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Studio:Warner Home Video

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- In the race for the best, it's down to the wire

Well, I've heard arguments about which TV series is the best ever, and the two that keep being named are The Wire and The Sopranos. Personally I can't pick a winner, they're both outstanding in their different ways. This is the first time I've seen either of them in Blu-Ray however, and it makes for a worthwhile bonus for something that, of its kind, is nigh-on perfect. Even its flaws are lovable.

This is the first series from 1999, made up of 13 episodes:-

The Sopranos (Disc 1)
46 Long (Disc 1)
Denial, Anger, Acceptance (Disc 1)
Meadowlands (Disc 2)
College (Disc 2)
Pax Soprana (Disc 2)
Down Neck (Disc 3)
The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti (Disc 3)
Boca (Disc 3)
A Hit is a Hit (Disc 4)
Nobody Knows Anything (Disc 4)
Isabella (Disc 4)
I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano (Disc 5)

These episodes come on five separate discs - note that if renting from Lovefilm, and possibly elsewhere, one disc gets you three episodes on each of the first four discs but only one episode on the fifth. So you might need to order all five separately in order to see the whole of Season 1 which is the best part of 12 hours long in total - and of course, there are no commercial breaks!

For those who may recently have been rescued from a decade on a desert island, this is an occasionally violent and foul-mouthed drama/comedy built around the stresses and strains of New Jersey 'don' Tony Soprano, although the life of organised crime is a lot less exotic now than in the days of Omerta and the cinematic icons the characters openly adore. These days, there is no such thing as a code of silence, people will grass on others to lower their prison sentences, and generally speaking nothing about this lifestyle is remotely glamourous - which is of course as it should be and how it undoubtedly is in reality. In the case of Tony Soprano, he struggles to maintain his sanity in a world in which he has to balance ordinary family life with organised hits and the many various problems he faces as a mob boss. Right from the start, Tony Soprano seeks psychiatric help from a therapist played by Lorraine Bracco, well-known for a slightly different role a decade earlier in Goodfellas. It's high-quality soap opera, with an excellent script and direction.

Having only seen this in Blu-Ray I can only guess at the improvement over SD but I found it instantly better than expected, seeing as it was filmed before Blu-Ray existed. The facial close-ups displayed the superior picture quality at its best, with every pore and follicle clear and distinct. A TV series as good as this doesn't need high-definition to entertain, so this is icing on the cake.

Audio soundtrack options are:-

English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Spanish DTS 2.0
Castellano DTS 2.0
French DTS 2.0
German DTS 2.0

While subtitles can be set in several languages:-

English, English SDH, Spanish, Castellano, French, German, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Portuguese

There cannot be much doubt about it - The Sopranos is as good as it gets for home TV entertainment for those with a liking for mafia-related drama spiced with a dash of real humour. In fact, it's a must-have, and if you haven't seen it yet, then you're in for a real treat. Get the whole set - and don't stop there, get all six seasons while you're at it. 86 episodes in all, of top-notch gangster nirvana.

- Masterpiece

The best programme ever made should be seen in all its HD glory. Although the script, characters, storylines and overall depth of this outstanding production needs no glossing over, this is the kind of series that can be watched again and again and therefore deserves to be viewed in this most outstanding format. It completes the Masterpiece.

- Season 2

Hi, somebody know when the second season will be release ?

French sub on the first season ?

- One Of The Best Series Made

The Sopranos is sharp, fantastic acting, humour, not to compare with any other of the series.
Hard because of the mob. Soft because of the familymatters. I love it