Number of discs: 28
Starring: James Gandolfini, Lorraine Bracco, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, Tony Sirico, Dominic Chianese
Creator: David Chase
Studio: HBO Studios
Release Date: November 4, 2014
Rated TV-MA
Running Time: 4680 minutes
Series: 5 out of 5 stars
Blu-ray: 4 out of 5 stars
Extras: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Every once in a while, a show comes along that changed television. “The Sopranos” was one of those shows. It built HBO to what it is today. The series is respected as one of the greatest television series of all time…and I easily agree. I remember dating back to 1999 watching the very first episode and being completely hooked from the start. During that time, I was hooked on mobster films like “Casino” and “Goodfellas” (in fact this series shares 27 actors with the 1990 Martin Scorsese gangster film), so this show was an epic TV version of those films. The cast is just simply outstanding including James Gandolfini, Lorraine Bracco, Michael Imperioli, Tony Sirico and numerous others. I miss this show and I miss James Gandolfini but at least now we have the complete series available in one collection on Blu-ray.
Official Premise: For six seasons, fans have devotedly watched Tony Sopranos deal with the difficulties of balancing his home life with the criminal organization he leads. Audiences everywhere tuned in to see the mob, the food, the family, and Catch up on, or re-watch your favorite episodes of the Sopranos with The Sopranos: The Complete Series DVD Set. For six seasons, fans devotedly watched Tony Soprano deal with the difficulties of balancing his home life with the criminal organization he leads for a very good reason: groundbreaking dramatic storylines. Audiences everywhere tuned in to see the mob, the food, the family, and who was next to get whacked. Celebrate the show that Vanity Fair called, “the greatest show in TV history”. Between 1999 and 2007, The Sopranos was honored with no less than 21 Emmy Awards and 111 Emmy nominations!
This 28-disc Blu-ray release features all 6 seasons from this series, adding up to 86 episodes. The seasons break down as follows: Discs 1-4: The Complete First Season, Discs 5-8: The Complete Second Season, Discs 9-12: The Complete Third Season, Discs 13-16: The Complete Fourth Season, Discs 17-20: The Complete Fifth Season, Discs 21-24: Season Six, Part 1, Discs 25-27: Season Six, Part 2 and Discs 8: Exclusive Bonus Features. HBO is releasing this Complete Series was a combo pack with a Blu-ray + Digital HD copy included. The 1080p transfers are good from season one to great by the end of the sixth season. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 is a bit more balanced and sounds great throughout the entire series.
The special features are great even though alot of the content is ported over the previous DVD releases. There are 25 audio commentaries, which sounds amazing but some of good and some are not. I picked a few hear and there on some of my favorites and I realized that very quickly. Other than that there are a bunch of rather short featurettes spread across each of the 27 discs. Some of the highlight extras ported over is a nearly 80 minute interview with creator David Chase by Peter Bogdonavich, which discusses the series in-depth. There is also a decent featurette focusing around “The Music of The Sopranos” with David Chase, Steven Van Zandt and Dominic Chianese.
The main draw for the special features is easily the 28th disc, which offers all new high definition bonus content, including a 46-minute retrospective, two round table discussions between David Chase and members of his cast and crew, a 2-part interview with Chase, and deleted scenes for all 6 seasons of the series. This Blu-ray exclusive content runs about three hours and is worth the purchase of the release itself. “Defining a Television Landmark” is a 45 minute look into the effect this series had a television. “Supper with The Sopranos” is a 75 minute dinner conversation with David Chase and various guests. This is easily the best special feature on the entire release. Lastly there are over 20 minutes of lost scenes from each season.