The Sopranos: Season 1 [Blu-ray]

WARNING: (Possible) Spoilers!Note: If you just want an opinion and don't want analysis and stuff cluttering up your experience, (which i humbly suggest, you don't, at least not the first time around), just know that i am one of those people extremely stingy with stars. Five stars, for me, means exceptionally spectacular and more importantly, useful.I.e. not "just" entertainment.---- “You know, you have these thoughts, and you almost grab it, and then, 'pfft'.” - Tony Soprano ----The (presently) Most Helpful Critical Review likens watching the Sopranos as to "eating too much ice cream". In other words, filling and fattening but ultimately empty and probably not very good for you. Unfortunately i read that review shortly after i started watching the series, and having already had a similar impression, i agreed entirely too much and i watched ensuing episodes with that bias. Kind of a self-fulfilling mindset especially since i stream most of my television in bed as a means to numb my mind to sleep, and i often nod off with the tablet in my hands. Right in the middle of all this activity i'm enjoying, my lights go out.I missed a really lot that way. Which may be a good thing, because it gives me an excuse to watch again, better.So anyway on account of my prejudice and the way i watched, i was probably somewhere in the middle of the 4th season before i caught on that something more was going on here. The best TV shows, movies, and books do not explicitly spell out their messages but couch them in metaphor and allegory. They make you *think* or better yet, feel, which makes for an ultimately more satisfying experience. If you have to work to extract meaning from some ambiguous wiggle in your gut or itch in the back of your mind, the result is more filling and nutritious even if it remains just a nebulous, um,, feelthink?The Sopranos is social and spiritual commentary at its very best, and the very fact that it can be superficially taken as gratuitous violence and sociopathic amorality is exactly what makes it so good. Like i said, it took me some time to catch on and when i did it was only because of those nebulous, uncomfortable wiggles and itches inside. I'd like to say that the realization made me sit up and pay attention, and it did to some extent and for some time, but i still kept falling back to my habit of nodding off in the middle of episodes, jerking awake long enough to rescue my dropping tablet and shut off the light.This is the omnipresent theme of The Sopranos... the striving to be something more. Or at least, something other. It's about the constant reaching for something just... right.... there... and then ultimately falling back to the status quo because the reaching is so damned much work. It's about sin and redemption, it's the ancient story of good and evil with a deliciously ironic and realistic helping of ambiguity. Because the thing about transcendence is, you have to at least be self-aware enough to know that there's something more to be. Tony Soprano's amorality and human failings as compared to my own are only a matter of degree, not of quality. This profoundly evil man who leaves in his wake so much suffering and death, he reckons himself, on balance, a "good guy" because he loves his family. And you know what? By that reckoning, he is. Heck i like the guy, even if i'd treat him as i would a cute fuzzy rattlesnake. The frightening thing is that, watching from the outside, the maths clearly don't balance in his favor. So in all brutal honesty, how does my own equation resolve, and does it even? What quantity of suffering roils in the wake of my willful ignorance, how much harm have i done in my sleep, can i ever be enough to put this balance sheet in the black? Can i even remember that i should want to?There are other themes and clever allegories sprinkled through this show but that's the big one. Tony doesn't particularly want to be something more or even something other, but his panic attacks (the extreme manifestation of a brain itch or tummy wiggle) pretty much force him on a path of reluctant enlightenment. I found myself rooting for his "aha" moment and a graceful exit from his evil ways, maybe even remorse and atonement, but i suppose that would've spoiled the story. Not to mention it would've probably entailed government intervention and with that, a whole other level of moral turpitude. Not better, just other.At some point i will watch this series again and i will endeavor, at that point, to give it more respectful attention. I don't have anything against eating too much ice cream, i'm just pleasantly surprised to have gotten more from this than empty calories and i want to get the nutrition i missed.I'm not saying that this television series offers much in the way of answers. Rather, its value is mostly in the big question marks it leaves hanging in the air, too big to ignore or go around. Albeit, (and whilst trying to avoid explicit spoilers), the huge emphatic exclamation point at the very end of it all is possibly the most brilliant finale i've ever seen to a television series. When i finally figured out what had just happened my confusion gave way to outrage and in turn the absurdity of it all got me to laughing and laughing until i nearly split my gut and let the light in.Then i shut off my tablet, turned out the light, and went to sleep.

The current Blu-ray edition of the first season includes all the original 13 episodes on 5 discs. The fifth disk also has an interview with David Chase and two 'behind the scenes' featurettes. While faithful to the original show's content and most likely an improvement over the DVD release, this edition does not take advantage of any of Blu-ray's capabilities except for the higher picture quality and less compressed sound.SPECS:- 5 discs- 1080p, 16:9 video- DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound for English- DTS 2.0 for Spanish, Frendch, German and Castilian- Subtitles in English Spanish, French, German, Castilian, Dutch, Danish, Finish, Norwegian, Swedish, PortugueseMY RATING:To say that I was a Sopranos fan would be an understatement, coming from this former resident of Lodi, New Jersey :)I absolutely love watching Sopranos and we are frequently watching reruns on A&E. This being said, we never bought the DVD sets, probably because the reruns were always available on some cable channel and well... for the past couple of years we've been waiting for the Blu-ray releases.This first season on Blu is welcome and should be a buy for everyone who does not have it on DVD yet. The picture and sound quality should be superior to that of the DVD edition and it's clearly superior to the 1080i, truncated and sanitized renditions available on the non-premium cable channels (A&E at the time of this review). I also like the VERY nice packaging.I was surprised and disappointed by the conspicuous absence of any Blu-ray enhancements. Besides the almost complete absence of any 'special features' except for one interview and 2 'behind the scenes', there are zero interactive features, no on-line access to up to date information, not even something similar to the 'season play' option found on shows such as LOST and Heroes where your Blu player would remember where you stop watching and allow you to resume from where you left off. When compared to another great HBO series on Blu - ROME - The Sopranos Blu edition seems to be a VERY poor cousin. I hope that, by the time 'the complete series' package becomes available in Blu, we are going to get some more Blu substance for our hard-earned dollars.My weighted score would have the show itself as an obvious 5-star with the Blu treatment as a 2 or 3-star for an overall 4 stars (the show weights twice as much as the Blu-specific part).

A+++++++

I hate leaving a bad review, but this really annoyed me. I was looking forward to seeing what the hype was all about - first disc, first episode, picture broke up. Nothing wrong with my money, nothing should be wrong with DVD. Returned. No quibble. Thank you Amazon. Noticed buyer in Canada had same problem. No wonder reduced?

Just how real the underworld depicted in "The Sopranos" is, none of us can know (or can they?). But it certainly comes across as both real and realistic, a believable blend of drama and comedy, humour and crime, with a constant underlying psychological thread which offers viewers an insight into Mafia Minds from all perspectives: perpetrators, direct victims, "indirect victims" (e.g. relatives), outsiders. And these are not static views, but dynamic components of a thrilling, compelling evolving element.The writing is top drawer - and the acting does it justice. Amongst a plethora of great performances, James Galdolfini's portrayal of Tony Soprano is already a modern-day classic.The justified cult status achieved so quickly, with praise coming from fans and critics alike, is a fitting tribute to the quality of all the aspects of this enthralling drama. This is definitely one for the "watch time and time again" section, with each and every viewing allowing a greater insight. This is further helped by the perfect blend of serious and light-hearted moments, timed to great effect to ensure the plot doesn't become overburdening or the realism go out of the window. These are realistic characters, with a sense of humour as well as a sense of duty and a code of silence; and, whilst their means are different to the ones used by the majority of people, their feelings, emotions and doubts, as well as some of their goals, are completely human. For you can live above the law of the land; but you can't live above the law of the heart, and its contradicting rules. The characters in "The Sopranos" have no option but to acknowledge that; they might not do it in the most explicit of manners, but you're left in no doubt. You become a silent, invisible confidant, their psychological doubts taking priority over gun-shots and murders. And, once they've let you through that door, no matter how unknowingly, there's no way you're going to want to leave.

Although each episode is complete in itself - the story unfolds gradually. The premise, of a mafia boss struggling to raise his kids and do the right thing by them, whilst suffering panic attacks, may sound unusual, if not gross - but it works because the direction is assured and often inspired, and the acting is entirely believable. Well worth the outlay for the whole set.

Great series, material not dating badly.

This will keep my husband quiet for quite a while, and we looking forward to finding the next few series