Product Details

• Actors: Christopher Farmer
• Directors: Gregory Dark
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 4
• Studio: HBO Video / Sunset Home Entertainment (SHE)
• VHS Release Date: March 19, 2002
• Run Time: 480 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (125 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005Y74V
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #18,508 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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• This is item 1 in The Oz Series.

Editorial Reviews

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

Product Description

The Oswald Maximum Security Prison has opened an experimental new ward reserved for especially dangerous criminals.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars OZ--The Heat Is Just Getting Started!, March 9, 2003

By	James McDonald ",Get FREE Amazon.com Gift car... (Lancaster, California) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Oz - The Complete First Season (DVD)

OZ--The Prison Drama that airs on HBO--Home Box Office. If you have never seen OZ, THIS IS FOR ADULTS ONLY. The episodes contain male full frontal nudity, sexual situations, violence and mature themes. The acting is incredible. The situations,the dialogue and the sets are realistic. This drama is gritty. A plus to the cast is Academy Award Winner Rita Moreno. If these episodes in the Season One collection don't get your heart startled. It's only the beginning. Get involved in the storyline. Watch every episode in proper order. And after you are finished with all eight episodes of Season One. Buy Season Two and get ready for a more mature hard-hitting season. And remember, ADULTS ONLY!

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best show on HBO, September 11, 2004

By	N. Durham "Big Evil" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Oz - The Complete First Season (DVD)

From Homicide: Life on the Street creator Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson, Oz is one of the most compulsively violent and addicting shows to hit HBO. While the Sopranos garnered most of the attention from HBO viewers, the primal nature and sheer unpredictability of Oz made the series the definition of must see TV. Taking place in the Oswald Correctional Facility (known to the inmates as Oz) these eight episodes revolve around Emerald City: a cellblock overseen by prison reform advocate Tim McManus (Terry Kinney) and the warden Leo Glynn (Ernie Hudson) who is desperately trying to keep the peace among the inmates as the governor bans privlages including smoking and conjugal visits. We are introduced to a cast of compelling characters whom be both pity and despise, including meek lawyer Tobias Beecher (Lee Tergesen) whose transformation from frightened new convict to drug raddled madman must be seen to be believed, white supremicist leader Vern Schillinger (J.K. Simmons), backstabbing and double dealing Ryan O'Reilly (Dean Winters), the cocky and self loathing Miguel Alvarez (Kirk Acevedo), wheelchair bound narrator Augustus Hill (Harold Perrineau), and Muslim activist Kareem Said (Eamonn Walker) whose extreme policy of non-violence explodes in the season ending riot that sets the stage for season two. The rest of the cast, including Rita Moreno, the Sopranos' Edie Falco, and John Seda (even though he only appears in the first episode) does brilliant work, all of whom help make Oz unforgettable. If you've never seen Oz, you should definitely check it out and see for yourself one of the best and underrated shows on HBO and maybe even TV history, but do be warned, this series is not for the squeamish.

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BUY THIS ONE NOW!!, January 25, 2002

By	"[e-mail]" (Waterville, Oh United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Oz - The Complete First Season (DVD)

I give this 5 stars only because I can't go any higher! Anyone who has watched this HBO original series knows that the acting is incredible, the story lines are as true to life as you can get, and is one of the most overall hard-hitting shows ever to come to American TV (albeit cable). Unfortunately, the show doesn't get the recognition of The Sopranos or Sex in the City because prison dramas don't draw the same overall audience. You have to see this to believe it! One of the most requested HBO series finally comes to DVD and I can only hope that HBO releases the other seasons as well. The best part is, the cast is filled with actors you may not initially recognize, but will later identify in other projects. Be prepared for a series that doesn't shy away from strong language, adult themes, frontal male nudity, and yes, even prison rape! AWESOME!