|
Oz, HBO's violent men-behind-bars drama, is an addictive, testosterone-driven soap opera for guys. The first season set the style for the show: a massive cast of vivid characters on both sides of the bars, four or five stories unleashed at a breakneck pace and framed by angry, oddball introductions, and a soaring casualty rate. Created by Homicide producer Tom Fontana, this drama quickly earned a rightful reputation as the most brutal show on TV. It's simple chemistry: combine volatile ingredients in a confined space, shut tight, and shake. The yellow brick road of the Oswald Correctional Facility (affectionately known as "Oz" among the inmates) leads to "Emerald City," an antiseptic cellblock of cement and glass overseen by prison-reform advocate Tim McManus (Terry Kinney). The first episode introduces its two most compelling inmates: meek lawyer Beecher (Lee Tergeson), who transforms from a vulnerable lamb to a fearless, drug-addicted wildcat, and Muslim activist Kareem Said (Eamonn Walker), a fiercely non-violent leader whose campaign for reform explodes in a season-climaxing riot. The stunning first-season cast also features Ernie Hudson (the warden), Rita Moreno (a worldly drug-counseling nun), and Edie Falco (who jumped from her role as a single-mother prison guard to mob wife in The Sopranos). It carries no rating, but the drug use, nudity, and brutal violence make this highly inappropriate for young viewers and unsuited to the squeamish. Oz pulls no punches in its portrayal of prison violence and! predatory abuse. Over the show's six seasons, other cast members included Luiz Guzmán, J.K. Simmons, Christopher Meloni, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Harold Perrineau, and Patti LuPone --Sean Axmaker
|
 putting prison break to shame nearly a decade earlier, this show rocks! |
| Review Date: June 28, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Boaty McGee, |
About the show:
Wow. From the first episode you feel as if you are hooked in, although I dont want to dive too much into the show itself (just skim it) you find that this show, apart from its hard hitting grit and honesty (maybe it is? I dont know, ive never been to prison) dealing with drugs, ethnic grouping, racist attacks, homosexuality, violence and spiritual guidance, this show has something for everyone to walk away with and contemplate as it does dictate a lot of what our soceity is like, even if we have to look at a test subject that is criminal and locked up.
Few warnings though:
Not for the faint hearted: If you are conservative in nature, I would not suggest watching this show, as some of what happens is REALLY harsh (especially as seasons go on)
Not for children: I personally dont believe that people who are under the age of 17 should be watching this show, as it contains graphic sexual scenes and nudity.
Dont watch this if you are a devote prison break fan: This show just makes it look like a joke! Although only the first season of the show was in prison, the realism (if they even tried for that) just doesnt compare to how hard up prisoners really have it, which i feel OZ may convey much better. Tea bag? More like hand bag! Compared to characters like Shillinger and Ada Beisi he is TAME.
On the continual arguments with pricing and dvd quality:
Despite claims in these previous reviews, I have yet to find a problem with this six season set.
Although, I have to admit, the menu's are seemingly primative and quite long in loading up (panning through computer graphics etc which gets annoying) but the quality is still great.
I also dont see how this boxset is seen as expensive. At the time fo this review (28/7/07) the entire show in this offer costs $208, If you look to buy all seasons seperatly, it will cost you an extra $8 dollars, which you could just spend on getting a better delivery service.
When I bought this show (about 4 months ago) I payed about $170. So at this point in time I do find it a bit pricey and would suggest watching it since prices go up and down. I personally feel though even at 208 USD, its still worth it. |
Like No Other
|
| Review Date: March 24, 2008 |
| Reviewer: J-Train, |
Not always easy to watch, but always worth it. I agree with a reviewer above, this show is addictive! The story isn't as great as Six Feet Under. There are no Tony Sopranos or Paulie Walnuts to keep you entertained, but Oz is great in it's own way. Every character has flaws, but they also all have some quality that you can sympathize with. It makes it really hard to choose who to root for.
The plot line is always evolving and the violence gets even more raw as you move through the series. I do feel like there are some plot holes in this show and some of the things that happen don't seem like they really could happen in real life, but hey... it's fiction. There is a lot of great acting in this show and it keeps you on your seat waiting to see what is going to happen next. The show can drag a little bit when the prisoners are in counseling and the scenes with the prison staff don't captivate me as much as the stories about the prisoners, but everything is related in the story and it becomes difficult to separate the prison staff from the prisoners themselves.
This show is excellent and complex. It is worth watching again so you can catch some of the things you may have missied the first time around. Therefore, I think this is a series that is worth owning. I give it 4 out of 5 stars only because there are some things that happen that don't seem very realistic. |
The entire series for less than 250?!?!
|
| Review Date: September 27, 2006 |
| Reviewer: Alejandro Leon, |
| What more could you ask for? Considering it's not a secret that HBO charges an arm and a leg for their season DVDs, this set is truly worth the money. Thanks to netflix I rented season 1 of this and just kept going episode after episode. Never have I been so into a television show like I was with this. The writing is incredible to say the least, back stories are explained with extreme detail, continuation is nothing less than amazing, casting is great(especially the special guest stars i.e. Jon Seda, LL Cool J, Luke Perry, etc...) This show brought out the best in a lot of actors you had no idea were capable of such drama. Everything about this show is entertaining, hard hitting, emotional, shocking, and just fun. I've said this 100 times and I'll say it again, OZ is truly the best show that television had. It's a shame it had to end but these DVDs will prove how important and incredible this show was and it's potential. Only season that is somewhat sub par is 3.Couldve finished better. Where as the season finale had a lot of unexplained questions as well, the special features includes the finale uncut with an extra 45 minutes! Basically a movie. |
WARNING: Region 2 & 4 fans of HBO's "Deadwood" and "Oz".
|
| Review Date: May 21, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Mr. Cameron J. Hamill, |
WARNING:
Customers from outside of North America considering whether they will buy the Region 1 versions or the Region 2 & 4 versions of HBO's "Deadwood" and "Oz" may be interested to know that the Region 2 & 4 versions of these series do not contain audio commentaries.
If audio commentaries are an important feature for any fans of the series then I recommend purchasing the Region 1 versions. I do not know if any other HBO TV series have suffered the same fate as these ones outside of Region 1. My only question is why? Why rip off consumers from other countries? It's not like audio commentaries take up a lot of disc space. Shame on HBO.
Bottom line:
As I enjoy audio commentaries I will buy the Region 1 versions of "Deadwood" and "Oz" as I refuse to be cheated out of my money.
P.S. I'm not sure if the new Region 2 & 4 21 Disc "Oz The Emerald City Collection" suffers the same fate as the earlier releases. |
tell it like it is
|
| Review Date: April 3, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Atlanta, |
| I purchased the whole set and although scenes are sometimes lengthy and boring the series does get the message across that prison is not the place to be. Surprising display of violence, nudity and male emotion dominates much of the story. If you are looking for a man-to-man video I would recommend this purchase. If you are looking for scenes of violence and blood like you find in the Hostel and Saw movies this one is not quite up to that level. |
Yay OZ!
|
| Review Date: February 27, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Womyn, New York, NY |
I'm totally obsessed with this show... it's a good thing I bought them all together! Although I wish I had waited because now the price is lower. Stick it out, it might drop even more.
Oh, and one little complaint. For the hard of hearing, there aren't subtitles in the first 2 (or maybe it's just the first) seasons. If your TV has its own subtitles, then you can use those. I'm not deaf, but I like to catch every little detail so subtitles are important to me.
Otherwise, I happy with the purchase! |
BUYING OPTIONS
|
| Review Date: December 4, 2007 |
| Reviewer: S. H. Margolies, Par-Troy, NJ USA |
Oz - The Complete Seasons 1-6
I have not watched all the episodes yet.
I don't understand why anyone would buy the whole set together for $135 or so, when you can buy them individually from Amazon for $95 including free shipping. It doesn't make sense to me! |
OZ... Everything I Imagined It Would Be.
|
| Review Date: December 20, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Kenneth A. Nelson, Pensacola, FL |
5 Stars isn't enough of a rating for a series that could pull down 5 Stars a minute.
For anyone who fantasizes about what life would be like living in a Prison, or...
For anyone studying what real-life is in a Prison, or...
For anyone who enjoys watching muscular men flexing, or...
For anyone who craves "bare knuckle" living, or...
Superlative writing and...
Strongly performed characterizations and...
Rita Moreno and...
A completely naked Christopher Meloni in the showers (gulp, I'm choking on my own drool).
The intricate plotline and the many sub-plots keeps your attention at all times. The fast-paced action will keep you on the edge of your seat. The Series took over my social life. I HAD to watch the episodes in lieu of doing anything else. I have rewatched the entire Series several times and find plenty that I hadn't seen during previous viewings.
Did I like "OZ?" Nahhhhhhh... I LOVED IT!!!
|
What a journey!!!
|
| Review Date: May 5, 2008 |
| Reviewer: N. Gray, Melbourne, Australia |
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. |
Oz - Complete Series
|
| Review Date: April 15, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Methven Minx, New Zealand |
| 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. |
|
No details are available for this product
