The Sopranos - The Complete Series

"Boardwalk Empire" has run its course. "Mad Men" won't be back until spring. So what to do if you like complex dramas about flawed, but compelling, central characters?

How about settling back to take in every one of the 86 episodes of the HBO series "The Sopranos" on sparkling Blu-ray? Every hit, every malapropism, every over-the-top outburst, therapy session, and moment of family discord is here in a new box set, with a bonus disc of special features.

The original bones features are here for each of the seven original season set releases (remember, season six was split into two releases), and each of those season sets is packaged in a slim, space-saving individual case. All seven season sets, plus bonus disc, fit neatly into a single slipcase-style box.

But for such a small package, there's a wealth of electrifying television. Re-watching this series is almost as much fun and exciting as seeing the episodes week by week for the first time, with a crystal-clear transfer that brings out every detail.

The bonus disc offers these never-before-included extras:

Defining A Television Landmark: Brad Grey, David Chase, Michael Imperioli, and various talking heads (TV critics and scholars among them) talk about the show and its place in TV history, making a case that "The Sopranos" represents a watershed in the form and content of television series. As one critic puts it, "The Sopranos ushered in the 21st century." The late James Gandolfini also appears in archival interview footage, as does Nancy Marchand, who played Tony Soprano's mother Livia.

Supper with the Sopranos, Parts 1 and 2: This seems to have been a pair of promos on HBO. Members of the cast (no Gandolfini, though this evidently was filmed just a after the show was completed) gather for a meal of Italian delicacies and red wine and share memories and insights about the series. Oddly, both parts pick up and then end in a way that feels random.

Lost Scenes: Trims from each of the six seasons are presented here, and some of them are quite substantial. There aren't as many as you might expect, but mostly these are worth a watch.

Alec Baldwin Interviews David Chase, Parts 1 and 2: This two-part promo is better edited than the "Supper with the Sopranos" feature, and gives us the amusing sight of Alec Baldwin chatting up series creator David Chase. This is a much more engaging and interesting interview than the one in which Peter Bogdanovich (himself playing in a recurring role on the show) acts as interviewer. (That interview is one of the previously-released extras.)

Bottom line: In a recent interview, when asked if Tony Soprano and his clan were "dead" in his mind, creator David Chase gave the answer, "No." With the passing of Gandolfini, a movie is probably never going to happen -- but knowing that these indelible characters live on in the mind of the man who created them is in itself a license for viewers to explore the world of "The Sopranos" in their own musings. This great-looking Blu-ray release of the entire series is a must for casual viewers, hardcore fans, and academics alike.

"The Sopranos: The Complete Series Blu-ray with Digital HD"
Blu-ray
$279.98
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