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Oz - The Complete Sixth Season
Amazon Price: $31.99List Price: Usually ships in 24 hours By: Warner Brothers - Model: HBOD99027D Amazon Marketplace: 85 new & used starting at $13.58 |
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 47
Average rating: 4.5 of 5
Editorial Review:
The sixth and final season of HBO's prison drama Oz--which aired in 2003--is brutal, passionate, and gritty. Compellingly addictive with taut storylines and superb acting, each of the eight episodes on this 3-disc set nicely paves the way for the series finale, which wraps the show up in a satisfying (and surprising) manner. Often told through the eyes (and voice) of deceased prisoner Augustus Hill (Harold Perrineau, Lost), Oz isn't an easy show to watch. Inmates are routinely raped, tortured, and killed--not out of need, but out of boredom and cruelty. And in a corrupt system where too few bureaucrats actually care about these men's lives, few are willing to do anything about it. Those that do give a damn--Sister Peter Marie (Rita Moreno, West Side Story), Father Mukada (B.D. Wong, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit), Dr. Nathan (Lauren Velez), Warden Glynn (Ernie Hudson), McManus (Terry Kinney)--face an uphill battle.One of the strongest storylines is the ongoing romance between murderer Keller (Christopher Meloni, Law & Order: SVU and Beecher (Lee Tergesen), who's hoping to be paroled. Series creator Tom Fontana doesn't allow their arc to be diluted by any idealistic expectations. The viewer is acutely aware that Beecher is an easy target for annihilation whether or not he is released from prison. The viewer is never quite as certain of Keller's motives--whether they're borne of love and affection, or a selfish need to satisfy his own primal urges. Like Beecher, Alvarez (Kirk Acevedo) is trying to keep his own nose clean in the hopes that he'll be eligible for parole three years down the line. It's easy to understand the almost suffocating feeling he lives every day, knowing that three years may as well be a lifetime when you're behind bars and the target of both your former gang and the Aryan brothers, led by Schillinger (J.K. Simmons, Law & Order: SVU, the Spider-Man films). And Ryan (Dean Winters) desperately tries to save his mentally retarded brother Cyril (played by Dean's real-life sibling Scott William Winters) from being executed.
There are a few subplots that don't ring true, such as the quasi romance between a librarian (Patti LuPone) and one of the prisoners, and an elderly inmate's (Joey Grey) implausible death wish. And for all the constraints the majority of convicts face, some appear to have almost free run of the prison. Still, Fontana has created a vivid, dark world where the occasional acts of humanity are as important as the non-stop chaos that is Oz. While it certainly helps to have seen the previous five seasons of the series to enjoy this season, it's not mandatory. These last eight episodes work fine as a stand-alone piece of drama. --Jae-Ha Kim
Oz - The Complete Fifth Season
Amazon Price: $31.99List Price: Usually ships in 24 hours By: Warner Brothers - Model: HBOD99016D Amazon Marketplace: 72 new & used starting at $15.40 |
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 25
Average rating: 4.5 of 5
Oz, Fifth Season 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
Oz keeps getting better and better, and this season is utterly fantastic. Worth every cent.
Happy/Good Price 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
I am very happy about the price I paid for three boxes of OZ, but I must admit I will not order on Amazon US again.Why?
- 5 weeks for the delivery (I didn't choose the cheapest shippment) but fortunately I am very patient!
- 15 euros for the customs duty! Waoow what a pain in the a....
Thanks anyway.
Oz - This Is One Yellow Brick Road You Won't Want to Travel On 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
Emerald City is supposed to be some sort of experiment in rehabilitating inmates of Oz Penitentiary. It doesn't seem to work very well. The death rate in this prison is higher than it ever could be in real life. People get out only to come back in. Of course, if they left, they'd be off the show too and we wouldn't want that! This show is raucous, crazy ride with plenty of violence and nudity and people who barely make sense. It is the lower depths of human existence. Everybody seems to be having fun as actors though. Variety features singing and dancing. There are always fight scenes. Wild and crazy stuff to do. Many of the show's actors have gone on to other shows now, namely Lost and Dexter. The show had a wealth of talent.
Editorial Review:
Studio: Hbo Home Video Release Date: 04/17/2007
Oz - The Complete Fourth Season
Amazon Price: $30.99List Price: Usually ships in 24 hours By: Warner Brothers - Model: HBOD99017D Amazon Marketplace: 84 new & used starting at $15.25 |
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 44
Average rating: 4.5 of 5
Oz goes off the rails, but in a good way 4 out of 5 stars.
9 of 11 people found this review helpful.
Coming off the nearly unmitigated brilliance of its third season, season four of Oz sees the show facing the tall order of maintaining the high standards of writing and acting that had characterized much of its history, and more often than not it's a success. This season is certainly not without its problems, some of them more damaging than others, but the show's visceral and emotional intensity is still very much in evidence, and even a flawed season of Oz is better than just about anything else. Season four picks up almost immediately after the conclusion of season three, with racial animosity in Oswald State Penitentiary at an all-time high, the psychotic Adebisi in possession of a gun and waiting for an opportunity to maximize its destructive potential, Beecher and Keller continuing their tumultuous gay love affair while Nazi leader Schillinger nurses a grudge against both, and Officer Whittlesy suddenly nowhere to be found (a circumstance certainly owing nothing whatsoever to Edie Falco's newfound success on The Sopranos). Naturally, it's not long before a dramatic catastrophe shakes up the already precarious situation in Emerald City and brings about a new level of disorder accompanied by a wild surfeit of plotlines and a level of bloodletting that's excessive even by Oz's lofty standards.
All the killing actually becomes a problem for the show as this season progresses--the constant murders begin to feel increasingly gratuitous after a while, to say nothing of the rather odd fact that nobody seems to have much interest in solving them. Obviously a prison show is going to rely heavily on the violence factor, but I think the creators of Oz could've distributed the killings far more judiciously and plausibly--The Sopranos, The Shield, and The Wire all take place in violent environments, but they've still managed to maintain an element of shock and impact when a character gets killed off. On Oz, especially in this season, the deaths (with a few exceptions) and the resulting revolving-door effect on the cast contributed to a somewhat numbing quality that pervades much of the season. Granted, there is the compensating plus of a train-wreck effect, as I often found myself literally unable to look away from all the carnage, but a little more realism would've gone a long way.
In an equally frustrating development, Oz seemed to develop a severe case of ADD in its fourth season, seeing its already somewhat fragmentary plot development crushed under the weight of a huge and fluctuating cast and an emphasis on momentum over coherence. With double the series's usual complement of episodes, we see a small army of new characters come through Oswald-among them an IRA fugitive on the run since Bloody Sunday, a pack of Chinese refugees, a legion of black street thugs, and a whole bunch of other guys I can barely remember-and few of these new arrivals are around long enough to make much of an impression. The result is a nonstop barrage of plotlines centered on sex, violence, backstabbing, and double-dealing among the inmates and staff, with character development often feeling perfunctory. Drug-addled, unpredictable new arrival Omar White, played by Michael Wright, is perhaps the best example of the problems in focus that largely characterize Oz's fourth season. He comes in at the halfway point with the obvious intention of becoming a major character, but only gets about five minutes an episode in which to get integrated into the show's ever-expanding universe, which isn't easy when he's shanking someone or relapsing on drugs on a weekly basis. Sure, Omar is blatantly overplayed by Wright, but it's not his fault--with Omar's limited and extremely busy screen time, nuance isn't exactly an option.
That this season works as well as it does is a testament to the core of characters who've been at its center from the beginning, along with a few newcomers who do manage to contribute something to show's harrowing, explosive approach. Even as Oz heads toward its home stretch, Tom Fontana still manages to find new dimensions to explore for his main characters and unfamiliar situations in which to put them. Sure, the show continues to drag out the Keller-Beecher affair and Ryan O'Reilly's (possibly) unrequited love for Doctor Nathan to diminishing returns, but in other cases we see familiar faces among both the inmates and staff undergoing profound changes in response to a variety of catalytic events. The staff undergoes some major shakeups as Warden Glynn starts to question his priorities in response to a new career opportunity and Emerald City chief Tim McManus slides deeper into depression and instability, but as always it's events among the inmates that take center stage, and to its credit the show is far from out of ideas when it comes to some of the major players behind bars. Kareem Said, especially, continues to emerge as one of the most complex and well-developed TV characters in history, played in memorably intense fashion by Eamonn Walker and imbued by the writing with a level of nuance that would be extremely difficult to bring to a Muslim character in the wake of 9/11. Said finds himself facing down a host of challenges to his ecumenical, non-violent worldview, none more prominent than a mid-season shocker that puts him on a sharp emotional spiral. For his part, it can be a little disorienting seeing a sadistic bigot and rapist like Schillinger studying scripture and eagerly awaiting the birth of his grandchild, but it does actually square with the pro-family, God-country-and-race message he's always propagated. Perhaps the best turn of the season other that Walker's, though, is submitted by Harold Perrineau as Augustus Hill, the wheelchair-bound lifer who serves as the show's narrator and often as its voice of reason. Hill has always been something of a moral center for the show, at least on the inmate side, and season four sees his character fleshed out a lot more fully than ever before as details about his past emerge and collide with some major developments in his present to produce an increasingly complete character in his own right.
Amidst the sea of new faces (many of whom quickly meet their ends), a few characters do also manage to survive long enough and get sufficient attention to become standouts as well. Anthony Chisholm is great as Burr Redding, a crafty, perpetually snarling drug lord hardened by a combination of Vietnam and the city streets he grew up on. Redding may be a vicious stone killer, but he's still got a logical moral code, and he's philosophical and introspective enough that I couldn't help but like him. His shrewd leadership ends up galvanizing Emerald City's black gangster elements for an ongoing war against the Latino faction led by the stylish and calculating Enrique Morales and the mafiosi under Chucky Pancamo, with predictably dramatic consequences for Em City's residents. Presaging the great work he would later do on HBO's incredibly brilliant The Wire, Lance Reddick does a powerful and intense turn as John Basil (aka Desmond Mobay), an undercover cop who goes into Emerald City with the best of intentions but quickly finds himself in over his head. Similarly, future Wire cast member Reg E. Cathey, easily one of the coolest actors hardly anybody has heard of, has a huge impact on the show in a relatively long arc as the charismatic Martin Querns, who replaces Tim as Em City's unit administrator and brings with him a hidden agenda that only serves to heighten Oz's already incendiary racial tensions. Shockingly enough, Luke Perry manages to make a similar impact on the show's dynamics as Jeremiah Cloutier, a larcenous ex-televangelist who comes in and makes some dramatic changes to Oz's spiritual order, at least to the extent that one exists.
In another welcome development, the show does make use of this season's larger allotment of episdoes to expand its focus beyond Emerald City, better living up to its title as it examines much more of its central institution. Continuing and expanding on a saga starting in season two, season four spends a great deal of time following the fortunes of creepy child-killer Shirley Bellinger and her new neighbors on death row. Despite the natural feeling of impending doom, there's still a somewhat lighthearted, darkly humorous feeling to the proceedings on death row, although that starts to subside as its residents meet their inevitable fates, albeit not always in a predictable fashion. The isolated cop wing, too, gets a couple of additions from the regular cast as the tragic story of the perpetually angry ex-correctional officer Clayton Hughes takes a series of turns for the worse.
Overall, while season four doesn't mark the best Oz has to offer, that certainly doesn't mean it's in any way without value. It takes a lot of risks, not all of which pan out, but it does at least demonstrate an admirable commitment to avoiding creative stasis as it approaches the beginning of its end, which is more than can be said for a lot of shows. And as usual, whatever else can be said about Oz, there's no denying its singular ferocity and almost total uniqueness. Despite some reservations, this season (and show) still gets a thumbs-up.
Editorial Review:
Studio: Hbo Home Video Release Date: 04/17/2007
Oz - The Complete Third Season
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 32
Average rating: 5.0 of 5
Incredible. 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
The first season of Oz introduced our (huge) cast of main characters. The second season was dedicated mostly to intergroup struggles: the battles of drug dealers, crime lords and gang bangers. With the spectacular third season, Oz presented a mix of the best of seasons one and two by giving us character development within a story about a larger, rising struggle.
On the personal end, each of our main characters has problems. Beecher, betrayed badly by his boyfriend Keller at the end of season two, is out for revenge against Keller and his friends. Keller, remorseful and desirous of Beecher, is willing to do anything to get Beecher back--including seduce a nun and kill. Sister Peter Marie comes to realize that she is a woman before being a nun, while Schillinger must choose between his family and his beliefs. Augustus Hill finds out a shocking secret, Miguel Alvarez struggles with depression, the warden faces his past...and that's just some of the main characters.
While Season Two had a bit of a problem juggling all of the events and people introduced, everything has been hammered out in Season Three. It's particularly impressive that each of these personal storylines wove together and finally became part of a much larger story: one of budding racial tension in the prison. Who stays impartial, who wants equal rights, and who turns to racism? The answers might surprise you.
The only warning I can give about Season Three (and Oz in general) is that crack is less addicting than this show. I began Season One thinking I'd just watch an episode or two...and was up until 6 in the morning, desperate to know what was next. Be careful...and enjoy.
Editorial Review:
Studio: Hbo Home Video Release Date: 09/05/2006 Run time: 480 minutes Rating: Nr
Oz - The Complete Second Season
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 43
Average rating: 4.5 of 5
DISAPPOINTED 2 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.
I just purchsed the first three seasons. Unfortunately for me, the close caption for hearing impared in only in Spanish... No English... In fact even when I select NONE for the close caption, the wording is still coming across the bottom of the screen in Spanish.. How can anyboby put out a dvd without English close captioned.. I mean we are in America right????
GREAT SERIES!!!!!!! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
LOVE THIS SERIES, ESPECIALLY THE BRAVE PRODUCERS WHO PROVIDE THE MALE FRONTAL NUDITY! IT IS ABOUT TIME FOR THOSE OF US WHO ARE SICK OF ALL THE FEMALE FRONTAL NUDITY. AS FOR THE ACTORS, YOU CAN'T BEAT THE CAST, SO MANY ALL STAR ACTORS, SUCH A PLEASURE TO SEE THE DIFFERENT SIDES THAT THESE ACTORS CAN PORTRAY.
OZ-------Enough to Scare You Straight 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
This show is not for the faint-of-heart. It depicts the conditions in a maximum security prison without any politeness. The writing is smart, and moves quickly, the acting is superb. The plots are interesting, and make you think about our criminal justice system, and what could be done to improve it.
As a middle-aged female, I find it hard to fathom that there truly are men (and women), who are so evil, and cruel to fellow human beings. I sure am glad they are behind bars!
Editorial Review:
Studio: Hbo Home Video Release Date: 09/05/2006 Rating: Nr
Oz - The Complete First Season
Amazon Price: $32.99List Price: Usually ships in 24 hours By: Warner Brothers - Model: HBOD99204D Amazon Marketplace: 126 new & used starting at $10.12 |
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 122
Average rating: 4.5 of 5
Such a wonderful show! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.
I own and have watched every episode of OZ ranging from season 1-6. The story is compelling and very deep and of course for adult audiences only. I love how the characters unfold and progressively become more complex. This series portrays prison life as very brutal and unforgiving, but there is always a subtle reminder that these convicts are still humans with feelings and a heart. Season one starts off with a bang, and some of the annoyances are cleared up by season two. Save yourself the trouble and buy all the seasons when they are on sale through amazon. You won't regret it.
surprise season 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 2 people found this review helpful.
I had never seen this season and it came to me quickly and didn't disapoint.
Editorial Review:
Welcome to emerald city an experimental unit of the oswald maximum security prison or oz. Em city is about prisoner rehabilitation over public retribution. No matter how hardened a criminal or killer whether youre in for a few years of in for life you have a role to play. Studio: Hbo Home Video Release Date: 11/14/2006 Starring: Edie Falco Terry Kinney Run time: 480 minutes Rating: Nr
Oz - The Complete Seasons 1-6
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17
Average rating: 5.0 of 5
Oz - Complete Series 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
I had seen most of this series on TV, and it was one of the few that I was hanging out to own. It is quite intense and not for the faint hearted, but it is without doubt one of the best pieces of TV I've ever seen. The writing (apart from the scene where Tim finds out Diane is staying in Enlgand!) is fantastic, as is the acting; it is a veritable who's who of great actors who moved on to star in other mainstream series. If you want drama, thrller, action, deep character development as well as TV that actually makes you think, and proves that there really is no black and white in life, then Oz is for you.
What a journey!!! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
I don't know why anyone is worrying about this boxed set and its quality. It has all the words in it, it has all the episodes in it, and it has all the punch of a cult series that anyone buying it would want.
Someone commented on the menus being slow. That's how it is! It's a HBO release, and the budget never pretended to be huge. If that's a reason to not buy it, then you're missing out!
More than 48 hours of well scripted, well acted, slightly twisted drama for just over $100! This is a great investment, but you have to be a fan! Of course you're gonna be dissapointed if you don't even like the series and then buy the whole box set! I don't see why anyone would invest in a series set like this, only to write a review that says something to the effect of, 'I didn't like the first series, but thought I'd buy this box set anyway... It sucks! Don't buy it! The menus are slow, and the credits go for too long...'
This is a great series, and the fans of the show would do well to own it. If you like it, it's worth owning... if you don't like it, um... don't buy it.
Editorial Review:
Studio: Hbo Home Video Release Date: 04/17/2007
Oz - The Complete First Five Seasons
Amazon Price: List Price: By: HBO Home Video Amazon Marketplace: 12 new & used starting at $101.00 |
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4
Average rating: 5.0 of 5
An outstanding drama 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 8 people found this review helpful.
Revolving around the lives of both inmates and workers of Oswald maximum security prison, Oz is raw, controversial and exciting. Unapologising and uncompromising in its storylines and characters, prison drama is no way to describe what Oz is all about, because it is so much more. With a unique way of portraying itself, Oz will hook you immediately. Not for the faint hearted, swearing and violence are rooted in every episode, but beneath that surface is also a work of art. It will cause you to love and hate, question and become conflicted. It makes you think. The characters of the inmates are strangely seductive, and the workers much the same. Fantastic writing, fantastic acting, fantastic directing. Oz breaks every rule.
WONDERFUL 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 8 people found this review helpful.
What a deal. I have all the seasons (as of 7/30/05) and saved a lot of money. Every episode is amazing. A must have! Very well written show with interesting characters and plot lines.
Oz Season 1-5 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 8 people found this review helpful.
Great & exciting show. I wish OZ was still on HBO.
Thanks for a great & reasonable price for the whole 5 seasons.
Thanks 5 STARS JASON Simmons San Diego Ca.
Oz - The Complete First 3 Seasons (3-Pack)
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1
Average rating: 4.0 of 5
singled out again 4 out of 5 stars.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.
I ended up buying all three series individually anyway, so this set is definitely a Deal. I bought the first series thinking Id fill out my collection of prison flicks and ended up buying them as they were each released on DVD. I gave this series 4 stars for its irritating menu selection of episodes, and no Play All option. Gritty and intense with strong sexual content, this is a definite repeat viewing.
Editorial Review:
The first three very disturbing seasons inside Oz.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 026359877025
Oz - The Complete First Four Seasons
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6
Average rating: 3.5 of 5
yes, too high a price 3 out of 5 stars.
5 of 10 people found this review helpful.
Wonderful series, one of the most beautiful ever made that's making its way through Europe at last!
But it's OVERPRICED!!!!!!
it might be good for me now since Euro is stronger than US dollar, but I am waiting for some bargain here....( may ebay be useful )???
Couldn't be more affordable... 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 6 people found this review helpful.
I really don't have to speak on how exciting of a show this series is... But I would have to disagree with it being overpriced. At $4.60 an episode this collection could not be more affordable.
I look forward to watching Beecher and his super sharp fingernails over and over again.
Will grip you from start to finish 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.
What more can be said about "OZ" that hasn't already been said.
FANTASTIC,GRIPPING,DISTURBING,EROTIC,RAW,INTENSE,EMOTIONAL......
Thanks to Tom Fontana (and HBO, yet again), for such a ground breaking series with incredible performances.
Christopher Meloni, has come along way from his portrayal of Detective Stabler in Law & Order.
His portrayal of sociopath, Chris Keller, is delivered with such a raw, chilling, brilliant and ever so homoerotic, performance.
The scenes of nudity and sex are nothing short of a visual delight.
Buy the dvd's, they are well worth it.
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