Available at Amazon.com
Created by
David Chase
Cast:
James Gandolfini … Tony Soprano
Edie Falco … Carmela Soprano
Jamie-Lynn Sigler … Meadow Soprano
Michael Imperioli … Christopher Moltisanti
Lorraine Bracco … Dr. Jennifer Melfi
Tony Sirico … Paulie ‘Walnuts’ Gualtieri
Robert Iler … Anthony ‘A.J.’ Soprano, Jr.
Steve Van Zandt … Silvio Dante
Dominic Chianese … Corrado ‘Junior’ Soprano
Aida Turturro … Janice Soprano
Dan Grimaldi … Pasquale ‘Patsy’ Parisi
Steve Schirripa … Bobby ‘Bacala’ Baccalieri
Frank Vincent … Phil Leotardo
Arthur J. Nascarella … Carlo Gervasi
Matt Servitto … Agent Dwight Harris
Vincent Curatola … Johnny ‘Sack’ Sacramoni
Ray Abruzzo … ‘Little’ Carmine Lupertazzi Jr.
Now that all the hype has died down and the dust has finally been allowed to settle, the final nine episodes of David Chase’s epic crime saga The Sopranos can finally be examined without all the preconceived notions that come along with ending one of the most important TV series ever made. The anticipation and expectations of what we wanted out of these installments made them nearly impossible to sit through during their initial run on HBO, as instead of fireworks, we were given a slowly paced, meditative run of stories that finally brought the finality of the series to a head. Fortunately, with the distance of time and being able to watch these episodes back to back on DVD, we’re provided a brand new experience, showing exactly how Chase wanted to construct his final story arcs of The Sopranos for maximum effect.
First and foremost, these last episodes are an amazing showcase for star James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano, everyone’s favorite mob boss. Beleaguered on both sides, as his family at home barely holds it together, while son A.J. goes through horrible depression, and then his New Jersey “family” also starts to fall apart due to tensions with New York and various other factors, Soprano must stay stalwart throughout. Gandolfini is incredible, as even after all this time; Tony never just becomes a caricature.
The actor is commanding in every scene, even as Tony displays characteristics that are less than flattering. For instance, a death in Tony’s immediate circle would naturally be met with some grief, but it’s staggering to watch the mob boss deal with the situation with utter contempt. It’s shocking to watch Soprano pretend to be sorrowful as he feels only relief that this confidant has finally passed, and yet we stay with the character while all this occurs. As a search for truth and meaning in the incident leads Soprano all the way to the Nevada desert on a drug induced bender, we’re still fascinated by Gandolfini, who takes the character to places he’s never been before on the series.
Each episode is also assembled in a way where Tony’s situation is also paralleled by the fates of the other characters around him. Episodes are devoted to different Sopranos players, such as former mob leaders Corrado ‘Junior’ Soprano (Dominic Chianese) and Johnny ‘Sack’ Sacramoni (Vincent Curatola), or foot soldiers Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli) and Bobby ‘Bacala’ Baccalieri (Steve Schirripa). One of the best episodes of the season concerns Tony Sirico’s fan favorite Paulie ‘Walnuts’ Gualtieri, as he has to go on the run with Tony during a murder investigation. The installment is ceaselessly entertaining, as Paulie tries to reminisce about the old days, while Soprano tries to decide whether Gualtieri has finally outlived his usefulness. The final scenes have tension that few Hollywood movies could even come close to matching, as a wordless sequence on a boat trip holds life and death consequences.
Once again, Gandolfini is surrounded by award worthy performances. Edie Falco is a standout once more, as her Carmella Soprano is an incredible matriarchal presence on the show. Week in, week out she stands toe to toe with Gandolfini and is one of the few actors on the series that can match the actor for intensity. Also, as the main villain this season Frank Vincent’s Phil Leotardo chews up scenery nearly as well as any antagonist the show has ever had. Leotardo is a terrific heavy on the series, as Vincent is an actor that seems to know how strong his screen presence is, and knows he doesn’t have to be over the top to show just how malevolent he can be.
Violence, of course, is also a stalemate of the series, and there isn’t a show on TV that handles it with the immediacy of The Sopranos. From the first episode of this season, you can see how the signature violence of the show is free of flashy camerawork, going instead for stark realism. A fistfight in the season opener is brutal and seemingly unchoreographed, giving a great example of how hard hitting this series has always been due to the freedom given to it by being on HBO.
What gives the violence of The Sopranos more impact and makes you more wary as a viewer too is that the show has a track record for killing off major characters that is second to none. This group of episodes is no different, and with the series coming to a close, the free for all attitude is upped even further. With war with the New York families looming, all bets are off and no one is safe. There are countless TV shows that lose all tension; because you know there’s no way that a main character won’t make it through to the end. In this season of The Sopranos, you’re not even sure if Tony himself will make it through, and that apprehension stays with the show until its final moments.
This last season of The Sopranos represents the end of an era on TV. Though it has always had the benefit of being on HBO, The Sopranos was a landmark series that always took full advantage of being able to tell a far reaching and engaging Television story arc, while giving audiences those stories in a very cinematic format, never letting boundaries stop the show from getting its points across. No series has ever worked on this same level, as The Sopranos has always kept a singular vision throughout, and has never relied on gimmicks or twist endings to get its stories across. These last 9 episodes are no different. Bringing The Sopranos to a satisfying conclusion must have been a gargantuan task for showrunner David Chase and his cast and crew, but that’s exactly what they were able to do, and we should all be thankful this series got a worthy exit.
The Video
The show looks absolutely terrific on DVD. The colors are vibrant and the transfer itself looks flawless on these discs. The Show is presented in Anamorphic Widescreen, with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1.
The Audio
The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is also fantastic, as the sound mix for the show is phenomenal. Check out in the final episode where Tony sits at an airport and an airliner flies overhead. It sounds like you’re actually at the Newark airport.
Audio Commentaries – Four of the nine episodes have audio commentaries, all of which are quite entertaining. Arthur J. Nascarella and Steve Van Zandt, who play Carlo and Silvio on the series, provide the funniest track on the episode “The Blue Comet.” These two kid around and swap stories the entire track and seem to never stop laughing at each other. Van Zandt also seems to have some terrific insight on the series as a whole, making this the best of the commentary tracks by far.
The Music of The Sopranos – This is a terrifically engaging featurette, with David Chase giving a great interview to a music editor from Rolling Stone magazine. Also featured are Sopranos cast members Stevie Van Zandt and Dominic Chianese talking about several special musical moments from the series. I’m not sure that I realized till this season how little music is actually featured in the series, because Chase didn’t want to tell you how to feel about what was going on. Thing is, when music is used, its usually intensely powerful, and this featurette brings that to the forefront.
The Making of Cleaver – This is a fun 8 minute feature where Michael Imperioli and Ray Abruzzo are in character as Christopher Moltisanti and ‘Little’ Carmine Lupertazzi Jr. and talk about the making of their movie, which takes place during this season. There are some hilarious moments here, and Abruzzo is especially funny as the airheaded Lupertazzi.
The Sopranos: Season Six, Part II |
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