Oz - The Complete First Season |  | Directors: Alan Taylor, Darnell Martin, Gregory Dark, Jean de Segonzac, Larry Williams
Actors: Ernie Hudson, Harold Perrineau, Lee Tergesen, J.K. Simmons, Dean Winters
Studio: Hbo Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $39.98
Buy Used: $7.78
as of 9/9/2010 03:22 EDT details
You Save: $32.20 (81%)
New (59) Used (94) from $7.78
Seller: exclusive_company_entertainment
Rating:  131 reviews
Sales Rank: 6228
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: Unrated
Region: 1
Discs: 3
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Running Time: 451 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.6 x 0.9
MPN: 026359920424
ISBN: 0783120664
UPC: 026359920424
EAN: 9780783120669
ASIN: B00005Y6YJ
Theatrical Release Date: July 12, 1997
Release Date: March 19, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The daily activities of the prisoners and employees of Emerald City, an experimental unit of Oswald Maximum Security Prison.
Amazon.com
HBO's violent men-behind-bars drama is an addictive, testosterone-driven soap opera for guys. The eight episodes of the first season set the style for the show: a massive cast of a 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 its 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 Terguson), 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. --Sean Axmaker
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 131
 A++++++++++++ August 15, 2010
miles (New York City, NY United States)
I just wanted to rate this high and remind everyone what a great price this now is. The purchase is so worth it - trust me. I would recommend purchasing the seasons two by two. I guarantee you'll be hooked.
Give this show a chance, and you'll swiftly realize that 17 bucks is a great price per season for this groundbreaking and truly compelling HBO masterpiece.
OZ: Giving depth to the darkness of prison March 11, 2010
D. Compton (Portland, OR)
If you've never 'done time', and think you know what prison is all about, think again. You can be sure,'OZ' WILL make you stop and think. And if you have doubts that a show about the daily grind in the big house would be very interesting, that opinion will be changed 10 minutes into the first episode.
The Good:
'OZ' is set as an East Coast penitentiary, and does a remarkable job of recreating the environment one finds in prison. The cast is truly first rate; characters from other films and shows make appearances in 'OZ' that demonstrate their versatility and talent in ways that will shock you. There are some who you find yourself hating at a visceral level; others will make your heart sick for the damage inflicted on their humanity. Because the show spares no aspect of prison life, you'll see a grade of brutality that, while the norm for inmates, the common man on the street seldom encounters. There are no punches pulled with 'OZ'. Male nudity & rape, homosexual encounters, drug use, and sociopathic manipulation are all just around the next corner. The show also gives you a view into the power struggles of not only the inmates, but the politicians, prison staff, and guards. Each character has their own personal victories and defeats. Just as any good show marks it's success by how much the viewer 'cares' about seeing what happens next, the creators of 'OZ' have a real winner here.
The Bad:
The one aspect of prison life that 'OZ' is weak at conveying is the utter boredom that one encounters when locked away. The show is a drama, not a documentary, so this can be overlooked. Another aggravating issue is the tendency for the show to skip ahead in large (and unexplained) blocks of time; e.g. one scene will end, and the next is supposed to be two months later. The last noteworthy complaint is again related to this being a drama and not reality: the quantity of violence is a bit much at times. While the savagery of prison violence is accurate enough, the sheer number of killings alone is a bit absurd. This is annoying because it will leave most viewers firmly convinced that prison has a 20% mortality rate, which is simply not true.
Corruption and redemption mark the sides of the pendulum upon which 'OZ' swings. When a show lasts for 6 seasons, and ends by design (rather than cancellation) is telling of it's quality. 'OZ' does not go stale. You will want the entire series ready at hand, because when one episode ends, you won't want to wait for the next.
the first and best February 27, 2010
A. Dirling
I'm a netflix user and netflix suggested that I would LOVE this series. So without ever watching it, I just went ahead and bought the entire series. It was a GREAT decision. Oz predates the Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, and many more that follow its format, but Oz is clearly the original and THE BEST. The storyline can feel a little jumpy because there's always so much going on, but it's completely engrossing. When I got all six seasons, I finished them in less than two weeks. I've felt a little bit of Oz withdrawal since. This series is worth every penny. Highly recommended!!!
 A work of pure fiction. Too unbelievable to even watch!!! February 21, 2010
Lisa in CT
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you want to watch something completely mindless and ridiculous, Oz is for you. This has to be THE most far-fetched, ridiculous prison show I've ever seen. It's just too painful to watch- Where to begin?? There are no cameras anywhere in the prison apparently; the inmates are allowed to basically supervise themselves (no officers are watching them anywhere apparently except the two in the block); inmates run the kitchen & prepare all the food completely unsupervised; they wear regular clothes and hang out in groups in each others GLASS cells; inmates are beaten, maimed, raped, and do drugs and the prison staff act as if this is completely normal and acceptable behavior. The list could just go on... I admit, I watched the first season on DVD at first out of curiosity, then it was like a train wreck to see what happened next.
I won't be insulting my intelligence for season two...
 Oz DVD review January 31, 2010
S.G. (Elmwood Park, New Jersey United States)
Good extras; great show; still a little overpriced even on sale for only 8 episodes.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 131
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