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Reviewed by
Cass Nunn |
Director
Various
Cast
James Gandolfini,
Edie Falco,
Lorraine Brocco,
Robert Iler,
Jamie-Lynn Sigler,
Vincent Pastore,
Dominic Chianese,
Music
Marco Marinageli |
 (1.33:1) |
English, French, German Spanish
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| Subtitle/s
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English,
German, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Portuguese, Hebrew, Polish,
Greek, Czech, Turkish, Hungarian, Icelandic, Croatian, French, Arabic, Romanian,
Bulgarian. |
| Region Code
|
2/4 |
| Chapters
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6 Discs with 16-21 chapters each |
| Disc Format
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6x DVD9 |
| Running
Time |
650 minutes |
| Extras |
- 3
Trailers
- Music Video: Woke up this Morning
- Featurette: Behind the Hit. |
| Classification
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MA15+ |
| Distributor
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Warner |
| Rental
Release |
19th April 2001 |
| Web
Site |
HBO - Sopranos |
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This could be a really long and painful overview so I
will keep this as short as I can for a 6-disc box set.
The sopranos has had quite an impact on the drone of American television series of late
as it doesn’t seem to drop into any of the common categories and yet it is still a
successful and quite original idea. The writers have managed to keep an interest in the
series as it expands further with each episode instead of just diverting down another
track.
The first time I watched the first episode of the sopranos I was immediately reminded
of the film Analyse This. While the Sopranos does have a basic story line of a Mob boss in
search of a good shrink it certainly breaks into a much more involved story as it goes on.
The Sopranos are what I would imagine as a relatively typical modern day dysfunctional
family, with more than it’s fair share of twists.
Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) is the New Jersey Mob capo and does a generally fine
job of hiding this from his children. The inference that he is in the waste management
business is really quite comical when you think about it. However Tony is suffering from
Anxiety attacks and seeks the professional services of a shrink to help him overcome this
little problem. Something he must keep very quite as it would destroy his reputation if
word got out amongst "the family".
The series is based around this concept and the many trials and tribulations he faces
in keeping his family, the business and of course some of his extra curricular activities
in check.
In short this is not really you’re typical mob story but more of an in-depth look
into just how dysfunctional some families can get.
If you haven’t seen an Episode of the Sopranos yet it might be a good idea to try
before you buy, as this may not be to everyone’s taste. Whilst I certainly enjoyed
it! |
So how does this transfer hold up?
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VIDEO
To be honest, I really didn’t expect much from 11 hours or so of a series made for
TV.
The Pan and Scan transfer is little more
than I expected and really quite disappointing for such a publicised series.
The biggest flaw in the transfer is the colour spectrum, which is completely drained
and dull throughout. There is such a huge prospect for some spectacular colour; I really
don’t understand why more attention wasn’t given to this aspect in the transfer.
It is a recent piece so we shouldn’t be seeing a wash of muted colours.
The transfer is plagued with grain, which is at times quite noticeable and annoying.
All lending themselves to a bad transfer; there is also a problem with shadow detail but
this appears to be a filming problem and of course could also be resultant of the poor
grain and sharpness of the images. The grain has lent the transfer an overall softness to
the images that doesn’t do them any justice at all. A generally disappointing
transfer.
[Ed. The region 1 USA version is 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen...as it was shot for TV
IN WIDESCREEN!!!] |
 ... |
AUDIO
The Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track is really all that is
required for a period drama like this. Dialogue was mostly clear throughout although at
times the accents can be hard to keep up with.
The surround channels didn’t get a lot of use, only a
few sound effects and support of the soundtrack.
The soundtrack was good and supportive of the on screen action at times I found myself
singing away without even noticing.
[Ed. The region 1 USA version is Dolby Digital 5.1!!!] |
EXTRAS
- 3 Trailers: 2 episodes per disc (3 on the last one) and the
same number of trailers on each disc.. Pity they’re all the same! Aside from the last
disc with one extra trailer the same two trailers appear on every disc.. rather annoying.
- Music Video : Woke up this Morning: great song!
- Featurette: Behind the Hit: This is the strangest extra
I’ve ever seen a short 5 minutes of this featurette on each of the first 5 DVDs. My
question is why not have them all as one much longer and more coherent featurette on one
disc… but anyway this is still quite good with some entertaining interviews and some
bits of behind the scenes footage
[Ed again... we got screwed here also...region 1 got a commentary track for the Pilot
Eps by creator David Chase, AND a 70+ minute doco/interview....grrrrr]
Overall
Buy it for entertainment value not for transfer or extras value. |
| PICTURE
QUALITY |
6/10 some
very major problems |
| SOUND
Quality |
8/10 not exciting but not
a lot of opportunities either |
| EXTRAS |
3/10 some strange ideas
here! |
| EXTRAS |
7/10 great for a little
light entertainment |
Review Equipment
TV: GE 68cm (16:9
selectable)
DVD: Pioneer 737
Receiver: Yamaha RX-V595a
Speakers:-
Fronts: B&W 602 (on a pair of custom made stands you'd KILL for)
Centre: Venturi
Rears: Wharfedale Diamond R6
Sub: M&K v75
- Reviewed 26th August 2001
* jpeg files for internet
promotion use only. Copyright© exists on all aspects of these files by Warner Home Video |
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