The Sopranos - Season 6, Part 2

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Our Price: $31.62
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Manufacturer: Hbo Home Video Starring: James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, Frank Vincent, Steve Schirripa Directed By: Tim Van Patten, Alan Taylor
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Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Binding: DVD EAN: 0026359424120 Format: Box set Label: Hbo Home Video Manufacturer: Hbo Home Video Number Of Items: 4 Publisher: Hbo Home Video Region Code: 1 Release Date: 2007-10-23 Running Time: 450 Studio: Hbo Home Video Theatrical Release Date: 2007-04
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:      Summary: scratched discs Comment: I bought this as a Father's Day gift, supposedly new. The product was sealed but the second and last discs were scratched enough to where they skip during play. I have not checked on returning. I only reviewed this purchase because they requested me to. Make sure you are not getting a used item!
Customer Rating:      Summary: The long ending Comment: This is the best season yet, I believe. Unbelievable rich and unpredictable. So much is made of the final scene, however, that I wanted to point out that this whole last season is one long ending. To really understand The Ending of The Sopranos we must first acknowledge that were are in fact several endings, & that the final diner scene is just the last of many curtains being drawn on this sprawling saga.
I think that Christopher's murder and Tony's triumphant proclamation of "I get it!" brings many things to a close. His trip through therapy and the hope of some enlightenment ends at that haunting moment in the desert. He is so deluded and spiritually vacant at that point, it's clear the emotional/psychological journey he began ends here.
That scene also bring the long awaited punch line to season 6, which could be described as "Tony get shot by his uncle, and kills his nephew."
We've been waiting for the answer to the question "How does Tony ultimately respond to the shooting?" We get our answer when he becomes for Christopher what HIS uncle was for him.
"Blue Comet" ends with what many saw as a cliffhanger - Tony in bed with a big machine gun, waiting for his enemies, but I think it too was another curtain being drawn on the story.
We are meant to ask "What is Tony's reaction to this disaster (Bobby & Silvio shot)?" The answer? He goes to sleep. There can be no coming back from this, but he has achieved the emotional numbness that is the only answer to his emotional problems. He will not change, so it is a victory in a way for Tony that he can endure the last pillars being kicked out from under his little NJ empire without panic, or despair, or any real feeling whatsoever.
Notice that at this point, as "Blue Comet" ends, even Dr. Melfi has gotten off this ride. The classic story of The Gangster has been told at this point. The gangster rises, and then he falls. Tony is now in permanent deline, never to rise again. Only we stick around for one more episode, just because we have to see what, if anything, can happen now.
I'll leave "Made in America" to be discussed by others, but I want to point out the social commentary involved in Tony pulling himself out of his tailspin by employing his "war on terror" card, still stashed up his sleeve.
It's agent Grasso, and Tony's terrorist tip, that does Phil in and solves Tony's Phil problem. Despite this, he and his family sit together at the diner in what feels like greater danger than they have ever been in.
Customer Rating:      Summary: great price!!!!! Comment: this is the cheapest i have found for this season i think i paid 51.00 with free shipping and it came fast so i would recommend it.
Customer Rating:      Summary: One of TV's best series builds to a surprising conclusion Comment: "The Sopranos" created one of the most entertainingly vivid and flawed cast of characters - both major and minor - ever for a television show. We tuned in to see what was going to happen to Tony, Carmela, and dozens of others because we cared - often too much. There are those still broken over Adriana's exit and scarred by Steve Buscemi's untimely end.
That's good writing.
So what else could Season Six, Part II offer but resolutions over its nine episodes? There are resolutions aplenty, including Chris-ta-pha's final mano-a-mano with his drug use and Bobby Bacala's extra devotion to trains, but there are plenty of new stories to uncover. A.J. struggles with matters of the heart and with nihilism. Carmela still carries the demons of marrying Tony. Dr. Melfi finally confronts the question of whether she has helped Tony heal or made him a better criminal. And Tony must face down both Phil Leotardo and dissension among his own ranks.
Some of the series' finest writing can be found in these nine episodes - including the word "miffled" and a death scene involving an SUV and two grandchildren in child seats that will go down as one of the great gangster death scenes ever.
Much has been written about the enigmatic ending in the diner. I have my own theories on what happens to Tony, but there are others . . . and many other folks who thought David Chase copped out. The fact that there is such a furious debate over the ending just tells us how important this family has been to us over the years . . . and how much we'll miss them.
Customer Rating:      Summary: Life's not always about closure, and neither is TV Comment: I normally don't listen to audio commentary on DVDs, but I did with this set. The best of the lot is on Episode 8, "The Blue Comet," featuring Little Steven and Arthur J. Nascarella. Little Steven makes an observation about the AJ character that is so apt, so hilarious, so spot-on accurate that I won't spoil it here. Both actors seem to have the most fun of all with their commentary.
One of the gems from the commentary is the revelation of David Chase's intention with the series: He did not want to portray mob life as glamorous, and he did not want to portray it as NOT glamorous. I think he found his balance.
Take the AJ character, for example. Could anyone who's watched the show for 7 seasons really expect redemption? In his final scenes, tooling around with his model girlfriend in his brand-new Beemer and laughing like an idiot on the sofa, stuffing his face with chips and enjoying the antics of "MC Karl Rove" on the TV...anyone surprised? Did you really think that he'd enlist and go to the front lines in Afghanistan or Iraq, or that he'd become The Donald's helicopter pilot? The genius of Chase is found in the fact that AJ is a bum, no doubt...but we see Tony and Carmela as his chief enablers. There's a point in everyone's life where the parents turn their kids loose in the world. AJ's 20 and they have no intention of letting him go. Listen to the Little Steven remark. He sums up AJ in 25 words or less.
What about Christopher? Somewhere around the first or second season, TV Guide featured an interview with "real-life Jersey Wise Guys"...actual mob figures who rated the show's cast for accuracy. One of them called Christopher "one for the trunk"...meaning that if it were real ife instead of TV, he would have easily been whacked within the first few episodes. In this instance, Tony received closure...he expressed his gratitude for the way he was portrayed in Christopher's movie, "Cleaver."
Janice takes one last sniff around Uncle Junior to see if she can locate his "hidden money," but it is to no avail. Carmela still longingly looks at architect drawings and floor plans, but she's still not the real estate diva she's dreamed of becoming. Phil Leotardo's feeling a little run down (literally), Paulie's going through the "every time I think I'm out they pull me back IN" angst, and Tony claims he can no longer eat eggplant.
It all comes down to onion rings and Journey on the jukebox. I applaud David Chase for defying expectations, upsetting more than a few "fans," and sending out one of the strongest series to ever hit the airwaves on a high note indees.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Completing the run of one of the most acclaimed television shows in broadcast history, season 6, part II of The Sopranos will be remembered mostly not for what happened during the season, but for what didn't happen at the very end. Creator David Chase pulled off a series ending that was as controversial as it was surprising and unforgettable, leaving countless fans to look away from the show and to blogs and articles for answers to the biggest mystery since "who shot J.R.?": what happened to Tony Soprano? But before we get to that point, there are nine episodes to digest, and they are some of the best in the run of the show since season 3. As Tony's (James Gandolfini) paranoia and suspicions grow, his family makes choices that are threatening to bring big changes to his personal life, and his other "family" is crashing headlong towards an inevitable showdown with Phil Leotardo and the New York crew. Episode 1, "Soprano Home Movies," starts off peacefully enough with Tony and Carmela (Edie Falco) enjoying a relaxing summer weekend at Bobby and Janice's (Steve Schirripa and Aida Turturro) bucolic lake house, and by the end of the episode Tony has effectively taken Bobby's soul, proving Tony's ruthlessness and ending any doubt about his will to maintain dominance over those around him. In "Kennedy and Heidi," one of the season's signature episodes, Christopher's (Michael Imperioli) drug use continues to spiral out of control, forcing Tony to take matters into his own hands and resolve things with his nephew once and for all. Inevitably it's all leading up to that big finale, and it's deftly handled over the last two episodes, "The Blue Comet" and "Made in America" (an episode replete with subtle references to The Godfather). Things finally start to get resolved with Phil's crew, Dr. Melfi (Lorraine Bracco), Uncle Junior (Dominic Chianese), A.J. (Robert Iler), and Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler), and as for Tony
Cut to black. To quote from another hit HBO show of the same era, "everything ends," even The Sopranos, and while the way Chase chose to end The Sopranos may not be to the liking of fans hoping for a definitive resolution, give the man credit for not stooping to clichés or tired old scenarios. As A.J. says in one of the last lines of the entire series, quoting his father, "Try to remember the times that were good." That's good advice. --Daniel Vancini
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