The Sopranos

[BlueYoshi]

Has anyone seen at least one episode of this? Personally, I think it's terrible.

Don't get me wrong, I know when and when not to appreciate good work, but compared to the many, many mob themed movies out there, The Sopranos is more or less inferior.

Now, I know you may be thinking that it's just a TV series that will gradually and eventually runs its course, but it's safe to say that I've seen a substantial amount of episodes to make a judgement in comparison to Hollywood's big list.

Before I first saw it, I thought it would be very much about whacking people, doing hit jobs, and all the usual stuff you'd have been led to believe that takes place in crime families, but believe it or not, it's got a very strong emphasis on Tony Soprano's family life, more over on his nuclear family than his crime one.

This isn't a problem, obviously, of course the show would get dull if it only consisted of hit after hit after hit, but I find that the main dilemma here is that it's the other way around; you see a lot, or maybe too much, of Tony's personal life. When you watch Goodfellas for example, you do get scenes that reveal Henry's life as well, but the difference here is that a lot of those types of films are based on true stories or events, so to say the least, it's interesting to see how it dwells up because you know and feel that these so called events actually took place. However, in Tony Soprano's case, it gets boring, fast.

The new season is going to air in about an hour or so, so I might watch it then if I can be arsed. What do you think about it?

[Gavin]

[SIZE=1]Well to start off Wingnut you have to remember that The Soprano's is a TV Show not a movie like [B]The Godfather Trilogy[/B] or [B]Goodfellas[/B], it has to fill a few seasons and as such can't just be all "whackin" as we see in most Mafia films.

Though in saying that I do agree with you, I've only seen the rare episode of the Sopranos, mainly because I'd only watch it if there wasn't anything better on TV at the time. I admit that when I first heard about the Sopranos I thought along the lines of Goodfellas, since that seemed to be what it was about, the whole life of the Mafia Boss and people getting "whacked". The first few episode's I saw seemed to corroborate that I'd thought it'd be like, "whakin's" and the like but later as it went on it started to focus too much on his family.

I mean in this last series The Sopranos has been more akin to the [B]Analyse This/That[/B] movies than Goodfellas, I mean Tony just doesn't seem to fit the profile of a "Mafia Boss" we've seen in other films, he spends too much time bickering an arguing with his wife over trivial ****. I might watch the new series just to see if things improved since the "Whackin" we witnessed in the season finale. [/SIZE]

[Zidargh]

[b]The Sopranos[/b] deserves all the credit it can get. Alot of the reason behind it's success is due to the fact that it focuses on Tony's relationship with his family. We've all seen films where a 'job' is carried out, betrayal follows, then another 'job' is done. Though some of these films are superb, I think The Sopranos is trying to stay away from that perspective of the mafia being full of killing, etc.

[quote]I mean in this last series The Sopranos has been more akin to the Analyse This/That movies than Goodfellas, I mean Tony just doesn't seem to fit the profile of a "Mafia Boss" we've seen in other films, he spends too much time bickering an arguing with his wife over trivial ****.[/quote]

Yeah and that's precisely why the audience likes him. He doesn't take on the role of this emotionless, heartless man that's been done many times before. Godfather's and Crime Lords are human aswell, and who are we to say they don't argue with their family members? Tony arguing with his wife is quite amusing, and makes the character seem more down to earth, hence, the audience feel as if they can relate to the character.

The series is not without its flaws, and I agree it can get boring at times, however, for a series about mobsters, it's certainly different.

[BlueYoshi]

Damn it all to hell. I missed Monday's episode!!1111!!!11!!!!11

Yeah, I suppose you two have some good points regarding the structure of the show. I think my main issue with it is that it just gets too boring at times, namely any scene that involves Dr. Melfi, but otherwise, I do find it funny in certain areas. Even still, characters like Paulie and ***** have got pretty humorous attitudes, and they resemble that of the typical mafia thugs you'd see in other films, so good job there.

Also, I find it hard to see Christopher as one of the tough guys, since he got totally raped in Goodfellas lol. It's not even funny.

[Gavin]

[quote name='Wingnut Ninja']I think my main issue with it is that it just gets too boring at times, namely any scene that involves Dr. Melfi, but otherwise, I do find it funny in certain areas. Even still, characters like Paulie and ***** have got pretty humorous attitudes, and they resemble that of the typical mafia thugs you'd see in other films, so good job there.[/quote]

[SIZE=1]That was one of my main quibbles with the show in general, yes it is good and funny in parts but whenever I caught an episode it just seemed to be all [B]pointless[/B] dialogue. I mean there's only so much bull-**** arguing I can watch between Tony and his wife, if I wanted to see that I'd watch some dodgy soap-opera. There are indeed times when the show in nothing short of brilliant and yes some of the time it is interesting to see it from the perspective of Tony's family life but there are times when it becomes a little to boring, I wouldn't mind cliché but boring is unacceptable.[/SIZE]

[Kenshin DX]

Yes I am bringing the thread back from the dead. Even though it will probably get 0 responses.

The Sopranos was one of the greatest shows on television. It was psychologically deep. If you think it is all people getting whacked you are missing the bread and butter of the show. Yes people get killed a lot but thats not what the show is about. The dream sequences were great as well as the dialogue and overall plot of the show. It also had a stiking amount of symbolism and psychology in it. You can't approach it as just another mafia show.

The series finale was terrible though. It should have been cut at the episode before.[spoiler] Tony and his crew finally go to war with Phil Leotardos crew. It starts great and was probably the most intense 50 minutes I have ever spent watching a show. Bobby being shot to death in the train store and Silvio being put into a coma. With Tony and and the rest of his men go to a safehouse. Tony is lying in bed with his M16 in his arms looking at the door. It was genius.[/spoiler]

I wish the series had ended there instead of the restaurant where[spoiler] Tonys fate is left unknown if he is going to be killed. Some believe it was just to scare you others believe Tony was killed and others believe the viewer was whacked not Tony.
I did enjoy one scene where Tony persuades Paulie to take charge of one of his teams Pauly is hesitant because all of the future leaders have been killed horribly but Tony makes Paulie give in. After Tony leaves a stray cat that Paulie believed to be bad luck shows he is doomed the same fate as the others.[/spoiler]

Truly a superb series with a really bad ending.

[James]

[color=#606060]I'm actually a big fan of The Sopranos. I own all six seasons (waiting for the season six DVD was a nightmare, haha).

I should mention that I normally loathe gangster films. I never enjoyed the "classics" and I never really liked the whole concept of gangster-based stories.

Something about The Sopranos is different - it's probably a combination of elements. Maybe it's the fact that there's a really strong mix of action, drama and comedy...or maybe it's just the characters. I can't really say for sure.[/color]

[quote] think my main issue with it is that it just gets too boring at times, namely any scene that involves Dr. Melfi[/quote]

[color=#606060]Ironically I generally like these scenes quite a lot. Some are useless, but quite a few are worthwhile. I'm often interested in delving beyond the mindless violence and looking at the motivations behind it - maybe this is why I also like Tarantino films.

The only thing I don't like in Sorpanos is the episodes that are [i]entirely[/i] made up of dream sequences. The first two or three episodes in season six annoyed me greatly for this reason, lol. Yes, it was all very symbolic and so on...but it just kept going and going. I was far more interested in what was going on in the real world while Tony was in a coma - I didn't want to spend massive amounts of time in his mind, honestly.[/color]