Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.5

The Sopranos: Season Six, Part I Blu-ray Movie Review

Watching HBO's four-BD Sopranos set, the most serious complaint is that seasons 1-5 have not received the Blu-ray treatment.

Reviewed by Greg Maltz August 20, 2007

Even if you have experienced HBO's Sopranos broadcasts in high-definition, the Season 6, Part I Blu-ray set is a revelation. With lifelike detail, Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), his family and mafia crew all but climb out of the screen. The VC-1 codec and PCM content deliver hard-hitting scenes and power-packed sound like you've never experienced in the show before. Watching these familiar characters on Blu-ray is rapture. Even the packaging is no cannoli. Where the DVD case sports a cheap, hinged front cover, the Blu-ray box is enclosed on the side with sturdy, metallic blue casing. Pull open the magnetic door, tilt the box and bada-boom, the gatefold BD package slides smoothly from the slipcase.

Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) faces new challenges in Season 6 Part 1.

The sixth season gets off to a rocky start. In the very first episode, Uncle Junior pulls a gun on Tony and shoots him in the gut. The mob boss crumples to the floor. With his last remaining strength, Tony manages to find a phone and dial 911. For the next three episodes, Tony lies comatose in his hospital bed as doctors fight an infection and raise the possibility that Tony may suffer permanent brain damage. Putting the skipper out of commission infuriated many Sopranos fans who religiously tuned in to see Gandolfini hold the spoke-like storylines to the center so that the series could role forward. But the absence of a consciously functioning Tony was a unique opportunity for the show's creator, David Chase.

During Tony's state of unconsciousness, Chase explores the leadership qualities (or lack thereof) of other characters in the Sopranos' immediate and "extended" family. These episodes also explore Tony's subconscious mind in a way that his psychiatrist, Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco), never could. The series takes an intriguing twist, giving Tony a brand new identity unique to his subconscious world.

As Tony straddles the line between life and death, his metaphysical persona is stuck in an unfamiliar town with someone else's briefcase. He can't find his ID or business papers. He butts heads with Buddhist monks. And ultimately he must choose between life and death. Turns out that death is presented as a large house high in the hills. Tony's cousin Tony Blundetto (Steve Buscemi), who died in a previous season, stands at the entrance of the house and demands to take the briefcase of the metaphysical Tony--a briefcase that belongs to someone else. What the heck is that all about? I have my theories but it's more fun to just watch the show. At one point, the metaphysical twists and turns cause the mob boss to briefly regain some level of consciousness, bolt up in his hospital bed and stammer, "who am I? Where am I going?" before lapsing back into unconsciousness.

But addressing who Tony is, where he is going and plumbing the depths of his psyche was always the "pasta and gravy" of the series. The comatose Tony occupies only one disc of the four-disc set. Season 6 serves up a strong dose of the fully recovered Tony addressing problems that face his personal life and business enterprises. And as usual, the cast of characters Chase brings to the show deliver strong performances and yield hours of entertainment.

The Sopranos: Season Six, Part I Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The video is handled superbly. HBO serves up 1080p resolution with a 1.78:1 aspect ratio on each BD-50. Each frame is drenched with gobs of detail. In the well-lit hospital scenes, watch the IV drips, EKG monitor and other instrumentation, the bedding and characters. Every pixel resolves beautifully. The picture shows convincing depth and staging, excellent contrast and black level. In a show where the slightest raise of an eyebrow or subtle scowl or drumming of fingers can communicate more than an entire conversion, the improved resolution dramatically heightens the impact.

Even the darker club scenes are striking, with good definition and detail. I think the combination of darkness and motion may cause some pixellation momentarily, but it's a minor issue. Subtle grain noise was also visible. Overall, the picture quality of the Blu-ray set greatly enhances the enjoyment of these episodes and brings home the action to the screen in a way viewers have not experienced in all the years the Sopranos has aired.

The Sopranos: Season Six, Part I Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Another area where the Blu-ray delivers significant improvements is in the music and dialog. The Sopranos has always been aggressive and innovative in its soundtrack, including the signature theme song "Woke Up this Morning" by A3. With 5.1 multichannel lossless PCM, the music, dialogue and other sounds of the series bloom from the speakers with new realism and relevance. Squealing tires, explosions, gunshots and breaking glass have all the earmarks of reference-quality Blu-ray. Like seeing the characters' faces in 1080P for the first time, hearing their voices in LPCM brings the show home.

The incorporation of surround channels is engineered superbly. Off-camera voices are assigned to the appropriate speaker and gunshots reverberate in convincing manner. The close-mic'ing techniques of the audio engineer lend the actors extraordinary presence and power. Listening to the Emmy award-winning Edie Falco as a lamenting Carmella Soprano in the hospital brought chills to my spine. High-resolution audio, perhaps even more than video, delivers an emotional impact to the show.

The Sopranos: Season Six, Part I Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

I'm not big on "bonus features", but if the visible and audible improvements aren't enough and you need additional supplements to make the upgrade from DVD worthwhile, don't bother looking at this Blu-ray set. It contains nothing new. And what it does contain offers no real insight and few useful facts about the series or the episodes. As with the box sets of previous seasons on DVD, the most insight is provided by alternate-track commentary on four of the episodes. Chase himself talks during disc four's Kaisha episode, but I found myself wishing I was hearing the characters instead of Chase.

The Sopranos: Season Six, Part I Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Season 6 is not all "Sopranos as usual". It takes risks. Whether those risks pay off is another question. I felt that too much of the season focuses on one of Tony's captains, Vito (Joseph Gannascoli). I won't go into the details, but let's just say the proceedings during some episodes have more in common with Brokeback Mountain than The Sopranos. I do not blink when watching the show's eruptions in violence that are choreographed to perfection, but I found myself averting my eyes whenever an episode indulged in Vito's gay love scenes. Coming out of the closet in the mafia is a career-limiting move to put it lightly.

The subplot about Vito does not hold my interest or warrant the character development and detailed storyline that went into it. Arguably, the Vito plot has consequences and implications that extend up until the last moment of the series. But Chase could have kept those implications and the subplot without indulging as heavily in Vito's exploits.

Another unexpected subplot that seems unnecessary is Anthony Junior's relationship with a latina single mother he meets on the construction site. It is an unlikely, awkward pairing that does not resolve Anthony's downward spiral as a college dropout. Again, this relationship in the context of AJ's character development is necessary for Season 6 Part 2, due October 23 on Blu- ray. Other subplots involving the jailed Johnny Sac and his renegade crew are more interesting. The increasing visibility of Frank Vincent who plays Phil Leotardo, acting boss in the absence of Johnny, is an interesting development. Vincent has appeared in films by Martin Scorcese, including Raging Bull and Casino. He always provides a solid supporting role. Tony's crew-- including Christopher, Paulie, Bobby and Sil--also deliver solid performances and embroil themselves in several tangents.

With the series now over, looking back on previous episodes proves rewarding. And if you are going back to view The Sopranos, Blu-ray provides a medium far superior to DVD and even HBO's HD broadcasts.