One of TV's most acclaimed drama series, the Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning Six Feet Under, concludes its groundbreaking, five season run. Each of the main characters will come to embrace the cycle of life - birth, death, ... more »and re-birth - in ways that are both unique and interconnected. Everything. Everyone. Everywhere. Ends. DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
Episodic Previews
Episodic Recaps
Featurette
Audio Commentary:Six audio commentaries with the cast, crew, and creator
Featurette:Six Feet Under: 2001-2005, two 30-minute retrospectives Life and Loss: The Impact of Six Feet Under, a featurette« less
Great and addictive opening theme song. Many actors were defined by this show such as Richard Jenkins and Peter Krause. You can watch other series and movies that they are in but they never come close to their skill here and you will be left disappointed. Each episode brings you a new side story, which is cool but common themes chip away from the quality of this series and deteriorate the quality of the show as you get deeper into the series.
Steve G. (steveg859) Reviewed on 9/26/2014...
Just finished watching the series finale. What a fantastic show! 5 seasons was just enough to develop the characters and watch them go through the ups and downs of life. The ending is just amazing. Yes I did shed a few tears as any normal person would after getting attached to all these people. Now I know what all the buzz was about when this was on TV. So glad I got to enjoy it. You will too!
0 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Whitney S. from ANTHON, IA Reviewed on 8/30/2011...
Love this series!
Sandra S. (ratracesandra) from CUMMING, GA Reviewed on 8/26/2009...
I am sure the writer could have taken a different route, but in the end, it is over. I hope you enjoy this fifth season as much as I did...
Movie Reviews
6FU, RIP
Ron Cronovich | Kenosha, WI | 02/20/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"WARNING: If you haven't watched Season 5 yet, be VERY CAREFUL - some of your fellow Amazonians have peppered their reviews with spoilers, such as the (otherwise excellent) review by Lawrance M. Bernabo. I will avoid spoilers here.
The 5th and final season of 6FU lets us spend 12 more hours with our friends Nate, David, Ruth, Claire, Brenda, and Keith. Season 5 includes more of the great drama, great acting, and dark, off-beat humor that 6FU fans love so much.
Season 5 begins where Season 4 left off: Nate and Brenda have decided to get married and have a baby. As any 6FU fan could guess, neither of these events will go smoothly, nor will the decision to marry make their relationship suddenly problem-free.
Keith and David want children and are exploring adoption as well as hiring a surrogate. One way or another, they will become successful in this endeavor, but will find that a child does not solve all their problems, but rather poses new challenges to each of them and their relationship with each other (just as in real life).
Toward the end of Season 4, Claire was starting to realize but not really accept that she might never be a great artist, and we saw her go down a spiral into depression and excessive drug use. In Season 5, she starts to get a grip. Having dropped out of art school, she gets a common office job through a temp agency, where she is totally out of her element - her coworkers vote Republican, use Splenda in their Mochaccinos, and hang out at chain restaurants like Chilis and Olive Garden. This storyline results in interesting experiences and personal growth for Claire, and maybe a new relationship with someone she never would have expected to fall in love with.
Ruth's storylines mainly involve George. You'll recall from Seasons 3 & 4, these two lovebirds rushed into marriage after a very brief but intense infatuation. Then Ruth soon found out all kinds of nasty surprises about George - his many ex-wives, his lousy relationship with his children, and most of all, his extreme mental health problems which put a huge strain on his and Ruth's fledgling marriage. In Season 5, Ruth and George go through more changes and eventually resolve the question of whether they will stay together.
Something BIG happens in the 8th or 9th episode, which sets up storylines and conflicts for the last 3 episodes. If you care about these characters, it will affect you.
The final episode resolves each main character's central issue or conflict. There is a final gathering at the dinner table and a memorial of sorts, and then the episode leaves you with a very bittersweet feeling as we say goodbye to each of our friends forever.
I do not believe Season 5 is the best season of this excellent show. I'm not sure that the writing is as consistently excellent as in past seasons. A few of the characters' plot arcs from previous seasons are recycled in Season 5. For example, how many times do we have to watch Billy go off his meds and become annoying and dangerous to the people who love him? Don't worry, I'm not giving anything away here - you'll see it coming a mile away. Other multi-episode story arcs bring old demons back to haunt Nate and David, when we'd thought they had dealt with and resolved these issues in previous seasons.
But these are relatively minor quibbles. Mostly, Season 5 is very, very good, and a fine finish to an outstanding series. After the last episode, you'll feel sad that this show is over, and you'll miss these characters.
Finally, I think the price is way too high for a mere 12 episodes. HBO is very greedy for charging so much. Other networks typically charge 40-50 bucks for a season with almost twice as many episodes. At the high prices HBO charges for shows like 6FU and Sopranos, many viewers will opt to rent from Netflix rather than buy, and greedy HBO ends up being worse off in the end.
"
Sadly it is gone
G. A SENDEROFF | North Miami Beach, FL | 03/22/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The most brilliant show of television history was Six Feet Under. This season ends the way that such a high-brow should and with dignity. The show only ended because Alan Ball is now wanting to make films and win some more well-deserved Oscars. I will not ruin the ending but the last episode is monumental and life-altering! Buy this season and watch all the others. [...]. Thank you."
The Final 7 Minutes
calvinyw | NJ | 07/08/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I just watched the finale on DVD last night, and could barely hold back tears during the final 7 minutes starting when Nate whispered into Claire's ear: "You can't take a picture of this. It's already gone.", then Claire was driving away and we see the rest of everyone's lives while Sia's "Breathe Me" plays.
Never thought SFU will have this effect on me since I always felt the characters were a little "drama queen", and the whole thing about "talking to dead people" is kind of freaky. But the ending was something I was NOT ready for. Even if it's just for these last few minutes, you should watch the complete 5th season. Have never seen a more brilliant ending for a TV series. Those 7 minutes made movie/TV history.
There's only 1 flaw with the ending: Who in their righ mind would buy a new car before moving to NYC?
But I am glad that Claire did. If she boarded a plane, the ending would be nowhere near as powerful. Especially during the last moment when the road flattens out and Claire's car heading alone into the desert: the fleeting of happiness and the people we care VS. the inevitable loneliness of our journey through life.
Damn, they should put a warning label on the DVD about the devastating effect of these last minutes."
Everything. Everyone. Everywhere. Ends.
E. Kim | South Korea | 03/29/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The final chapter of the critical acclaimed HBO series about life and death. Following the Fisher family's lives as they deal with the constant reminder of death, SFU has changed television in every aspect from production to plot. The season five boxset's featurettes are the best among the five seasons. I recommend a viewing after watching the season. It's a great overview of the whole series and a great closure for fans. The first featurette is in two parts, both lasting 30 min a piece and takes a look at SFU's many elements with interviews with cast and crew members. The second deals with the impact of the show with many interesting interviews with real life funeral home directors. After viewing the featurettes, I felt like watching the whole season again. As always the comentaries were both informative and intriguing. The packaging was also very appealing and matched well with the other boxsets.
New viewers: Watch season one first. If you don't enjoy the pilot, odds are you will not enjoy the series at all. If you enjoyed the feature film American Beauty you will probably love Six Feet Under. The creator Alan Ball also wrote American Beauty and both share similar styles and themes. SFU is a dark comedy with very dramatic elements, and while many have tackled this mix of genres before, no one has ever done it with such profound humanity and beauty. Nothing on television, before or after, has yet to match the intimacy and brilliance of SFU.
Casual Viewers: As far as the overall season, it is probably not the best in comparision to some of the earlier seasons. But more than anything, the fifth season brings an intense and enlightening closure to a series that has impacted the way we look at a television show. The last several episodes are among the best of the long running series as they deal with a very personal and deep tragic event. Even if you didn't enjoy a particular season, the final season is a great way to look at the series as a whole.
Fans of the show: Many fans probably wish that SFU was still alive and running, but none will dispute that the closing of the incredible series was more complete and fulfilling than anyone could have hoped. The execution to the final episodes deserves the greatest admiration to all the people involved. But as in life itself, the show eventually must end. And in closing of the series, it makes SFU that much more important and something that should influence the way we look at our own lives forever."
Gone but not forgotten . . .
SFU fan | Urbana, IL USA | 04/01/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"One could argue (as many of the reviewers here do) the merits of season x over season y, but to me the entire opus is one grand experiment in superb writing and acting using the western world's denial of death as a jumping-off point. The attention to detail of the writers is amazing--the commentary about the care taken over EVERYTHING is fascinating. My overriding question, though, is why the show is so overwhelmingly addictive. I don't have cable, so I watched SFU on DVD starting with season one several months ago. I watched from beginning to the end of season four in about three weeks. I couldn't stop. I watched all of season five between Tuesday night of the day the disks were released and the following Thursday afternoon. I would LOVE to own them all. This is powerful stuff."