Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

The Many Saints of Newark Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 21, 2021

Considering the controversy that erupted when the final episode (or perhaps more accurately, the final few minutes) of The Sopranos: The Complete Series aired, some fans of the long running HBO megahit might have been pining for a sequel rather than a prequel, but after a mob life sabbatical of a few years, David Chase and his team have returned with The Many Saints of Newark, which offers a look at a young Tony Soprano (William Ludwig as a boy, and then original star James Gandolfini's son Michael as a teen) in the sixties and seventies. The Many Saints of Newark is probably unavoidably going to resonate most with those who got hooked on The Sopranos, and part of this effort's interest is in getting acquainted (and/or reacquainted) with a bunch of characters at earlier stages in their lives than what was depicted in the original series. But the focal character in The Many Saints of Newark is actually a kind of audacious choice: Dickie Moltisanti (Alessandro Nivola). While a number of comedy series through the years have featured characters who are often talked about, and even occasionally heard, but never seen, like doorman Carlton in Rhoda, or Niles' wife Maris in Frasier, it might be a bit more of a challenge to come with a list of similarly "invisible" characters in drama series. That said, fans of The Sopranos will be familiar with the name and at least some elements of the story of Moltisanti, who serves as a kind of father figure and mentor for young Tony.

1967 is often cited as the so-called Summer of Love, and in fact it's referred to by that very sobriquet in The Many Saints of Newark, though as the story makes clear, if flower toting hippies were all the rage in San Francisco, there was rage of another sort fomenting all across the nation, with incredibly destructive riots destroying block after block of several major American cities, including Newark. This is just one element in this tale which seems sadly relevant to what those of us in the United States have experienced over the past year or so (though certainly not limited to that time frame, of course). And in fact simmering "race relations" are rather interestingly one of the central aspects of the film, as a black cohort of Dickie's, Harold McBrayer (Leslie Odom, Jr.), figures prominently in the story.

The "race riots" of 1967 offer a roiling subtext to the early time period documented in The Many Saints of Newark, though before they erupt the film has already introduced Dickie and a very young Tony as they arrive at port to greet Dickie's father "Hollywood Dick" (Ray Liotta, in one of two parts he plays) and Hollywood Dick's new (and much younger) Italian wife, Giuseppina (Michela De Rossi). The early scenes document Hollywood Dick's overbearing personality, which is directed variously at Dickie and/or Giuseppina, and which leads to one of the more viscerally effective moments in the film, after Hollywood Dick pushes Giuseppina down the stairs, and Dickie decides to teach his father a lesson. Suffice it to say that the upshot is that Liotta is only consigned to playing another character for the rest of the film, Hollywood Dick's twin brother Sal, who has been incarcerated for years for killing another "made" family member.

Perhaps attempting to assuage a guilty conscience, Dickie begins visiting Sal in prison, and while I can't say for certain whether this was an intentional "homage", at least some of the quasi-therapeutic discussions between the two, while barbed and not necessarily "healing", may remind some of the one of the central conceits in The Sopranos and the trials and tribulations of an adult Tony. In the meantime, Harold, who has had to take off for a while, returns and decides he can be his own capo of his own black gang. Also in the meantime, in one of the less surprising plot machinations the film offers, Dickie and the widowed Giuseppina begin an affair, though even that relationship ultimately offers yet another viscerally disturbing scene involving Dickie's penchant toward rash behaviors.

One of the really interesting things about The Many Saints of Newark is that, much like The Sopranos, this is basically a "family soap opera" that just happens to be situated in the world of (at times not all that) organized crime. It's the family relationships that drive the story, and which give Tony's "coming of age" tale near novelistic context. That said, this film's tag line, Who Made Tony Soprano, is probably most relevant in terms of understanding the film's content if the emphasis is put on that "who made" rather than "Tony Soprano". While it's almost unavoidably emotional to see Michael Gandolfini doing his own take on one of his late father's most memorable portrayals, it's really the performances of Nivola, Vera Farmiga as a younger Livia, and Corey Stoll as a younger Junior that tend to generate the most energy.

The Many Saints of Newark Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Many Saints of Newark is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Warner Brothers Home Entertainment and HBO with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. The film was shot with the Arri Alexa LF and finished at a 4K DI. While I found the 4K UHD release of this title to offer generally better detail levels and a more nuanced accounting of the palette, in one perhaps significant way I strongly preferred this 1080 version, and that's with regard to the presentation of the digital grain. The increased resolution of the 4K UHD version struck me as making that element look too "swarm" like, whereas in this version it's relatively more moderated, and provides a perhaps less "showy" attempt to mimic the look of film. This 1080 version still boasts considerably excellent detail levels throughout, and while the palette doesn't quite match the range of the 4K UHD version, it's still very impressive, especially with regard to the abundance of cool tones on the blue and green ends of the spectrum.

The Many Saints of Newark Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Many Saints of Newark features a nicely expressive Atmos track that may frankly not offer a ton of verticality but which nonetheless is often vibrantly alive with surround activity, especially with regard to what is a veritable jukebox of source cues. There are some interesting placements in the Atmos track in the riot scenes in particular, not just with regard to the clamor of the rioters, but even to the background crackle of fires. A couple of later scenes involving some gruesome or at least disturbing also offer good placement of effects, with one outdoor sequence in particular offering nicely immersive ambient environmental sounds. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English, Spanish and French subtitles are available.

The Many Saints of Newark Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Deleted Scenes (HD; 5:26)


• The Making of Newark (HD; 13:07) has some good interviews, including with David Chase, as well as some interesting vignettes from the original series.


• Sopranos Family Honor (HD; 5:36) looks at some of the interrelated main characters and how they're portrayed in this "version" as well as how they were portrayed in The Sopranos.

Additionally a digital copy is included. Packaging features a slipcover.

The Many Saints of Newark Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Aside from the no doubt intentional emphasis on a previously unseen but much talked about character, there's also a certain audaciousness in the character actually narrating this film, which won't be spoiled here. This is obviously going to appeal mostly to fans of The Sopranos, and if this film understandably can't come close to attaining the almost mythic heights of that series, it's an often interesting and at times surprisingly emotional experience. Technical merits are solid, and while I think the 4K UHD version probably provides better overall detail and palette reproduction, this 1080 version may offer relatively more tight looking digital grain. Recommended.