Product Description

On the surface not much has changed inside the walls of Oswald State Penitentiary. Schillinger has revenge on his mind Cyril is facing execution Beecher is hoping for parole and McManus is finding solace in a meditative maze. But there's toil and trouble brewing in the Oz cauldron as the Oz players rehearse for their presentation of Macbeth and the climactic final act.Running Time: 520 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS UPC: 026359902727 Manufacturer No: 99027

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1239 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2006-09-05
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 3
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 520 minutes

Amazon.com
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

Customer Reviews

Not the best ending
I began following the "OZ" saga several years ago but never got to see the sixth season.

I guess the bad thing is that often whenever a series as powerful as this concludes, there is a need to wrap everything up. I felt that it was rushed and tried to cover too much for a last season. Still the six seasons of "OZ" ranks as one of my favorites!

OZ: Great prison, or the greatest prison?
Another day, another prisoner up to no good with his wacky antics. I love everything about OZ, despite all its flaws. Actually, the flaws in OZ makes it even a greater show. I enjoy how sometimes, an inmate faction decides to create some elaborate plan to make someone fall in love with another inmate... just to to break his bones. Those Aryans always did have more creative flair than people gave them credit for. Then, sometimes they just want to go straight for the kill, but a cripple goes down instead. I enjoy how the COs are suspiciously absent at the worst of times, like when a lawyer must travel down a long corridor. Speaking of suspiciously absent, one CO was killed by a... wild wolverine, never to be heard from again. Ever. I love how Em City itself is built like a protective schoolhouse, with its breakable windows and cheap removable ceiling tiles. And a warning: if you ever do get sent to McManus's office, close the blinds with the view to the room across the hall, because whoever you least want watching you talking to McManus, will, in fact be watching you from the room across the hall.

If anything, you should watch OZ to view the wide variety of packages, and then when the actor shows up in another show... say, Law and Order: SVU, you can think to yourself, "Ha, I know what you're carrying under there, and it's not a gun," if only to partially cure yourself of the boredom from actually watching a Law and Order episode.

Nothing can be said that hasn't already been said already, but I just wanted to point out the other things that make OZ so special. Sarcasm aside, I love this show. And one more important note: REMEMBER, if you ever do get sent to prison, DIG DIG DIG, because even if you dig and get caught once, they will never search your new pod to see if you dug another tunnel.

HBO BEST
ALL I CAN SAY ABOUT OZ IS IT WILL GRAB YOU FROM BEGINNING UNTIL THE END
FROM SEASON 1 THRU 6 JUST THE BEST I LOVE ALL SEASONS