Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

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

Catapulted into pop culture hallowed ground, the final nine episodes of The Sopranos are produced impeccably in high resolution.

Reviewed by Greg Maltz December 10, 2007

The voice of Journey's Steve Perry wails, "Don't stop..." Then abrupt silence. The screen cuts suddenly to black. The credits roll. Thus ends the epic HBO series, The Sopranos. Where Season 6, Part I shows Tony (James Gandolfini) at his most vulnerable and existential, coming out of a coma to appreciate life and take it as it comes, Season 6, Part II shows him shedding the zen-like mentality and flexing his mob boss muscles in strategic ways. He becomes increasingly distrusting and resentful of his inner circle: Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli), Paulie Gualtieri (Tony Sirico), Silvio Dante (Steve Van Zandt) and Bobby Baccalieri (Steve Schirripa). The internal problems fester as Tony faces a new level of hostility from New York boss Phil Leotardo (Frank Vincent). Another threat looms in signs that federal agents are building a case against Tony, and may indict him under Rico statutes. Even Tony's personal life threatens to unravel, as his son AJ (Robert Iler) becomes suicidal and the ever-reliable therapist, Dr. Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco), finally closes her door to Tony. Yet, in the end, Tony conquers all, and ends up on top. Or does he?

Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) sits in a diner with his wife Carmela (Edie Falco) and son AJ (Robert Iler) in the final episode of The Sopranos.

When the diner scene showing the last moments of the series cuts to black, it raised questions and disappointed many fans. “You probably don’t even hear it when it happens, right?” says Bobby in the first episode of Season 6, Part II. That line, delivered during a fishing outing when Bobby and Tony were talking about how to protect against an assassination attempt, is repeated again in a later episode. It suggests the cut to black was a hit on Tony. If so, the silence and blackness is far preferable to a loud, graphic bloodbath showing the murder of characters closely embraced by viewers for the past eight years. But it is by no means a certainty that the murder attempt was successful, or that the cut to silence and black necessarily equated to a hit. The genius of the ending is that it allows The Sopranos to live on, if not literally then figuratively. Don't stop believing, indeed.

Season 6, Part II gets off to a rocky start when Tony is arrested at his home and booked on gun charges. He is released and the charges are quickly dropped, but his lawyer emphasizes the likelihood that the gun charges may come back to haunt Tony as part of a federal case. To forget his legal problems and celebrate his birthday, Tony takes Carmela to Bobby's lakeside cabin. But what begins as a relaxing weekend getaway quickly disintegrates into violence. While drinking heavily, Tony pushes Bobby too far with insults. The two face off in a fist fight. Tony takes a beating, but comes out ahead when he forces Bobby to do a hit that will cement a new business arrangement. It's the first time Bobby "gets dirty" in the ultimate subservience, even though he has shown he will challenge Tony's authority on a physical level.

Meanwhile, Johnny Sacrimoni (Vincent Curatola) is dying of lung cancer in a hospital penitentiary. His successor in New York, Phil, having recovered from his own health crisis in part one of the season, loathes Tony and looks for any excuse to cause problems. Uncle Junior (Dominic Chianese) is rapidly losing what little mental function remained after dementia started setting in several years ago. After running a card game to control sodas and candy bars in the asylum, he gets into trouble with the staff and inmates and is ultimately sent to a state facility. In the last episode, Tony finally visits him and confronts him about the shooting that nearly left Tony dead in Season 6, Part I. But Uncle Junior doesn't seem to recognize Tony and if the older gangster is merely feigning senility, it's a very convincing act.

One of the greatest comedic subplots in the series is Christopher's interest in writing screenplays and producing movies about the mafia. Finally, we see the release of his film Cleaver, about a murdered gangster who comes back from the grave to get revenge on the mob boss who had him whacked. (For a hilarious spoof of a "making of", check out the featurette on Cleaver, included on the BD.) Carmela and others immediately see the film as little more than Christopher's martyr complex and revenge fantasies aimed at Tony. Once the movie's ulterior motive is pointed out to him, Tony begins to realize what a liability Christopher has become. Serious problems with drugs and alcohol, episodes of rage that result in random acts of violence and even the new house, wife and daughter have left Christopher a foreigner in Tony's crew. No one can relate to him and he spends most of his time whining about Tony to anyone who will listen. One of Tony's biggest fears is that Christopher will start talking to the feds.

Indeed, the feds are tipped off to a body representing Tony's first murder victim and begin digging under the house where the body was buried. To escape any possible indictments, Tony and Paulie, who was also involved in that hit, decide to head down to Florida. On the way, Tony realizes that Paulie's mouth is even bigger than Christopher's. Paulie blurts out sensitive information to complete strangers without thinking twice. Worse, he will not come clean with Tony about a sensitive bit of information that got out to Johnny Sac, even after Tony questions him about the issue. The upshot of the Florida trip is the continuing saga of Tony's view of his cohorts as untrustworthy liabilities. He is obviously considering feeding Paulie to the fishes, as on the last day of the trip he takes Paulie fishing on a rental boat and looks pensively at a big knife after again confronting Paulie about Johnny Sac. Tony cannot bring himself to do the deed, but he spooks Paulie, who is so deeply affected that he has a dream about being in danger from Tony. As the episode ends, it seems predictable that Paulie may not be around for the finale.

What comes next, however, is unpredictable. Tony and Christopher are heading back from a fruitless meeting with Phil when Christopher loses control of the vehicle. Barely avoiding a head-on collision, he veers off the road and rolls the SUV about a half-dozen times before it comes to a rest in an embankment. Without going into details, Christopher dies and Tony walks away with only a few bruises. Tony confides in Melfi that he actually feels relief that Christopher is gone, despite their history together. In previous seasons, Tony was grooming Christopher to be the most powerful captain in the Soprano organization. But drugs and distrust eroded their relationship.

As Tony navigates these problems with his associates, AJ succumbs to feelings of depression and worthlessness. He ties a cinderblock to his leg, puts a plastic bag over his head, and jumps in the pool when no one is home. AJ's attempt to tie himself to the depths of the pool in the back yard stands in stark contrast to the symbolic images of the ducklings flying from the pool in the first season. The juxtoposition shows how the Sopranos comes full circle and remains rich in visual imagery. Indeed, animals play a big role in Sopranos symbolism and, after Christopher's death, a cat religiously plants itself in front of Christopher's photo on the wall, further spooking Paulie, who is superstitious to a fault. It harkens back to the ceremony when Christopher became a "made man" and got his gangster stripes. During the ceremony, Chris observes a black bird perched itself outside a window.

Season Six, Part II, covers an extraordinary amount of ground, considering it has the fewest episodes of any Sopranos box. From the sardonic wit of Cleaver to the stage IV squamous cell carcinoma of Johnny Sac, the season tackles the full range of emotions, characters and subplots. The saga culminates in a face off between Tony and Phil, as each boss has ordered a hit on the other. Their captains' reactions to the situation will be the difference between life and death. Many viewers were expecting the final episode to show the assassination of Tony. But producer David Chase refuses to cater to public expectations and rarely uses neat conclusions to tie together loose ends. Instead, he opts for a scene in which menacing characters enter the diner, but do not make a move. Instead, the picture cuts to black. As for what happens, and who makes it happen, only a future Sopranos movie may offer an explanation.

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

Like Season 6, Part I, Part II is gorgeous in 1080p, delivering visible advantages over the HBO HD broadcast. Even the menu screen shows a phenomenal level of detail. The depth of the picture is staggering. In the set's first episode, watch the vistas of the lake by Bobby's cabin as Tony sits pensively on the shore. The screen is alive. It looks like an open window that one could simply step through into the world of Sopranos.

Skin, clothes, foliage, light, shadow--all are filmed impeccably and resolved with tremendous realism and clarity. Productions like this demonstrate why Blu-ray adopters are reluctant to return to watching NTSC content. In fact, after watching this set, it's difficult to believe that The Sopranos was made- for-TV. Each episode on Blu-ray has the look of a gorgeously produced film. Simply put, the 1.78:1 picture is a visual masterpiece owing as much to Chase's high standards of production as to the 1080p resolution on Blu-ray.

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

With ample use of the surrounds and copious deep bass, Season 6, Part II continues the Sopranos tradition of serving up engaging pop and classic rock songs that conjure relevant lyrics or powerful emotions. When Christopher, while driving, slips in a CD soundtrack of "The Departed", the apropos "Comfortably Numb" is cued up. The song covers not only the emotional state of Christopher, but of Tony. Christopher is deep in the throes of addiction, while Tony appears to have lost some element of his soul that once made him care about those around him. More germane to the sound quality, the engineering of the Blu-ray set is such that the song retains its tonal accuracy even through Christopher's swerving, with tires squealing and the subsequent car wreck. Each flip of the SUV is accompanied by the hair-raising sounds of crushing metal, shattering glass and the overall impact of the car's frame striking the ground.

A scene in a later episode shows off the audio engineering in a similar way. AJ, recovering from depression in the aftermath of his suicide attempt, sits in his Xterra with his new girlfriend. They evaluate "Masters of War" by Bob Dylan. Not only is the sound of Dylan's voice and guitar solid, with accurate timbre and tone, but the voices of AJ and the girl have fantastic presence. It turns out, of course, that AJ parked in a pile of leaves. As the couple begins to kiss, the car's engine catches fire. The sounds of the growing flames, the failing car stereo and subsequent explosion are all rendered with good resolution. The combination of sounds is never constricted. Every detail is ripe for the ears to pick out.

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

As in previous Sopranos sets, several of the episodes include an audio commentary track. Arthur J. Nascarella and Van Zandt deliver amusing and often hilarious anecdotes as they provide commentary on the episode "The Blue Comet." The commentary tracks of three other episodes are not as entertaining. Another worthwhile supplement, "The Music of The Sopranos" serves up memorable moments from the series and ties them in with and interview with producer David Chase, Van Zandt and Dominic Chianese, who is actually a virtuoso vocalist. One really gets a sense of how important music is, not just for the series but for the show's creator and cast. It is little wonder that much of the music is powerful and ties in to the spirit and intensity of the scenes and characters.

As alluded to earlier, the Cleaver film offers a unique opportunity for comic relief. Christopher takes his writing skills very seriously, which makes Cleaver all the more funny. And New York figure Carmine Lupertazzi Jr. (Ray Abruzzo), who collaborated with Chrostopher to produce the film, is a mental midget who cannot properly use big words. Together, they give a comedic performance that ranks as funnier than any Monty Python skit, showing their pride in Cleaver. Imperioli shows great humor in his portrayal of Christopher celebrating the film with pride and an inflated sense of ego and accomplishment. The funniest eight minutes in the set.

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

Sadly, The Sopranos saga comes to an end. Nothing currently on TV comes close to this show in terms of the actors' strengths and the quality of the writing, directing, cinematography and production. Take Bobby's final moments, for example. The scene where Phil's hit men hunt Bobby down in the model train store was choreographed to perfection. Bobby's passion was always train sets. The murder scene strobes between him being shot multiple times by the two assailants and the model train choo-chooing along the tracks. From the blood erupting, to the long, microshots in the model set, the imagery was impeccable. You just don't find cinematic art like that in your average TV show.

Graced with characters that--rightly or wrongly--became cultural icons, The Sopranos consistently tackled family affairs that rivaled the seediest soap opera; politics that would make a mayor's head spin; violence that exceeded the average horror flick; and humor more infectious than the current crop of sitcoms. But more than these elements, it had the multiple-award-winning team of James Gandolfini and Edie Falco who honed their skills and became Tony and Carmela Soprano. Their vocal inflections were perfectly suited for their roles, but their art went beyond the spoken word. Each could communicate volumes about their character's mindset and emotions in a fleeting facial expression, a sigh or shrug, or fidget of the hands or fingers. And that ability to tap into the essence of their characters gave the show strong legs to go six seasons without running out of steam.

The Sopranos is about the mafia and about family, but it is also about America. The final episode, "Made in America" is a homage to that. Amidst the images of cigar smoke, a tollbooth on the turnpike and the hair sprouting from Tony's fingers, the trademak opening segment showed the Statue of Liberty in the distance. Seeing it at the start of each episode is like a rite of passage for all Tony's transgressions. And that is one more reason the final scene is so brilliant. The Sopranos assemble in a diner that looks like it could be anywhere in the US. Tony shows up first. He sits at a booth and flips through the selections on the tabletop jukebox. As Carmela and AJ join him, the Steve Perry lyrics ring out, "Just a small town girl...Just a city boy..." An order of onion rings is served. Outside, Medow has trouble parallel parking. These are all everyday common bonds we share with the show's characters. "Oh, the movie never ends, It goes on and on and on and on..." How I wish it would.