Oz: The Complete Seasons 1-6
by Adam Bernstein, Alan Taylor, Alex Zakrzewski, Barbara Kopple, Bob Balaban
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Eamonn Walker, Ernie Hudson, Harold Perrineau, Kirk Acevedo, Terry KinneyDirector: Adam Bernstein, Alan Taylor, Alex Zakrzewski, Barbara Kopple, Bob Balaban
Brand: HBO Home Video
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), DTS 5.1; English (Original Language), DTS 5.1
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 3458 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-09-05
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Hbo Home Video
Movie Reviews of Oz: The Complete Seasons 1-6
Movie Review: This isn't grandma's TV show, & it certainly isn't Prison Break!
Summary: 5 Stars
I absolutely LOVE this show! This show is gritty, edgy, & serious as a heart attack. Oz explores the life of characters inside a seriously hard-core prison--that's PRISON, not some County lock-up--characters ranging from the nun, brilliantly played by Rita Moreno, to guards, administrators, and, of course, prisoners. The tremendous ensemble cast includes: Ernie Hudson, Harold Perrineau (recently of LOST & The Unusuals), J.K. Simmons (currently of The Closer), Dean Winters, Eamonn Walker, B.D. Wong, Kirk Acevedo (most recently of Fringe), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (also of LOST), Luis Guzman, Luke Perry (yes, of 90210 fame), & Edie Falco (formerly of The Sopranos & currently of Nurse Jackie).
If your favorite shows are epitomized by such network fare as Prison Break, House, & 24, then this show might not be for you; however, if you also or mostly enjoy serious drama found on Premium cable networks (i.e. HBO, SHO, or Starz), shows like The Sopranos, The Wire, Spartacus, True Blood, The Tudors, or Rome, then you will definitely enjoy Oz! Oz is a no-holds-barred look at life in a hard core prison. Not your ordinary prison, mind you, but a prison that is opening an experimental housing unit where every cell on the block is made completely of clear plexi walls & no part of prison life is secret. The prison is Oswald Penitentiary, or Oz, & the experimental unit is called Emerald City. Some of the hardest inmates inhabit Emerald City: the neo-Nazi played by JK Simmons, the Nation of Islam Imam played by Eamonn Walker, & the intelligent (omniscient narrator) in a wheel chair played by Harold Perrineau. Each character brings something to the show, some already hard & others made hard by their time inside Emerald City (i.e. the lawyer who's made and example of played by Lee Tergesen.
As you would expect from a hard-core prison, there is violence, nudity (mostly male nudity as it is largely about male inmates in a glass prison), & what some would likely consider mild porn (though it certainly isn't porn as there is no real sexual acts being performed on camera). This certainly isn't gay porn, as many of the sex acts depicted are acts of male-on-male rape, but there are those relationships where an inmate "chooses" to become a willing sexual partner (or a "bitch") to receive protection from an inmate in a position of power. Basically, this show is an unadulterated look at life inside a prison, which includes the kinds of violence that one would expect the kinds of inmates housed here to commit. If this bothers you, don't waste your money. However, if you're secure in your sexuality or are unafraid to confront the sex & violence depicted by this show, then don't turn away from this incredible look at the dark side of humanity, wondering if something like this could be our future should society every break down for whatever reason. It's definitely a worthwhile philosophical exercise for the intellect, challenging one to identify literary archetypes & find meaning within the stories, lessons that teach us about the parts of the human psyche civilized people should be seriously afraid to explore within themselves.
Summary of Oz: The Complete Seasons 1-6
OZ:COMPLETE SEASONS 1-6 - DVD MovieOz, 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
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