The Sopranos - Season 6, Part 1 [HD DVD]
by Alan Taylor, Danny Leiner, David Chase, David Nutter, Jack Bender
![The Sopranos - Season 6, Part 1 [HD DVD]](/images/The-Sopranos-Season-6-Part-1-HD-DVD-B000I5XD38-L.jpg)
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DVD details
Actor: Dominic Chianese, Edie Falco, James Gandolfini, Lorraine Bracco, Michael ImperioliDirector: Alan Taylor, Danny Leiner, David Chase, David Nutter, Jack Bender
Brand: HBO
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital-Plus 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital-Plus 5.1; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 720 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-12-19
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Hbo Home Video
DVD Reviews of The Sopranos - Season 6, Part 1 [HD DVD]
DVD Review: A review from someone who has actually seen the product - who would have thought it?
Summary: 4 Stars
As someone who has actually bought this set I thought I might offer some real opinions as opposed to those of some idiot who's only contribution is he hates HD.
(note: at this time I have only watched the first two episodes)
The Audio
Audio is in Dolby Digital Plus and is sublime. As a drama series, dialogue is paramount and every syllable can be clearly discerned. Tony's signature laboured breathing comes through crystal clear. Background dialogue adds atmosphere and sounds like actual conversation, not just noise.
Surround information is not a strong point of this series, however, when needed it is there. In episode 2 the helicopter (of Tony's subconscious) utilizes all channels to great effect.
A strong point in the series is it's use of modern classic music. This is used to great effect and on the HD-DVD release is output evenly through all channels. The music here is better than any SA-CD or DVD-A I have heard and really gets me excited as to the possibility of music through the new format.
The Picture
I am a big fan of television on DVD having collected many series. That said, I am usually disappointed with the transfers afforded television series. Most suffer from artefacts due to over-compression to fit as many episodes on a disc as possible. So with that in mind I'll discuss the bad first.
There is some moiré effect in the background of some scenes. Early in the first episode I had one instance of a freeze which put the audio out of sync. Pausing and un-pausing fixed this and I could not replicate this effect so rather than blame the set, I suspect it is one of those bugs that comes with early technology and Gen 1 machines. There is some grain in the image, however, given the previous season's, this is an intentional decision on the makers part (it will be interesting to see what the advent of HD in the home will do to this practice as it is not very HD friendly). At one stage on the first episode the Picture quality faulted for a period of about ¼ of a second where in a dark scene it became almost SD standard. This was very quick but noticeable.
Now for the good, and boy is it good. The detail is spectacular (almost too good - these guys are getting on in age, and they never were the most attractive people, and that hole in Tony's stomach - I though it looked bad before but this is truly disgusting). I have never seen TV look this good - not even the so called HD broadcasts of these very same episodes on Australian TV came close to this. Most of the action is in the foreground of this series and as such the detail in background shots is not as sharp as some film releases, however, when the background is relevant all that detail comes back. Again I think this is a conscious decision on the makers part to keep the focus up close and on the characters.
Final Thoughts
Is this release perfect - no, it has some slight issues that could be improved upon. Was it worth getting in HD - absolutely. Even at a premium price over the SD release I will happily pick up more of my favourites on HD-DVD. Universal has given a tentative commitment to Battlestar Galactica on HD-DVD, BBC has stated a HD-DVD release of Torchwood is in the works (which means we will probably also see Dr Who as well). MGM has hinted at a release of Stargate: Atlantis on Blu-ray and I would highly suspect the 2 new SG-1 movies (in lieu of Season 11) will be released on Blu-ray around April/May. It is almost inevitable that Paramount will release Star Trek to High Definition (especially the re-mastered and re-worked High Def Original Series).
I collect more Television series than movies these days (well, television and anime) and I gotta say, if this is the future of serialized programming, then I am happy to have a HD-DVD player and should Blu-ray get their format specific series out, I'll be grabbing one of those machines too (you listening on those Stargate movies and series?).
Description of The Sopranos - Season 6, Part 1 [HD DVD]
HBO Sopranos: Sixth Season, Part 1 - HD DVDNew challenges abound for Tony Soprano as his life grows increasingly complicated. Now that he and Carmela are back together, they must face the reality thattheir kids are no longer children, but not yet grown. And with Johnny Sack in prison, the always tense relations between the New Jersey and New York families are strained even further. Episodes include: Disc 1: "Members Only," "Join The Club" and "Mayham" Disc 2: "The Fleshy Part Of The Thigh," "Mr. & Mrs. John Sacrimoni Request" Disc 3: "Luxury Lounge," "Johnny Cakes" and "The Ride" Disc 4: "MoeN' Joe," "Cold Stones" and "Kaisha".The Sopranos, Season 6, Part 1 is the most contentious release yet in the acclaimed series' history. While many fans think it jumped the shark at the exact moment Vito said "I love you, Johnny Cakes" , this season also contains some of the series finest moments and plumbs new depths of character, while continuing to add to the body count. Things get started with a bang, literally, that unexpectedly sends Tony (James Gandolfini) to the hospital and into a coma where he experiences an alternate reality while in limbo. At one point he awakes and asks "Who am I? Where am I going?" encapsulating this season's central theme in a moment of desperation wrapped in a fever dream. But it's not all existentialism. With Tony and Uncle Junior both of the picture, the capos in the Soprano crew try to take advantage of the situation and begin jockeying for position while a reluctant Silvio (Steve Van Zandt), acting in Tony?s place, struggles to keep everyone in check. Things aren?t going much better for Tony?s family, as A.J. (Robert Iler) confesses to Carmela (Edie Falco) that he flunked out of school, and while at Tony?s bedside, swears revenge for his injury. The stress of the situation finally gets to Carmela, who takes up Dr. Melfi?s (Lorraine Bracco) offer to help and finds herself in the strange position of confiding in her husband?s therapist, revealing for once that she feels some guilt over making the kids complicit in how Tony makes his living?plus there?s the issue of whether she really loves him. Christopher (Michael Imperioli) continues to provide much of the comic relief for the series, culminating in one of this season?s best episodes when he flies out to L.A. in a bumbling attempt to get Ben Kingsley to sign on for his fledgling movie (Saw meets The Godfather), and ends up mugging Lauren Bacall for her goodie basket at an awards ceremony. Sowing further discord in the ranks, Vito (Joseph Gannoscoli) finally gets outed as homosexual, and is forced to flee for his life up to New Hampshire where he meets "Johnny Cakes." Finally, even with New York boss Johnny "Sack" Sacramoni (Vince Curatola) in prison, Phil Leotardo (Frank Vincent) makes plays against Tony and eventually sets in motion a hit against someone on Tony?s crew, and now a larger war with Johnny Sack's crew seems to be looming.
Series creator David Chase seems to be saying with this season that character is destiny. If so, then Season Six, Part 1 is taking the necessary time to flesh out who these people really are, and is leaving the destiny part up for Part 2. The fact that the series' writers have been able to maintain such a strong show with so many interweaving storylines for so long is a feat not to be taken lightly. That said, this season of The Sopranos does deserve some of the criticism it's received: the Vito storyline would have been better served by resolving it in fewer episodes, and the season ending is the most unsatisfying one yet, leaving many fans wanting more. But the bottom line is that this season deserves more praise than criticism, proving that even at its weakest, The Sopranos is still the strongest show on TV. --Daniel Vancini
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