Rating: 
Summary: A Television Work of Art
Review: I originally bought the 1st Season DVD set of the Sopranos as a Xmas gift for my Stepfather, but never had seen the show myself. When my parents got through the whole season in a week, I figured I'd check it out and rent it off Netflix. Within 2 weeks, I had bought all 4 seasons! It is completely engrossing and is probably one of the top 5 works of entertainment I've ever seen. It's a bit violent and risque, but the storylines, acting, and especially the production, are so good that the liberal language and nudity is almost secondary (but it's definitely for the over 16 crowd). The casting is brilliant, and the DVD sets themselves are attractive and well-presented, though a little light on special features. I am actually considering getting HBO just to be able to see the 5th season, which starts in March 2004. The New York Times has hailed the Sopranos as the greatest achievement in American pop culture in the last quarter-century, so if you haven't seen it yet, you owe it to yourself to check it out.Don't put off the show thinking it's another mob/crime drama. This truly lives up to the hype. It's extremely rich entertainment.
Rating:
Summary: an excellent television series, more than just a mob show.
Review: After all of the hype, all of the awards, and four seasons being released on DVD, I finally began watching "The Sopranos". From the first episode, I was hooked. It was nothing like what I expected, but it is an excellent show. "The Sopranos" is a television show about Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a mid-level mafia boss, and his family. As a fan of "The Godfather" and other mafia movies, I thought I had an idea of what to expect, but "The Sopranos" takes the mafia concept in a different direction. One way to get an idea of what "The Sopranos" is about is simply to take "The Godfather", push it forward 50 years into the present, and reduce the scale of Michael Corleone 's mafia authority. You would get something that is not too far removed from "The Sopranos". Tony Soprano is the acting chief of the Soprano crime family while the real head, Jackie, is in the hospital with Cancer. The Sopranos are successful, though somewhat small time. They are a local New Jersey crime family, though not without a fair share of power and authority. While Tony has all of this power, he also has the struggle of balancing his life of crime with his family life, and he is being torn into an emotional mess because of it. Despite the expectations upon him, Tony secretly begins seeing a psychiatrist, Dr. Melfi (Lorraine Bracco). While Tony does not go into detail about his criminal life, Dr. Melfi knows exactly who he is but as long as she does not hear any details about criminal doings, she is not bound to report anything to the authorities. It is with this understanding that the therapy begins and this is a major part of the show (and in my mind, it is one of the best parts of the show). Tony talks about his family, and in this way we learn more about his relationship with his wife, Carmella (Edie Falco) and his mother Livia (Nancy Marchand). His mother is an extremely manipulative woman and as much as I dislike the character, Livia is a very effective character and is a major power in the show because of her manipulativeness. With all this talk about Tony's family and therapy, make no mistake, there is a crime family to be run and Tony runs it. The mafia relationships start to get a bit more complex as the season moves on and characters are added and subtracted from the mix, but this is what makes the show so interesting. It isn't the violence, but the relationships between the characters (family and mafia, alike). "The Sopranos" is an excellent show and one that I intend on continuing to watch and see how the storylines progress. One that that should be noted: This is an HBO series. It was made for cable television and there is quite a bit of violence, language, and even some nudity. Some viewers may find this content inappropriate, but in my view, this is a top rate program.
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece
Review: I have been watching this show since it debuted back in 1999 and let me say that Season One is my personal favorite. There is great action in this season and the plot and characters are unforgettable. Whether you are intrigued by mob life or not you still can find something you like in this show. Alot of this show deals with religion, family values, and psychological demons Tony Soprano is battling. My 2 favorite Soprano episodes are from this season as well. College and Isabella and many others are instant classic Soprano episodes. I own all of the seasons on DVD. But Season One is my favorite and the Sopranos Dvds are some of my most valuable, favorite, and personal possesions. Buy it if you don't have it you won't regret it.
Rating: 
Summary: A gangster sees a psychotherapist.
Review: Yes. I will admit it. I have never seen The Sopranos, until now. But what a great idea to release the series on DVD for all to see. The first 13 episodes of the first season (and as of this writing Season One, Two,Three and Four are available)are all on DVD and the series still continues and can be seen on HBO--Home Box Office. This night time soap opera is about a family who has a gangster as a father, Tony Soprano (played by James Gandolfini, who gained thirty pounds for the role). He tries to talk his mother into going into a retirement community building after she has had some dangerous incidents of her own. Tony's male friends and family are also in the organized crime business. Tony's daughter and 13-year old son do not know what their father does on the side, but are getting suspicious. By the way, Tony owns a bar with strip-girls (and one in-joke strip guy) and he is seeing a female psychiatrist every week to sort out his feelings. Adults Only! Includes violence, nudity and foul language. Disc #4 includes in "Special features", a 77-minute interview with David Chase. Featurette #1, "Family Life" is four minutes long. Featurette #2, "Meet Tony Soprano" runs 3 and a half minutes, Awards and Nominations and Cast Biographies. Note: If you cannot find episode 13 on Disc 4, try this. Go to "Language Selection" and click "resume episode".
Rating:
Summary: THE reason to have HBO
Review: Sopranos is a quality show. Just a well-done, unique peek at mob life. Realistic, funny at times, dramatic, and entertaining. The show somewhat waxes and wans as it continues on, but the first season is a masterpiece for sure. Don't hesitate here!
Rating: 
Summary: Horribly redundant.
Review: I've always enjoyed movies about the mafia and hearing about actual tales of real-life mafia clans, so I was really interested in seeing this critically-acclaimed HBO drama. However, I soon learned that too much of a good thing can be irritating. In my opinion, this is exactly what happened with The Sopranos. The whole mob storyline was interesting at first, but then you notice that it's just the exact same story happening over and over again. If you're really interested in the mafia, then don't watch this because you will quickly grow tired of anything that even remotely relates to the mafia after watching The Sopranos.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable
Review: I thought I would rent the first season of Sopranos since I don't have HBO and can't watch it. Also, being that I'm from north new jersey, it made it even more enjoyable because I recognized almost all of the spots that they were filmed in. As far as the series go, it's a hit. I was a bit skeptical first because I thought I'd find it hard to get into after watching classic mafia/gangster movies such as Goodfellas, Casino and Scarface. But in the end I found it most enjoyable with some funny parts. James Gandolfini shines as Tony Soprano. He's the reason to watch this series. As far as the other actors go in their roles, it's mostly hit or miss. Meadow Soprano's performance is borderline fair and quite frankly the son (his name slipped my mine for some reason) is extremely annoying. But other than that, the first season was most enjoyable. Now if I can get the second season..
Rating:
Summary: The first. The Best. A must buy!!!!!
Review: David Chase's dive into the interesting journeys of Tony Soprano is absolutely intriguing! From the first scene of Episode 1 to the last scene of Episode 13. There is non-stop action, heart pounding drama, and a flawless story line. Any fan of the mob movie genre will be absolutley blown away by this unique look into a diffrent aspect of mob life. From the complex relationship between Tony and his mother. To the Heat with Uncle Junior and the complex look at a mob boss's mind when he sits down on the couch to talk to Dr. Melfi. Take my recomendation on this one people. You'll absolutely love it!
Rating:
Summary: Batting 1,000 Right Out Of The Gate
Review: For years, I continued hearing many great things about this amazing mob-drama on HBO called The Sopranos. Many people went out of their way to tell me about it, especially those who knew about my love for mob films like A Bronx Tale and Goodfellas. Unfortunately, I have lived my life without HBO and for the most part could care less. Last fall, curiousity got the best of me and I went and rented the first four episodes of Season 1. In that time period, I had heard various things about the show's fourth season, mainly former fan's disappointment with the fourth season or simply how the show was completely overrated. I tried to watch the four episodes without thinking of those criticisms but I started out with those being prevalent and thinking "This show just can't be as good as Goodfellas and the like." WRONG!!! The Sopranos first episode starts off a little slow but by the end of the first four episodes, you realize the immense ground that has to be covered which caused me to understand what the writers were trying to do. The most imspiring part is that they really pulled it off well. They have you gaining an affinity for certain characters (Jackie Aprile Sr.) and absolutely loathing others (Mikey Palmice) but remembering them all very well. Though I find the second and third seasons to be superior, there was no better way to open up the series with the rifts that formed throughout season one. David Chase took a subject matter that had been mastered by few (Scorsese) and butchered by others (every idiot director that writes a romantic comedy and feels the need to have the antagonist be a mafia boss or Cuban drug cartel boss) and made it fresh and gripping for modern America. Bravo.
Rating:
Summary: It doesn't get any better than this!
Review: Unbelievable. I was hooked after one episode, so I had to go out and buy the first two seasons. I have never seen anything even close to this. The writing, combined with the production values that HBO can afford to use, makes this the best TV series I have EVER seen.
|
