Product Details

• Actors: Nicole Ari Parker, Malinda Williams, Vanessa Williams, Aaron Meeks, Rockmond Dunbar
• Directors: Bethany Rooney, Clément Virgo, Eriq La Salle, Helaine Head, Helen Shaver
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 5
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Paramount
• DVD Release Date: June 24, 2003
• Run Time: 995 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (98 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000094J5Z
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #34,646 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Soul Food - The Complete First Season" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Focusing on a family full of love, disagreements and a fair amount of drama, SOUL FOOD: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON follows the lives of Teri Joseph (Parker), the oldest sister and a successful lawyer who is overwhelmed by her own success, Maxine (Vanessa Williams), the middle sister who is a stay-at-home mom aching for something more, and Bird (Malinda Williams), the youngest sister and hairdresser who is married to an ex-con who can’t seem to get away from his past. All in all a fairly typical American family with issues just like everyone else: they bicker over small problems, and then pull together when confronted by a big crisis which they must work together to overcome.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Letter I have written to Paramount concerning the release of Soul Food's subsequent seasons, May 4, 2006

By 

NeverSayNever "NSN" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Soul Food - The Complete First Season (DVD)

Below is a letter I have just written to Paramount concerning the release of Soul Food's subsequent seasons. I called them as well and they claim it is coming out but that they are dealing with some clearance issues...I feel like the fans are getting the run around...so I say still campaign for a release! Feel free to copy my letter and add your personal spin to it and send it to the address listed. If you prefer the more direct approach as well -- Call at 323.956.5000 -- press 0 and ask for the Home Entertainment department -- leave a message --- they will call you back -- that's how I heard about the "clearance" issue. The guy I spoke to was nice and optimistic about a release...so hopefully a release will in fact occur SOON! I have been told this is the most requested DVD. Even some of the operators at Paramount are waiting for a release. Go figure!


[...]


Yes, it's that time again for you to hear yet another request for the release of "Soul Food" - Seasons 2-5.

First, I would love to know what is taking so long? I've been told that the sales of the first season were not up to par, so that's why the second season has been delayed THREE years. But, perhaps it's not the series; perhaps you need a better marketing plan when it comes to promoting the "Soul Food" DVD (i.e., you could have deleted scenes, commentaries, bloopers, free gift certificates to certain Soul Food restaurants, the options are endless). Or, perhaps the price was too high for the first season - I've heard that from consumers as well. Whatever it was, clearly there is a demand for the series, especially since it has been added to basic cable (i.e., BET (but realize this is the edited version - which takes away the passion of the series)). Furthermore, I know that you get tons of emails, letters, and calls requesting the release of the second season. Plus, you can go on certain message boards and find people discussing their frustrations with regard to the delay. There are even petitions up [...] So the demand is there!

Recently, I've been told that there is a "clearance" issue with guest stars who were featured on the series, so that's why there's a delay. But wouldn't that be an issue that was cleared when they signed on to play their roles on the show? Wouldn't they have signed away their "likeness" then? Just curious.

Could there be a problem with not wanting to promote a positive image of African-Americans? Is there a problem with the image of a black family sticking together through adversity? I mean, black comedies surely do not have a problem being released. In fact, both seasons of the show "That's My Mama" was released and that show was not and is not nearly as popular as "Soul Food."

In the end, I'm hoping the release of the subsequent seasons is well on its way. If not, that would be a terrible loss to your viewing audience. Entertainment needs to showcase more positive images of African-Americans, "Soul Food" did just that. I would think your company would support such a movement. Thank you and I look forward to the release.

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A heartwarming series, June 20, 2004

By 

Sebastian Fernandez (Tampa, Florida United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Soul Food - The Complete First Season (DVD)

Every once in a while I would be channel surfing and come across Soul Food on Showtime until once I stopped and watched an episode. I got the first season on DVD right away after that. This is a greatly written series, which presents the events in the life of a normal family. The viewer gets to see all kinds of emotions among the different characters, from love to rage, hope to disenchantment, trust to suspicion, etc.

Big Mama held the Joseph family together, and when she died they went through a rough patch, events that are shown in the movie that originated the series. Now, the three sisters and their loved ones have to fend off by themselves through this maze called life. Teri (Nicole Ari Parker) is the successful lawyer, who spends most of her time trying to make partner and who is going through a divorce after her husband cheated on her with her own cousin. Bird (Malinda Williams) is having a baby in the first episodes of the series and looks forward to life with her husband Lem, who has supposedly rehabilitated after being in prison for a short period of time. But Lem is having trouble getting a "regular" job, so his options are running out and he may be forced to go back to his previous activities. The third sister, Maxine, is a stay-at-home mom, with three kids, married to Kenny, owner of his own business. Her oldest kid Ahmad, who is entering into adolescence, is one of the central characters of this story. He is the one that brought the family together in the movie, and now he has the role of telling the story and sharing his thoughts with the audience.

All of these different characters have their problems and they usually find in their loved ones the support necessary to resolve them. In several episodes we get to see Big Mama again in the recollections of the different characters about how her wisdom and love led them through life. I wish I had the chance to see the following seasons on DVD, but sadly it seems that is not going to happen, so I will probably have to catch these episodes on TV.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Series!!, June 2, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Soul Food - The Complete First Season (DVD)

Why is this show unbelievable? Is it because it shows blacks in a positive light instead of the jive talkin', rappin, loud talking, fool acting people that blacks potray in most of these dumb tv shows on today? Blacks can be successful and it is about time a TV show like Soul Food was made to show it. This is one of the rare exceptions that the TV remake is actually better than the original movie. Most white people don't believe this, but there are sucessful blacks out here that are not sports stars or rappers. This show potrays middle class blacks going through everyday (and some not so everyday) problems that people go through. If this was a white show it would have earned several Emmys by now.