Customer Reviews

Six Feet Under - The Complete Series Gift Set

5 star:		(233)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I had no idea what to expect when I purchased this Six feet Under box set. I heard from many friends that this was one great show I had to check out. I never had any interest of watching this show when it was on HBO. I wish I would have given it a chance when it was still on the air. I just completed watching all five seasons and it took me a little over a month to do it. The first few episodes made me wonder if this show was even worth getting, but after the first 2 episodes I was hooked. The show is about the Fisher family who own a funeral home. Every episode starts out with a death and sets the tone for that show. I have seen many TV shows, but no other show has dealt with life and how we deal with it like this show does. The characters on Six Feet Under are not all just white folks. The show has a great balance of ethnicity and diversity. You get characters who are gay, latino, black, and many others(some with major issues). This show has some of the best acting I have ever seen. If you're like me you're probably thinking a show about a family that owns a funeral home? This show is so much more than that. I like the fact that this show takes you on a journey with the characters, and as each season passes the show just gives you more twists and turns. The very last episode of this series is one of the best hours and most emotional hours of TV I have ever watched. After you see the last episode you will know that life is a gift and appreciate it more than ever. I highly recommend this truly unique and amazing show!

DVD Features:

Available Subtitles: Spanish, French
Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
All 63 episodes on 24 discs
Commentary by cast and crew on 25 episodes
Featurettes: Under the Main Titles, Anatomy of a Working Stiff, Living on the Ledge: A Bird's Eye View of the Third Season, Cut by Cut: Editing Six Feet Under, Life and Loss: The Impact of Six Feet Under
Six Feet Under: 2001-2005 series retrospective
Deleted scenes
Bob Costas cast interview
Six Feet Under Feet Under Soundtracks 2 CDs
Ilustrated booklet with character obituaries and memories from the show's creators

I have seen this show a few times and really enjoyed it but I never bought Six Feet Under - The Complete Series Gift Set since it was quite expensive and I was waiting for the price to go down.

This new set is cheaper ($67 - the old one is now discontinued). All 24 dvds are hosted in a book you can flip with one disk per spread (made of cardboard with glossy inner pockets - Similar to HBO Rome complete DVD set). It's a third of the size comparing to the original boxset.

The 2 CD soundtrack is not included in this boxset.

It is essentially impossible to write an appropriate review for this engaging, amazing, wicked, dark, and realistic series that graced the television landscape for the first half of the new millinimum. Considered by many critics and fans alike as "the best television series to grace the small screen," SIX FEET UNDER was the prenimulate HBO series: it featureted everything that the HBO names expects (sex, drugs, violence, and rock'n'roll) but adds a fresh almost family-friendly twist to the proceedings.

The series focuses on the lives of the Fisher family after everything they've ever known is turned upside down with the patriarch of the family dies suddenly in a car crash on Christmas Eve; with the majority of the first season summarizing the families attempt to "move-on with their lives, and learn that life goes on, forever, until it ends." With their fathers death in the pilot, the two oldest children Nate (the rebel, who always ran away from his responsibility) and David (the closeted `good son') take over the family business as their much-younger sister finished her high school years and their mother learns how to continue her life without her husband of 35 years.

Throughout five seasons the series focused on this ecletic mix of quirky characters, and the people that come in-and-out of their lives. And this is where the heart of the series can be found - it is always realistic and while the stories seem far-fetched they are quit the opposite: everything presented in this series is a normal part of the human exsistance, and for the first time SIX FEET UNDER (as a television series) captures the monotomy of human esistance into a seemingly perfect television show.

HBO has included all 63 episodes of the series (including the emotion series finale (which I personally consider the single best of hour television I have ever watched) in this one elaborate collection (also including a large booklet that gives the history of the series and a character map, as well as the two previously-released soundtrack CDs).

Length:: 0:32 Mins

Over the past fifteen years, HBO has brought production values and creative talent of theatrical quality to the small screen and presented the American public with some of the most brilliantly innovative television dramas ever created. Aside from landmark series such as "The Sopranos" and "The Wire", other critically acclaimed programs such as "Deadwood", "Carnivale", and "Rome" were born on this premium cable network. The prestige and influence of HBO original programming is such that upon discovering this cheaper re-release of the "Six Feet Under" series in early 2010, I bought it without having seen so much as a single episode. I hadn't checked out the program before because what I knew about the series didn't sound particularly interesting, but as with all great fiction the hook that sells the show isn't so much the plot as it is the characters.

"Six Feet Under" is an hour-long drama series about the Fisher family, who operate Fisher & Sons funeral home in Los Angeles. In the first few moments of the pilot episode, the Fisher family patriarch Nathaniel is killed in a tragic accident, and the audience is at once thrust into the affairs of the surviving Fishers and the continuing aftermath of Nathaniel's death. Each episode briefly details the day-to-day operations and struggles of running a privately owned funeral home, but the primary focus is always centered on the trials and tribulations within the Fisher family. In the pilot, oldest son Nate (Peter Krause) has just arrived from Seattle for a visit, middle son David (Michael C. Hall) is a closeted homosexual who takes over the funeral home after his father's death, youngest daughter Claire (Lauren Ambrose) is a troubled and confused high schooler, and their mother Ruth (Frances Conroy) is a deeply unhappy woman formerly resigned to her fate as a simple housewife.

Other major players include David's boyfriend and police officer Keith Charles (Mathew St. Patrick), restorative artist and Fisher employee Federico Diaz (Freddy Rodriguez), Nate's eventual love interest Brenda Chenowith (Rachel Griffiths), and her brother Billy (Jeremy Sisto). The supporting cast is equally as impressive as the principals. Some of my favorite character actors such as Rainn Wilson, Ben Foster, James Cromwell, Catherine O'Hara, Mena Suvari, Justin Theroux, and Richard Jenkins have recurring roles. No less than three "Deadwood" regulars have small parts, and even the future Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) and Mr. Spock (Zachary Quinto) both make appearances (though not together).

The cast is uniformly excellent in these roles, helping to gloss over the occasional character inconcistencies present in certain episodes. Nate is perhaps the most uneven, variously alternating between extreme compassion with strangers and extreme self-absorption around his loved ones. There's painstaking detail devoted to his relationship with Brenda, most of which is quite well-realized but occasionally stifles the pacing of certain episodes. David and Federico are, without question, the most likeable characters. David's continual struggle, gradual acceptance, and growing comfortability with his homosexuality is by turns heart-breaking and heart-warming to watch unfold. David is masterfully portrayed by Michael C. Hall, and it's a testament to his abilities as an actor that he can so adroitly convince the audience he is a mild-mannered gay man as well as a cunning serial killer on "Dexter" with equal aplomb. Federico's boyish looks and charming naivete earns him the most compassion through his own struggles, as he aims to provide more for his family than just a modest living.

Claire generally follows a rather pedestrian path of teenage self-destruction and angst, though it bears noting this is the fault of the writers and not the talented actress Lauren Ambrose. The writers script her character as if she inhabits some higher plane of individualism because she's a 'deep' artist, while one of her boyfriends is portrayed as "unhip" because he listens to Top 40 radio and supports the war on terror. It's as if the series itself is perpetuating the juvenile notion that it's a penchant for the obscure that sets forward-thinking people apart from the hordes of conformist drones. As for Ruth, it's a genuine joy to watch her never-ending quest to find true happiness, as she branches out in ways she never did before her husband's death.

That, of course, is the thread that unravels all the cobwebs and skeletons in "Six Feet Under". It's through Nathaniel's demise that the Fisher family is gradually able to transform, over five seasons, from dysfunctional family-in-name-only into cultivating thriving relationships between each other. As they come to terms with their loss and the realization that none of them really knew who Nathaniel was, they're forced to realize through his death what truly matters in life. Though the start of the series is a bit slow and occasionally rocky, the series quickly grew into what I've come to expect from an HBO program: top-notch cast, killer dialogue, a good mix of pathos and humor, and a myriad of interesting plotlines. Thematically it is quite obviously a platform for exploring the way people deal with death and, by extension, life. The other major themes revolve around characters coming to grips with homosexuality and attempts to understand and live with mental illness.

Every episode, with but a few exceptions, opens with the last moments of a future Fisher & Sons client. These deaths, mirroring reality, range from the mundane to the horrific. Sometimes a red herring will be employed, misdirecting the audience into believing one person will die only to realize it is actually someone else's time to go. Within the microcosm of the program, this is a great way to illustrate how unpredictable and surprising death can be. Occasionally a cleverly scripted series of events will culminate in a fatality, like some sort of cruel Rube Goldberg machine only God finds amusing. A few are even, dare I say it, amusing in their absurdity. Unfortunately, some of the idiosyncrasies native to the series aren't quite as clever as the writers appear to think they are. Case in point, another narrative device the program employs are surreal moments of a character acting on their most private thoughts. These can range from an emotional outburst of screaming, to characters bursting into song and dance, to one character blissfully shooting her ex-lovers as if in some sort of bizarre carnival game.

When it is necessary to provide clarification, particularly following a extreme outburst of emotion, the scene will jump cut to moments earlier, illustrating that it never actually occurred. At times this can present confusion, with the audience wondering "Which part actually happened and which didn't?" Even worse, sometimes a truly shocking event will occur, only to discover once again it never really happened. This can feel like a slap in the face to the audience, as if being toyed with or mocked by the writers, akin to the controversial last moments of the "Sopranos" finale. Most of the time, however, the scenes are sufficiently over-the-top enough that it doesn't ring of conceit so much as a clever manner in which to convey the internal thoughts of the characters. Yet another, more effective, method for exploring the internal conflicts within the characters has main cast members speaking to the dead as if they were alive.

This complete series set is beautifully presented in a series of paper DVD sleeves assembled like a book. This isn't the most protective method, but is a greener and more compact way to package the series. The two soundtrack discs included on the previous complete series edition are not enclosed here, but the small character booklet is. If you're new to the series, I strongly suggest not reading the booklet until you've watched all the episodes. Regarding the packaging, out of twenty-four discs, I only had a slight skipping problem with one disc. Otherwise all episodes played perfectly and the majority (but not all) of them were scuff-free. For the admittedly modest price I paid, I really have no genuine complaints in this department.

"Six Feet Under", again mirroring reality, will not tie up every loose end, and not all lingering questions will have a definitive answer. There are a few plot threads that build incrementally only to dissolve into nothing. There are patches of weak writing, such as the puerile and impotent stabs at political commentary that betray the otherwise superlative scripting. The series does get lost in its own creativity at times, and sometimes gorges itself on certain characters who are not quite as interesting as their screen time would suggest. But, ultimately, what prevents "Six Feet Under" from a full five stars is that there are significant amounts of extraneous filler peppered within the series, particularly in later seasons. I feel that this series should've been four classic seasons instead of five excellent, but slightly bloated and overwrought seasons.

I can promise this: you will find yourself caring deeply about these characters, you will find your heart racing when things aren't going as you had hoped, and you will find yourself staying up much later than you had intended to squeeze in one more episode. You will also discover one of the most satisfying television finales ever conceived, during which each character finds some place of stable contentment, bringing warm smiles to the audience, until those final ten minutes when the series delivers an emotional gut punch that perfectly summarizes the entire idea of the series. Watching those last moments unfold, I kept thinking of something Nate said earlier in the series: "Everybody dies. Everybody. What makes you so special?"

I'm glad I met the Fisher family.

Having made it through 4 of 5 seasons so far with 1 to go, we have thoroughly enjoyed a series so full of originality and creativity. I doubt that something amazing like this will ever grace its face on the TV for a very long time.

The only criticism I have is of the commentaries. Because of the plethora of directors and writers involved with the series, you will encounter a variety of commentaries from very good to very lame, however, most are just good. The commentaries on Sex and The City are far superior. However, the main point I wanted to make to folks is that many of the commentaries include spoilers for future episodes. It was a bit disappointing, having just seen an episode that left you hanging, to find out what happens while watching that same episode afterwards with commentary. The creator of the series Alan Ball is probably the worst one at giving away hints of future episodes (of course, for those who have already seen the entire series, it is not a big deal). So you might decide to hold off watching the commentaries until you have seen all episode of that particular season. I should say that many of the commentaries are very insightful and provided content and background to things folks often miss watching.

Great show! I loved the series and had to have it. However, do not buy the smaller boxset. Buy the larger one instead, with the obits and CDs. The DVDs in the smaller boxset come in sleeves. There weren't enough sleeves, so four of the sleeves had two DVDs crammed into them! This resulted in the ink from the bottom DVD to transfer to the silver side of the DVD stacked on top of it. This caused three of the DVDs to be completely unreadable! The larger boxset is organized by by season and each disc is protected by its own panel. (See customer images on the other boxset).

In addition, I copy the DVDs to my media server so that I can watch them without getting up to change the 24 discs. I noticed that the DVDs on the smaller boxset are only single layer discs, 4.7GB. The DVDs on the larger boxset are dual-layer discs, up to 8.5GB. The content is the same, but of course the material on smaller boxset has to be compressed to fit on the lower capacity discs. I did not perform any side by side comparisons of video quality, as I had already returned the smaller defective boxset, before buying the bigger boxset.

Buy the larger boxset. It's beautifully and well packaged. The video is less compressed. The larger boxset has been discontinued, but it's still possible to find new from various sellers. It is more expensive, but it's worth it. Great show! Everyone should watch it!

I am so glad that I only own Season 1 of "Six Feet Under" on DVD! HBO charges an insane amount of money for its DVDs, and I had a feeling that if I held out long enough, the entire "Six Feet Under" series would be available as one awesome DVD collection...and I was right! The cost of this DVD set is much cheaper than it is to buy each season individually. In addition to the unbelievably cool packaging, this DVD set includes several featurettes, deleted scenes, cast interviews, and a series retrospective. Perhaps the coolest feature about this boxed set is that it also comes with the two outstanding "SFU" CD soundtracks, which I already own and absolutely LOVE! What a great added bonus. This will make a great holiday gift for any "SFU" fan...I hope someone is nice enough to get it for me!

I would rate the acting of the ensemble cast in Six Feet Under as one of the best ever in any TV drama Series I have seen. The writing and directing are right up there too. However, a note of caution for those considering this set and are new to the show. It is very intense.

It is called "quirky" by many viewers I have spoken to, and that would make sense considering it revolves around a family-owned funeral home and each episode begins with a death. The show does have a real ability to "pull the viewer into the story line," which is an obvious indicator that it is well written, but because of it's intensity, watching too many episodes at once "got to me," and may well "get to you" also.

If you are looking for something light and easy going, this is not the show. Not to say that there aren't plenty of "laugh-out-loud" scenes - the show has a very unique off-beat humor to it, but overall, the characters go through a lot of difficult "stuff." I personally got a lot out out of it - for a TV drama, it offers an amazing amount of life-lessons and insight that makes a viewer think.

Bottom line: this is an A+ drama, and I would highly recommend it - but not for someone looking for a light-hearted comedy.

It seemed sad but fitting when HBO's "Six Feet Under" came to an end in 2005 after five seasons, because it was, after all, a series that forced the viewer to confront the reality that everything ends. Thus it is ironic that, this being the early twenty-first century, television series, good and bad, never die but enter an eternal afterlife of reruns in syndication and on video. If they are especially fortunate they are rewarded with the treatment "Six Feet Under" gets here.

Viewers who are aghast at the bowdlerized, commercial-infested version running at present on the Bravo network can take luxurious refuge in this deluxe reissue of the entire five seasons, sixty-three complete and uncut episodes, in one, surprisingly heavy (like a body, one imagines) package. They can settle down and enjoy the sharply drawn characters, the infallibly tuned dialogue and mordant humor of life at the Fisher family's funeral home. Looking at the series again one appreciates anew the uniformly brilliant acting, the attention to detail and the carefully composed visuals that make watching this series unlike any previous television experience. I do not think it is overstating the case to say that Alan Ball in this series created a world of Shakespearean scope, where the dead walk, speak, interact with, quarrel with and ultimately enlighten and comfort the still living.

The willingness to find laughter in subjects that are normally treated, if acknowledged at all, with a kind of reverent dread may offend some, notably those of the same mentality that have prohibited photographing coffins of soldiers killed in Iraq; all others will see Ball's vision for what is, an affirmation of life and joy in the face of all possible heartache and discouragement.

Seeing the episodes themselves is so satisfying that the extra features, dare one say it, seem barely necessary. Still it is good to hear Ball, the cast, and the writers speak about the show in interviews and voice-over commentary. For all fans of top notch television and drama in general, this box set is an essential item.

"Six Feet Under" was the first television series I ever watched. The things that caught me first was the main title sequences and death scenes at the beginning of each episode. I kept on going to every episode on the list and watch each death only when I had HBO on Demand (I did this before the premiere of the fourth season). Working my way up the list of episodes, I finally got to the pilot episode and waited for the death scene. When I saw a guy in a funeral hearse, who I learned ran a funeral home, got hit by the bus and Ruth starting to act crazy, I got sucked into the show. I loved the way this show plays comfortably with the topic of death. It was dramatic, emotional and funny all at the same time. The tone of the whole series was really appealing to me. I kind of thought that living in a funeral home was great (living in one like "Fisher and Sons" maybe). From the first episode to the final episode, I truly loved every single minute of it. The Fishers felt like real people. Their problems are so complicated and interesting. You feel like you wish you could help them. Their problems are so tragic and so complicated to escape because they have such flawed lives and they have the inability to fix them. The story set in a funeral home and the topic being about death are reasons why I think they have issues. The casting is perfect. Nate, David, Ruth and Claire really look like a real family. The acting, writing and directing are excellent. The first season made me learn things about life and death. The stories were very original. The first season finale, gave me an obsession with death when Nate finds out he has the possibility of dying. The second season, being my favorite, was better than the first. It was more dramatic and funny. The Fishers encounter more complicated problems. The dead bodies are continued to be used as a mirror of the character's thoughts. And the thought that the series could've ended right there with Nate passing away, had me waiting (for three more years). The first two seasons made me think that this story would last forever. The third season focused a lot on the characters. Even though less dead bodies were talking, less funny moments and more drama, it was still enjoyable to watch because I've become so close to these characters and I actually cared about them. During the third, fourth and final seasons, I felt that their problems would evolve into something more of a darker tone. With Nathaniel Fisher dying in the pilot, there's another death we find out about at the end of the third season. The fourth season was the darkest and it was kind of slow for me but had a few episodes that really had very great stories. The final season was the climax season of everything that has happened in the first four seasons. The last five episodes of the final season really hit me hard. I became emotional, even right now. I would never feel the same thing towards anything else because this series had great storytelling. This series from start to finish was really entertaining for me. It taught me a lot of things about life and death. I was so proud with the fact that it started with a great bang and it was able to remain for five years, ending with another great bang. You could say that this series was a great bang.