Oz - The Complete First Season (DVD, 2002, 3-Disc Set)

Oz first season has violence and prison life, Oswald Maximum Security Prison, prisoners, guards and corruption, who really knows if this behavior is truth. Opened as an experiment prison system OZ has two main units, Unit B and Emerald City. Rehabilitation has its own crime meaning and race plays a huge plot in this OZ film. Eight one-hour episodes include killings, rape, racial segregated group prisoners, death row and day rage from the prisoners.

Children or teens should not watch. Nudity, violence, language, some acting hate and race card, also heavy corruption, scams, fights, stabbings, cheats, sexual behavior between other men (homosexual activity). Box has three discs, 451 minutes, Not Rated, CC.


DVD CAST----- Ernie Hudson as Leo Glynn, the warden ----- Terry Kinney as Tim McManus, Emerald City unit manager ----- Harold Perrineau as Augustus Hill, prisoner narrator----- Eamonn Walker as Kareem Said, devout Muslim ------ Edie Falco as Diane Wittlesey, correctional officer ----- Rita Moreno as Sister Peter Marie Reimondo, prison counselor ----- Kirk Acevedo as Miguel Alvarez, Latino inmate ----- Leon Robinson as Jefferson Keane, prisoner----- J.K. Simmons as Vernon Schillinger, leader of the Aryan Brotherhood ----- Tony Musante as Nino Schibetta, mafia boss ----- Lee Tergesen as Tobias Beecher, inmate----- Sean Whitesell as Donald Groves, inmate ----- Dean Winters as Ryan O'Reily, Irish inmate ----- B.D. Wong as Father Ray Mukada, prison chaplain.


Tom Fontana created Oz which got produced by HBO. 1997 to 2003 6th season, Tom Fontana created Emerald City as rehab with good reality. 1st season has 14 main cast members with Beecher main focus on Oz. I still rated 5 ***** because sometimes I think the film is actually real but probably a more medium tone Oz films on.

OZ box sets come DVD or VHS. I got mine as a gift from the brother one Christmas (not that this is a perfect educational gift).

From the bible to this very morning, everything has a beginning.so did Oz.
Short for Oswald Maximum Correctional Facility, the fictional Prison where this original HBO series was set.
Run by Leo Glenn as(Ernie Hudson) the Warden, the prison id divided into cell block ,sections, or pods.
Baddest of the bad, worse of the worse are housed in, is named Emerald City or Em City.which is run by Tim Mc Mannus. (Terry Kinney)
Who is really in charge?
Cast of characters,plot, action, all rolled up into a great series.
Produced by Tom Fontana, also starring B.D. Wong, Edie Falco & Rita Moreno.

This is one of the best cable series I have ever seen. It is definitely an adult series and not for the weak at heart. However, that being said, Oz focuses on an experimental unit at a State Penitentiary. The story of the events that take place in Oz (or Emerald City, as it is nicknamed) is told through one inmate, Augustus Hill. The series (6 seasons) has many people the viewer may recognize from other series such as Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order: CI, and others. The characters are all strong, each in their own ways. Some are fearless and fearful others are put into Oz to "set an example". When their lives mix there are no boundaries to which these people can destroy a man's life. Others use the system. The people who work at Oz are also quite varied with different ideas as to how Oz should be run. The opportunities at Oz are very proactive but most use that leniency to their advantage which makes Oz a haven for drugs, sex and violence.
The subject matter of Oz is brutal but as close to the real thing as many of us (hopefully) will ever see. If this sounds like something interesting to you I urge you to view it for yourself. I promise if you do, you will not stop with Season One. Best regards.

I am going to give my opinion about the series as a whole, rather than just one season.

To sum it up in just a few words, I'll say that I love OZ and Prison Break, also. OZ is a big, big jug of moonshine, and Prison Break is a cup of Kool Aid.

I was very surprised to see how clean Prison Break was when I began watching it after I had already watched the entire run of OZ as a complete series. Of course, the networks had a big impact on the content of each series, but when I think of both of them at the same time, I can only say that no matter how good Prison Break was (and how good looking Wentworth Miller is), OZ shows prison life without any blinders on the screen.

I guess you could say if you drop the soap in the shower on Prison Break, another guy is likely to pick it up and hand it back to you, but in OZ, you'd better not drop that soap if you want to sit down anytime in the next few weeks (or possibly months). For prison shows, OZ is real, and there's no sugar coating anything.

Any review of OZ would be lacking and misleading without putting the content bluntly, because many people would be offended by much of the content. There is a whole bunch of bad language. There's quite a bit of sexual content, even though it is an entirely male prison, and much of that content is forced. A female nurse is brutally raped. There are quite a few murders, and racial tensions run so deeply, anyone watching can actually feel the hatred between the races. This type of behavior goes on throughout the entire series, not just season one, so anyone with strong religious beliefs or anyone who is easily offended should definitely stick with Prison Break. But OZ does show what goes on in prisons full of very dangerous criminals. It is real and gets down to the nitty gritty in every episode. So anyone easily offended or with strong religious beliefs should not even attempt to watch OZ, but anyone who wants to watch a real portrayal of prison life should definitely watch this show. That's not to say Prison Break is a bad show, because it is actually a great show. It is actually a family show, however; OZ definitely is not. Both are excellent shows though, and anyone who does not watch both of them is missing out.

Well as a growing teen at around 14 or 15, which was about 5 years ago, i would tune into HBO on wednesday nights if i am not mistaken. This OZ series was totally awesome and addicting to watch. When i saw that you could buy anything on EBAY i certainly had to buy these OZ series. As for season 1, i watched 8 hours of the oz episodes. It just makes you think on how corrupt prisons are, how the prinson guards work with the inmates to make a bit of cash. Disc one, two and three are totally great disc that will keep you wanting more and more. In my opinion this has to be one of the best series HBO has ever aired on TV. I also think it brought me in and made me want more than the sopranos ever did. If you are an Oz fan or not, you totally need to pick this first season up. Youll see the cycle of murders in prison, and than the uniting of the prisoners as they start a RIOT in the OZ facility!!! I give this season a 8.5 out of 10!!!