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Rating:  -
Television has never spawned a more boring character than AJ Soprano. Each scene he is in, with maybe one exception, is a fast foward reason. Meadow is a close second and both are whiny spoiled, useless brats. Neither has enough character to stand up to their parents and an untimely demise would be a welcomed plot development.
Tony is magnetic but he and his ilk are a black hole where no life can exist, not even his own. Is there a hope for remdemption for anyone in this vacuum? I doubt it, but you will be entertained.
Rating: -
As before all the shows are good only bad things you have to push play 2 or 3 times to watch the show why cant they make the disc where you can watch all the shows with out all this fooling around
Rating: -
Given the bumpy road to the fifth season, and the attendant fixation on hype versus delivery, it's hard to be objective about this series.
As we watched this season unfold the first time around, it was a disappointment. The anticipation could not possibly be matched by what we saw every week, and that's just what happened. A great risk, that this property had become so legendary that it could not possibly deliver, especially when it became a boutique for noted guest directors, some offshore.
But I did buy the DVDs when they came out - was pleased at how deeply they were "discounted," among other things. And they played much better sequentially than seeing each episode separately.
Weaknesses:
1. Steve Buscemi's character. It seems to be in the series to make something for Steve Buscemi to do.
2. Robert Loggia's character. See no. 1
3. Robert Iler's unidimensionality.
4. Meadow, too...
5. The repetitive or formulaic nature of introducing mob friends and mob enemies so they can be dealt with.
6. Worst (least amount of) special features for all the DVDs in the whole series.
But then, the strengths:
1. Carmela is more luminous than ever. Hot, too. Best wishes for a speedy recovery, Edie!!
2. If it's possible, James Gandolfini is even better - possibly giving his best performances of the whole five seasons.
3. Great, great stuff from the new "King of New York."
4. The writing is as strong and real as ever. It recovers from some of the silliness of Season Four. Its focus on the continued development of family through the inevitable stages of life is wonderful; look out for the "Big Wheel" shot that concludes an episode on Disk Two...
5. Some of the directorial commentary is really enlightening.
6. "Ade's" DVD commentary is perhaps one of the best of all the DVDs; the degree of investment by the actress is explained in an engaging and wonderful way. It seems that in this series, everybody cares a lot about what gets to the screen. Yeah, there might be some dilletantes (Robert Loggia, for example), but no slackers...
I know that Season Five did not fulfill many of the expectations of the series' most loyal fans. But, especially considering how hard it was and long it took to complete this season, we should be grateful. It might not have happened at all.
Now, about Season Six...what's chances we can see it before 2010??
Rating:  -
The Sopranos is a show about a bunch of living Zombies. The characters are soulless ghouls who drag themselves around in a world that barely maintains their interest. All of the characters are morally vile. Their entire life-ethic consists of following the crassest self-interest while behaving as crummily to others as they can get away with. Why is it worthwhile to watch a bunch of people shambling around in their own living netherworld? Without redemption and without hope? You got me pal. Raymond Chandler once said that in order for a piece of writing to be art it must have the quality of redemption in some form. This is not art. This is the glorification of baseness that our popular culture has become. Consider the fact that sixty years ago, Albert Einstein was a world celebrity. When he arrived in San Diego aboard an ocean liner, it was stop-the-presses kind of news. Nowadays the only people who get this kind of coverage are criminals and the actors who portray them. The Sopranos is yet another installment in the endless parade of disedifitainment which is our modern stand-in for culture. It is like a fictional reality show. If one objects to the depravity of the characters, the answer is, "But that's real!" In other words, only the most vulgar and base human doings are "real."
Rating:  -
The Fifth Season continued the deep downward slide in the series that became apparent during the Fourth Season. Well, the writers and directors are only human. They produced the first three seasons of what is clearly the best TV serial of all time. We cannot blame them for running out of energy.
Yet the faults are obvious. The most glaring fault is with the editing. The slow scenes in the Fifth Season became unbearable to watch. Mr. and Mrs. Soprano getting reconciled and making love! Kid Soprano alias Spoiled Brat grumping his way through every scene. Corrado Soprano a demented shadow of his former self. "The Sopranos" is a story about the intersection of the business life and the home life. In the first three episodes, this intersection was vibrant; we really cared along with Tony Soprano of keeping his home life intact while running his "business." But all the drama of that intersection was played out; there was nothing left but the ghost of the family relationship by the time we got to the Fourth Season. And by the Fifth Season, it was like treading water--simply boring.
While the editor should have cut all these slow parts, the bigger problem is that they were written into the script in the first place. This suggests that the writers have lost their sense of distance. Or another way of putting it is that they have fallen in love with their own creation. THEY think that every single thing the Sopranos do, every single half-smirk on Tony's face, every interminable take on his puzzled expression, is like God's gift to the world. They just have no idea that viewers are tired of it all. The first time we saw it we liked it; the second time we tolerated it; but now it's a total turn-off. There is no drama any more between the business life and the home life. It's just the family drama of a dysfunctional family.
There was much more promise in the business life of the Fifth Season. Here at least was the idea that Tony Soprano was a lesser king than Johnny Sack of New York, and it was most enjoyable to watch Tony stand up to him even if he eventually had to cave in to him. This stuff is very true to the lives of the Mafioso upon whom the Sopranos is loosely based. Also fascinating was the bumbling of the FBI. This too is as realistic as today's newspaper headlines about the failure of the FBI to apprehend terrorists-in-training prior to 9/11.
The psychiatrist plays the interface-enabler between Tony's business and home life. Her role (and acting) was over-the-top in the first three seasons. She should have retired gracefully. In the fifth season, she has lost control of her patient (after telling him to get lost), and he sits in her office not quite knowing what to say or do next. Their own indecision reflects the indecision of the writers.
Acting-wise, the Fifth Season belongs to Christopher. He has gotten better every time. His reaction to his girlfriend ratting him out is one of the best pieces of acting I've ever seen.
A sixth season is in the works. Obviously it is money-driven. All the spark of the series has gone. I will ignore it when it comes out unless a whole bunch of Amazon reviewers sing its praises. But it does have at least a chance of saving the day. If its writers look back over what they've done, they may come to the realization that they now have a gangster vs. gangster vs. FBI story on their hands. This is the story that should be front-and-center. All the right crooks are in place. Let's stop reminiscing about unfunny home sitcom stuff and show these guys "doing business." It would be nice to see them all wind up in prison bringing to a clanking end this incredible series.
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starring: James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, Tony Sirico, Steve van Zandt
directed by: A. Coulter, J. Patterson Tim v. Patten
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Warner Brothers
EAN: 9780783129518
Format: AC-3, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 0783129513
Label: HBO Home Video
Manufacturer: HBO Home Video
Number Of Items: 4
Publisher: HBO Home Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: June 07, 2005
Running Time: 780 minutes
Studio: HBO Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: January 10, 2004
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