Customer Reviews

Woman Called Moses [VHS]

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

An excellant A+++ performance by Ms. Tyson which was ruined by the worst quality DVD I have every seen. 50% of the scenes were so black as to been unable to distinguish the characters ( it was like trying to watch radio) and the other 50% were washed out, full of glare, and unfocused. This was truly a diaster. My advice DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS DVD... WAIT FOR A BETTER TRANSFER

This is an important drama with a great performance by Ms. Tyson. Unfortunately the film? videotape? from which the DVD was made was in very poor condition I must assume. The colors are bleached out and the picture is very fuzzy throughout. If the DVD was made from the only materials in existence I can understand. Otherwise let's make a new DVD!

The quality of this DVD is very poor. I would not recommend purchasing this item.

I purchased this DVD some years ago to learn more about the history, trails and tribulations of the black man, and saw it just now, again. If you are looking for a blue-ray rendition - well perhaps you might have to wait as long as I had to wait, until my son got his 2 new front teeth back in! This is a historical film. I see negative remarks related to the film's reproducution qualities. Yes, they could be better. Perhaps one day we get a better, clearer, sharper version. But however misty, murky or clear the film's repro will be, it pales to the message it gives. A historical voice, the voice of mankind, an ennobling desire to be free under any circumstances. FREE. Looking back at history, various people and nations were made into slaves, but the desire for freedom never dies.
I have not seen all of Ms Tyson's films, but would think that this film is her crowning role.
KW

I guess I need to explain my three stars as having nothing to do with the content of this movie. So I'll present the pros first,then the cons. Well obviously I watched this 70's TV movie (well on DVD that is) because I see Harriet Tubman as an often forgotten American hero who not only formed the "underground railroad" and personally led many slaves to freedom in the north but her later involvment in the Civil War and her later crusades for the early stirrings of woman's rights in the suffergete movement. I read books about her as a child and Harriet Tubman is even the subject of a painting I made a few years ago. Cicily Tyson does an incredible job as Harriet,who starts out a slave of course,bitter and angry at the injustices around her.She endures many of the humiliations accorded to slaves (including being used on one occasion as a human mule) and the equally demeaning concept of her and her husband having to "buy their way" to freedom. In her disgust against this system she turns her energy toward creating a system allowing slaves to escape to the northern states to be free people. The movie plays out her transition from a broken down slave into a confident woman "called moses". Orson Welles adds a narration to the affair.So the actual content of the movie is wonderful and I think everyone interested in any type of history and social injuctice being undone should definately see this. The minus side has to do with the reason this gets only three stars from me-the movie itself is five stars all the way but the presentation does in fact leave a lot to be desired. It's apparent that this DVD was transferred from a VHS tape and even that being the case it looks like it was taped directly off of TV as the series aired. There has been zero effort to enhance the quality of the picture let alone remaster the movie. And that does a great disservice to this classic.But nevertheless if you can overlook the poor quality of the production values this is something more then worth your time to check out.

This is a great movie that inspires and teaches. What was the underground railroad? Why did they call her Moses? Why did this small woman and former slave receive a presidential award for bravery and valor? This is a very powerful performance and a moving story. We watched this after we chose Harriet Tubmann as the subject of my kid's essay for herioc historical figures. We picked a figure that we did not know anything about and would learn about at every turn of the research. This is such a well done portrayal of someone who was truly a historic American superhero. And she was a former slave and a woman! That's puts her life on a bigger plane than someone like Daniel Boone or Geaorge Washington. The movie was a perfect follow-up to the research and readings me and the kids did.

I was so eager to own this movie starring Cicely Tyson that, back when I bought it, I didn't take time to read the reviews. I wish I would have. The picture quality of this DVD is very poor. It looks like it was recorded off the television while the station was messed up due to inclement weather. I was so disappointed. I'm hoping for a digitally remastered release of this movie, because I would still like to own it.

Okay, maybe the picture is a little dark. But it's an incredibly complete picture of Harriet Tubman's life! My 5th garders learned so much from it.

This was a great movie, and Cicely Tyson as usual, does an excellent performance of Harriet Tubman. The quality could have been much better, but over all it was very good. The drama was excellent, at times I had to pause it just to collect myself. This is a movie that you can watch with the whole family. The best part of it, is that it is historical, and a great chance to tell your children or grandchildren of the wonderful black men & women who made a difference in this world.

This is a great movie with important historical value. I would highly recommend this movie to purchase.