Rating: 
Summary: As good as the hype -- HIGHLY recommended.
Review: This was another superior season of the series. Basically the final two episodes are the strongest of the set -- but the rest of the season builds up to a sensational pay-off. Tony Soprano (as excellently played by James Gandolfini) -- he is a ruthless and often cruel businessman, but he is also a decent family man (He has genuine love for his wife and children) and lives by a "code of honor". Is he to be admired or vilified? Livia Soprano (Nancy Marchand -- too good for words). She's a manipulator, but is her only sin that she loves her children TOO much? Her final scene is touching and bittersweet. I felt she was a tragic figure, not a villain. The acting in this series is SO good, its difficult to imagine certain members of the cast AREN'T their characters! (specifically Michael Imperioli, Tony Sirico, and Aida Turturro). Edie Falco (Carmela) -- also a terrific actress with a great role. The quality of these DVDs (as well as the first season) is top-notch. I was most impressed with the 5.1 surround sound. Its one of the best stereo-surround soundtracks I've heard on a DVD (possibly because it was recorded with home viewing in mind?). As with the first set -- HIGHLY recommended.
Rating:
Summary: The BEST series on television today!
Review: Without a doubt this is the best drama on television today. HBO has done it again with the second season! The Soprano's is a show about the life and times of Tony Soprano, head of a New Jersey mob family. However this isn't your typical mob story. The show takes you into the lives of the Sopranos and shows that they are human like everyone else. You see the marital issues of Tony and Carmella. You witness the problems of being a mob boss and raising two kids. The interaction between Carmella, Tony, Dr. Melfi (Tony's Pyschiatrist) and the rest of the crew is wonderful. Buy this DVD set today, you won't be disappointed!
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: What a production.Do I really have to say it? This is the best tv show ever made. Forget that, this is the best thing ever recorded on film. I bought the first and second seasons without ever seeing an episode, and I ended up watching all 26 episodes (about 26 hours, mind you) in less than a week.But if you want to see a really cool video you should see that ultimate street brawls at streetbrawls.com at least that is real. And I have a life! It's that good. I must admit - I enjoyed the Godfather series and Goodfellas was a classic...but still none of them compare to a season of the Sopranos. The show has intelligence, humor, and a perfect amount of violence and sex that makes it realistic without making those things the focus. My mother hates violence and mafia movies. She watched five episodes in a row. I have skipped classes in college and showed up late for work because I didn't want to turn off the tv. From the opening theme song and camera shots of north jersey to the final credits, you CAN NOT stop watching. Every single episode is exciting and I guarantee you can't just watch one. The only thing I would warn about is that, even though it shows the downside, this show WILL make you consider a life of crime
Rating:
Summary: The Sopranos' Best Season
Review: The Soprano's second season pulls off the impossible: it is actually better than the seemingly untouchable first season. Why? Because now that we know all the characters (well, most of them anyway), we get the priviledge of watching them morph into some the most wonderfully twisted creations in small-screen history. Of course, everything revolves around Tony and how he deals with these various psychopaths who seem hell-bent on destroying his life. In the second season, Tony comes to terms (or attempts to anyway..) with his wicked mother (the late-great Nancy Marchand) and his insipid Uncle Junior who, in the first season, attempted to have him whacked. Meanwhile, Tony becomes increasingly suspicious of his dear friend Big Pussy Bompensero. Tony fears Pussy will rat him out and battles his worst inner-demons while trying to work out a viable solution. The second season also introduces two of the Sopranos' most whacked-out characters: Tony's coniving hippie sister Janice and the fresh-outta-prison Richie Aprile. Together, these two proceed to wreak untold havoc on Tony's life. And hey, if that's not enough, Tony's troublemaking kids, A.J. and Meadow, give him no peace at home while wife Carmella grows increasingly impatient with his loveless ways. All told, the rampant lunacy is enough to send even the most level-headed among us straight to the comfy confines of Dr. Melfi's couch! Overall, the second season plays like a series of short films. However, unlike the inconsistent 3rd season, the flow is continuous and very few issues go unresolved. The Sopranos offers some of the finest writing and acting on TV (or film for that matter). The sense of drama and character development are second to none. Everything about the show is first-rate and in the marvelous second season everything gels to perfection. Simply put, The Sopranos Second Season is as good as it gets and is well worth owning on DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Sopranos: The Sequel
Review: After wrapping up all of their story lines at the end of Season #1, the filmmaker apparently didn't plan for a 2nd. So Season #2 of "The Sopranos" starts fresh. Just like before, Tony needs Dr. Melfi's help to discover who his real enemy is (hint: it's not Richie, not Big Pussy), all the while dealing with crippling panic attacks, hot-headed rivals, and betrayal. Dr. Melfi, and Christopher are the most interesting story lines here, but new characters Richie Apriel and Janice are funny and frightening. Episodes 'D-Girl' & 'Funhouse' are brilliant. So is Chris' brush with death: "I was in Hell, Carmela." I feel that Season #1 & #3 are deeper in detail & character, but #2 is truely engrossing storytelling. Superb filmmaking.
Rating:
Summary: The Second Season: Nearly as Great as the First
Review: THE SOPRANOS had a tough act to follow after that remarkable first season. With so many characters having gotten wacked by the end of the first season, the show faced the always-tricky challenge of integrating new characters into the mix. Although there are some lulls early in the second season, the show ultimately surfs the transition extremely well. Episode 14, the first of the second season, reveals what became of Big Pussy Bonpensiero; it also introduces us to Janice, Tony's ne'er-do-well sister from the West Coast. In episode 16 we get a blunt introduction to Richie Aprile (brother of the late Jackie Aprile Sr.). Richie has just been released from prison, and we immediately know that he's going to be a nasty thorn in Tony's side. But frankly, you could skip over episodes 17 and 18 and you would barely miss a thing. By far the most significant long-term development in those episodes occurs when Tony brings Furio back after a "business trip" to Italy. Things really start cooking in episode 19 when we meet Tony's high school buddy and "degenerate gambler" David Scatino, brilliantly played by the underrated actor Robert Patrick. (Frank Sinatra Jr. has a cameo in this episode). It would be unfair to newcomers to detail any more plot twists beyond this point. The sessions between Tony and Dr. Melfi remain the prism through which the entire show is filtered. One of their best and most pointed exchanges occurs in episode 22. Dr. Melfi asks Tony if he believes that his nephew Christopher will burn in hell because of his mob activities. Who among us really belongs in hell? "The serial killers, the people who kill for pleasure, the child molesters, the Hitlers, the Pol Pots. Those are the [...] who belong in hell, not my nephew," Tony responds (I'm paraphrasing a bit). After all, "Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan were crooks and killers too." But those Gilded Age elites needed Italian immigrants "to build their cities and dig their subways and make 'em richer." The rise of La Cosa Nostra early in the twentieth century, Tony concludes, was simply a class struggle in which the hard-working sons of Italian immigrants claimed their rightful "piece of the action." Not even Dr. Melfi can stomach this much moral equivalence. In one of the few times that she blows her stack at Tony, she angrily asks, "Does that justify EVERYTHING you do?" The show's little touches are almost as impressive as the big ones. For example, episode 23 begins with an eyewitness telling the cops about a murder. Later we see him at home, sipping wine and reading ANARCHY, STATE AND UTOPIA. This episode also reveals Richie and Janice's unorthodox (and hysterically funny) lovemaking techniques, which only the two of them could have dreamed up. One could go on and on about what makes this show so special. The key to the show's success, I believe, is that it tends to be character-driven, whereas too many other shows are strictly plot-driven. That explains why THE SOPRANOS almost always rings true. Thank God this show is on HBO and not regular network TV.
Rating:
Summary: If and only if HBO is part of basic cable...
Review: As a hugh fan of the show, I can't say anything bad about season #2 except, well, you kinda know some of the actors were on one-year contracts. Their departures from the story-line seemed a bit quick and unsatisfying. But what the hack, "it was a very good year..."
Rating:
Summary: All TV should be this good.
Review: Living in Japan, I don't get to watch new episodes as they air, so I have to buy the DVD's if I want to keep up, which isn't necessarily a bad thing if your willing to overlook the hefty price for an entire season. The episodes are letter-box enhanced for 16:9 TV's and have 5.1 sound. I don't know if this is standard in the States with the new HDTV technology, but they are very well done in terms of picture quality and sound. there are also a handfull of episodes that include directors commentary. Not very common for a TV series. The episodes ranged from tragic to hysterical and only get better as they go. While the first season focused more on Tony and his mom, the second season spreads it roots a bit and introduces a lot of new characters like Tony's sister Janice and her psycho boyfriend and Tony's semi-nemesis Richie. The Janice/ Richie subplot was definitely one of my favorites of the series. The last two episodes of the season were executed perfectly. No let-down's. To me, the strength of the series is the believability and likeability of all the characters. Livia is... was highly dysfunctional, but god she's funny to watch. I wish she had been as prominant a character in the second season as in the first, but given Nancy Marchand's health problems it must have been necessary to diminish her part. I haven't seen any episodes from the third season but she'll be sorely missed. For the most part I think TV is mindless drivel. There are a few rays of hope here and there, but they're squeezed in between mindless, smarmy, reality-based stranded Island shows that make me want to yak. Thank God HBO had the cojones to make a show like this one. While the networks were scrambling to find the next "Survivor" HBO continued to produce good shows with quality direction, telling great stories with talented actors. The Sopranos is more than a mere TV show. It's a piece of U.S. mythology. It holds it's own with any of the gangster films of my lifetime with the exception of Godfather 1 & 2 (I think Tony would agree).
Rating:
Summary: It Was A Very Good Year
Review: Right from the start with the montage staged to Frank Sinatra's "It Was A Very Good Year", you know that you are in for a treat. The new characters, in particular, Ritchie Aprile, make up for the lack of Uncle Junior, who, in my humble opinion, made the first series. (The eating sushi references in 'Boca' should prove my point.) Violent as ever, The Sopranos never lets up on the homour. Paulie smashing a DVD player with his shoe, because the disc jumps is one of my favourite moments. In short, anyone who has ever enjoyed films such as Goodfellas, The Godfather, Once Upon A Time in America etc, should rush out and jack a copy of both series on DVD straight away. Capice!
Rating:
Summary: The second season is the Best.
Review: The second season is the best season by far. I watched the second season when it was on HBO and I could not wait for each new episode to come out.
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