some confusing references are made to some kind of "game" the father has played through the years, which seems to consist of asking people who don't have watches what time it is.

Okay, so the father doesn't come off as Dad Of The Year by any means - but what we hear and see of him simply doesn't explain the obvious deep-seated problems of his adult children, ranging from the ongoing rage and viciousness of his oldest daughter, Mia, to his son, Warren's, obvious fear and distaste for him. Physical or sexual abuse isn't even hinted at. At most it seems as if the father character is obsessed by schedules and time and is rigid and emotionally distant from everyone.

So it is hard to accept the characters of the adult children or why they act like such putzes. From what we're told by the sketchy plot, they don't really seem to have much reason to indulge in continual rages or depression. Two of them have relationships with other people that seem to involve a lot of sex, but not much else. Mia's relationship with her boyfriend, Elliot, is simply painful, as she continually cuts him down, verbally abuses him and then tries to use him as a sex object - but then, for some reason unknown to us, Mia verbally abuses everyone without mercy. She's always angry and cruel - but we don't know why.

Warren, on the other hand, seems to excel at whiny depression. We see him in what appears to be a therapy session, mentioning a hometown girl, Daphne, who apparently dumped him in the past. This has been the catalyst for him being estranged from his family for three years. When we finally see what happened - his drunken father tried groping and kissing the girlfriend in a hallway, and apparently Warren saw the incident - we're left wondering "is that it?" All that trauma because someone got drunk and acted like a jerk? She dumped Warren, who did nothing wrong, because of something his father, an acknowledged jerk, did? Warren just comes off as oversensitive and self-absorbed, greatly enjoying his angst, and his girlfriend comes off as a little jerk who treated him badly becaue of something he didn't do (and who also, for some reason, makes him sit on the ice of a frozen lake for a long talk). Considering the buildup to the "shattering" moment, I had at least expected that his father had raped his girlfriend, or that Warren had discovered that she'd been having an affair with this father. Only something of that intensity could have explained Warren's ongoing grief.

Another brother, Jake, is involved with a pea-brained girlfriend that he can't seem to say "I love you" to. After seeing her behavior through the movie, we can understand why. She's quite rude, vacuous, insensitive to the discomfort and feelings of others, and manipulative. In other words, Jake is involved with a carbon copy of his father. Okay, fine - is that it? This is worth a two hour movie?

Youngest daughter, Lee, is just a little jerk. She's busy being the cute and funny mascot, always acting like a ten year old, making a rather pitiful pitch for the attentions of Mia's boyfriend. Insults and cruelties seem to just roll off her hide, particularly when they're aimed at her by Mia. At one point she's having a conversation with her mother, who is telling her that she still loves the kids' father in spite of everything - but we never hear what "everything" consists of.

A slice of life movie is fine, and this film comes off as a peek into a holiday weekend with a dysfunctional family, but empathy for any of the characters is almost impossible because we never see just what it is that has led to such a range of unhealthy behaviors in this family. More exposition would have helped - otherwise, everyone comes off as whiny, self-pitying, obnoxious and tiresome.

Some people who gave this film positive reviews mention that this is a true slice of life - that the ends aren't neatly tied up, that much remains unsaid and unrevealed, just as is the case in dysfunctional families. There is no Hollywood ending. That's fine - but for a film to really work, a little more than several days' worth of Big Brother is needed. If we're to see these people as anything other than a bunch of immature cretins, we need to know why they ended up that way, even if it's not entirely revealed.

All the angst doesn't add up to the supposed cause of the angst - and I was glad the film was finally over as a result.