Sopranos - The Complete First Season - Disc 1

DVD released in 2000
Viewed 9/13-14/06
*** out of four
Episode lengths - 58 minutes
Extra DVD features - audio commentary from the creator...I didn't listen to it


This is my first chance to see the critically acclaimed Sopranos. Unfortunately, after 6 seasons on HBO, I had a fairly good idea of what the show was about. However, the production and acting quality were so top notch, this DVD made for excellent viewing.

I find HBO series to be an odd mix of theatrical production and television series. Perhaps it is the 58 minute story lines combined with the cinematic directing. Maybe it's seeing a television series with profanity and nudity. Sopranos has that same odd feeling. Regardless, this family relationship show does an excellent job of transposing daily trials and tribulations anybody experiences onto a major player in New Jersey organized crime. Like most productions I enjoy, this transposition is both disturbing, and funny.

Gandolfini and Falco play their characters naturally and believably. What treat to see Nancy Marchand one more time. She is one of the great character actresses. The music isn't too overplayed, the emotions are wonderfully underplayed, and the direction is clean. It never seems rushed, it never seems slow (except for the first episode.)

While you might think watching Analyze This eliminates the need to see The Sopranos, they are completely different productions. The Sopranos takes the time to really develop relationships and pull the viewer into the plot. Analyze This just had two good actors in one bad movie.

These four episodes were so good, we're getting disc 2.