"Prison Break" was the little television show that could. Taking a concept generally best reserved
for a two- or three-hour movie (The Great Escape, Escape From Alcatraz, The Shawshank
Redemption, Midnight Express),
the show managed to draw out its stories over the course of four seasons before
having its plug pulled, leaving audiences to wonder what ever became of some of their favorite
characters and story lines.
Fortunately, 20th Century Fox didn't leave fans hanging, authorizing the creation of an
89-minute series finale meant to draw to a conclusion several story arcs left open after a
quartet of seasons. Unfortunately, however, the conclusion has gone straight to video without a
proper U.S. television airing, meaning that
fans that had stuck with the show through thick and thin during its run on over-the-air television
are now forced to rent or buy this last installment. While Prison Break: The Final Break
wraps up the series, it does so rather unceremoniously, with a few major surprises but without
much in the way of hard-hitting emotion and certainly
with a minimal plot and a lackluster but in some ways shocking "final break."
Does Michael Scofield have one more break up his sleeve?
Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) has finally tied the knot with longtime love interest Dr. Sara
Tancredi (Sarah Wayne Callies). With his brother Lincoln (Dominic Purcell) at his side and the
two men now exonerated, all seems well until the authorities crash the wedding reception and
arrest Sara for murder. Incarcerated at an overflowing women's prison in Miami, Sara faces
enemies in both the general population and the guards who seek revenge against her for
her role in Michael's now-infamous escape from Fox River Penitentiary. Complicating matters is
the revelation
that Sara is pregnant and that she's been marked for death with a hefty bounty on her head.
Michael, desperate to get her out before she's killed one way or the other, must plan one final
escape from a seemingly impenetrable prison with only the help of Sucre (Amaury Nolasco),
Lincoln, and
disgraced FBI agent Alex Mahone (William Fichtner).
Prison Break: The Final Break represents something of a "double whammy" for viewers
of
all sorts. As mentioned earlier, fans that have followed the show on Fox's television network are
now forced to shell out some cash to watch the finale, and viewers attempting to piece the series
together on Blu-ray are once again left with a gaping hole between the end of season three and The
Final
Break. Fortunately, The Final Break works well enough for audiences not completely
familiar with the "Prison Break" universe; a grasp of the show's foundation as laid forth in season one and a basic
understanding of what's been happening since should allow most audience members to slide in
and
follow the story to its electric but generally bland conclusion.
The Final Break delivers 89 minutes of entertainment that are unmistakably "Prison
Break." All the
characters that need to be back make an appearance, and the show retains the similar look and
feel of the previous seasons. In essence, The Final Break plays out almost like a
highlight reel of a full season. Its got twists and turns, double-crosses, daring rescues,
plans gone awry, hopeless situations, characters in immediate danger, and all of the other "Prison
Break" hallmarks that populated the four-season run. The Final Break's downfall lies in
its need to quickly wrap things up without the benefit of a full or even partial season to
flesh out the details and, by extension, deliver heavier amounts of tension to the plot. One of the
show's attractions, particularly in its first season, was its ability to keep audiences on their toes
over the course of many hour-long episodes. No matter how dire the situation became and
regardless of any positive or negative circumstances surrounding Scofield and gang, the show
always managed to surprise and maintain a level of suspense that often punched viewers in the
gut, leaving a smarting sensation until the next episode. The Final Break just doesn't
have room to breathe; while it tells a coherent story it never feels complete, at least by the
standards set by previous seasons.
Prison Break: The Final Break debuts on Blu-ray with a satisfactory 1080p, 1.78:1-framed
transfer. While nothing about the transfer jumps out as appearing completely remarkable, it does
make for a solid watch that never completely disappoints in any one area. Detail is adequate
throughout; a prison cafeteria scene early on doesn't offer much to look out outside the
white-and-red prison uniforms and drab, monotone concrete walls, but the few odds and ends
scattered about on inmate's trays -- for instance a small carton of milk -- stand out rather nicely
against the otherwise pedestrian imagery. Likewise, a few close-up shots of the prison's interior
concrete walls and its exterior brick walls offer a fabulous, almost tactile texture. Colors suffice;
there's never an abundance of bright colors save for a few fly-over shots of Miami and some random
eye-catching hues here and there. Generally, however, the image tends to look slightly processed,
flat, and lifeless. Flesh tones tend towards a slight shade of red, and blacks occasionally drown out
detail. Overall, Prison Break: The Final Break looks adequate for what it is, a direct-to-video
conclusion to a fairly popular television show, and the Blu-ray serves up a high definition
transfer that will neither greatly impress viewers nor completely disappoint.
Prison Break: The Final Break busts out with a DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack.
Perhaps this track's most noticeable trait is the incredibly bass-y dialogue that doesn't sound all that
natural. Meanwhile, much of the track seems disproportionately loud; for instance, sound effects
and music often compete with dialogue for the position of dominant sound in any give scene. The
seaside wedding at the beginning and the subsequent celebration are overpowered by crashing
waves and tropical music that sound fine but just seem bent on dominating the dialogue. The
Final Break does offer up a fairly robust rear-channel presence -- for instance serving up the
clanking of
silverware, the chatter of inmates, and the slamming of doors -- but many of the effects that flow
from the back are guilty of trying to overpower the listener. The end result is a jumbled deluge of
sound in places that tends to pull the listener out of the experience while trying to sort it all out
rather than drawing the listener in with a natural-sounding audio presentation.
A decent effort but not exactly one of television's finest finales, Prison Break: The Final
Break wraps the series up with a satisfactory finish but without a pretty bow on top. It's
"Prison Break" at its most average and without the small details and maneuvering room that made
the series so special in the first place. The Final Break shouldn't completely disappoint
die-hard fans, but it does leave a little something to be desired when taken in the context of the
entire series. 20th Century Fox's Blu-ray release doesn't make for a reference quality Blu-ray. With
an adequate 1080p transfer, an aggressive but jumbled soundtrack, and next to no bonus features,
only the most ardent of "Prison Break" fans should give this one a rent.
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