Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.5

Prison Break: The Final Break Blu-ray Movie Review

A ho-hum finale to a great television series goes directly to Blu-ray.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 26, 2009

Now or never.

"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 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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.

Prison Break: The Final Break Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Prison Break: The Final Break serves up only a pair of deleted scenes (1080p, 4:09) under the "Special Features" tab.

Prison Break: The Final Break Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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.