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A Few Words About A few words about…™ The Sopranos: The Complete Series -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

Robert Harris

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The Sopranos, which first appeared on HBO in 1999, and under the continuous eye of David Chase, continued into 2007, is one of the great series devised for broadcast.

As far as I can tell, it was shot with Panavision gear in 35mm, with the first two seasons being broadcast in NTSC, and later available in HD.

Possibly this is the problem.

But when dealing with one of the most awaited releases on Blu-ray, there should not be any -- problems.

There must be adequate funding behind this project, so technical details should have been handled to the hit the highest quality.

​Having sampled all seven seasons, I've come away with the following:

While Seasons 1 - 3 have lovely color, densities, grain structure, etc., they also have been sharpened, and I presume unnecessarily, yielding an image with a decidedly electronic look.

One of the reasons to purchase broadcast and especially high-end cable programming, such as HBO and Showtime on Blu-ray is for the huge extra quality that one will receive in the format over the way that programming was seen in broadcast.  The series has already been out in SD, and the final season on Blu-ray, which means that many people will be double dipping to own The Sopranos.

The bottom line is that The Sopranos on Blu a very mixed bag.

Seasons 4 and 5 pick up nicely in quality, and the final two Seasons are state of the art.

The problem that I'm having, is that all seven seasons should be absolutely pristine, and of highest possible quality.

Audio is never a problem.  It's crystal clear, and big with thumping bass where applicable.

HBO needs to do right by consumers, and bring the quality up to 2014 standards, even if they must return to film.

No great technical work here.  Just the necessity to spend a few dollars to make things correct.

While I'll not suggest that the set be recalled, I would suggest that new masters be created for the first three seasons, so that anyone who feels that they would prefer a modern quality Blu-ray can request them.

One final note.

I've not viewed this series on a smaller flat panel, but am presuming that the problems will not be as apparent.

​For anyone wishing to view the series in projection, the problems remain.

As far as ratings, the below are a range for the 7 seasons.

Image - 3-5

Audio - 5

Pass / Fail - Fail

Not Recommended at this time.

RAH 

 

Charles Smith

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Wow. Surprising. But thank you.

Has this happened on any other HBO release?

I seem to equate the magnitude of this release of The Sopranos with the recent (remarkable) release of Twin Peaks. That's just me. But look what we got there.

I'll wait, too, to see if HBO rises back up to the occasion.
 

Walter Kittel

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I've seen a few of the early episodes of The Sopranos on HBOHD and yeah, pretty much what Robert said. Kind of disappointing.

- Walter.
 

jcroy

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Hmmm ....

If this is indeed the case, then this will most likely be another "bargain bin"-only purchase for me.

Sad.
 

Dee Zee

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I'm up to season 3 streaming off Amazon in HD, about 2 episodes a day. If these versions are taken from the same masters that Mr. Harris saw I totally agree that Season 1 and 2 have less than top notch image quality. perhaps it was something back in 1999/2000 in the way the film was conformed and mastered for then SD TV. Season 3 which I'm watching right now has better image quality throughout than the first two seasons. My 2 cents. Still a great series though.
 

Bryan^H

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Thank you Robert. I'm so glad I read this. I was planning on getting it very soon, and just assumed it would be an amazing set overall. I would have been out $200, and very upset. I'll stick with the dvd copies.
 

Robert Harris

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This would not be an awful fix, should HBO deem the series to be of any real importance or A decent investment. Redo the first three seasons. Relatively easy.RAH
 

TravisR

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Robert Harris said:
This would not be an awful fix, should HBO deem the series to be of any real importance or A decent investment. Redo the first three seasons. Relatively easy.RAH
You're right to want that but to the best of my recollection, HBO has never re-released anything (outside of putting the existing discs out in new packaging) so I have zero hope for them redoing those discs/seasons.
 

Hollywoodaholic

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My question is, Season 1 had previously been released on Blu-ray, so is this the same PQ version? If so, I feel we are resigned to it. If they tried to sharpen it and it looks 'electronic' or worse, I'd be wary. But if it's the same, I'm just going to chalk it off to the fact the show was very early broadcast HD.
 

Dee Zee

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Hollywoodaholic said:
My question is, Season 1 had previously been released on Blu-ray, so is this the same PQ version? If so, I feel we are resigned to it. If they tried to sharpen it and it looks 'electronic' or worse, I'd be wary. But if it's the same, I'm just going to chalk it off to the fact the show was very early broadcast HD.
I don't believe this show season one was ever broadcast in HD in 1999.
 

Sam Favate

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I'm disappointed to hear this, particularly since the first two seasons are my favorite, and, I believe, two of the best years of television ever.

Perhaps if and when David Chase's Sopranos prequel series ever happens (which he's been talking about recently), HBO will see fit to re-do the blu-rays.
 

Tina_H_V

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Thanks for the heads-up on this one, Robert. I guess I will continue to hold out for a better deal on this box set--especially with it being at the top of my 2014 XMAS Wish List. With 44 days remaining as of this post, I will take and use them all as needed.
 

David Wilkins

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I have the first season on BD, from whenever it was first released. Is season 1 from this set identical to that original BD, or has it been further sharpened?I don't remember it looking objectionable, but it's been a while, and I'm currently without a projector, suffering with a 42" LCD.
 

TravisR

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David Wilkins said:
I have the first season on BD, from whenever it was first released. Is season 1 from this set identical to that original BD, or has it been further sharpened?I don't remember it looking objectionable, but it's been a while, and I'm currently without a projector, suffering with a 42" LCD.
I don't have the individual S1 set but like I said, I can't think of any DVD or Blu-ray that HBO has ever re-released so I'd be shocked if the discs aren't the same things.
 

Craig S

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Tina_H_V said:
Thanks for the heads-up on this one, Robert. I guess I will continue to hold out for a better deal on this box set--especially with it being at the top of my 2014 XMAS Wish List. With 44 days remaining as of this post, I will take and use them all as needed.
The better deal is here. This set is available from Amazon for $109.99 today (12/2) only. Like many here, I doubt we will ever see a re-release of this set, simply based on HBOs history. So I was just waiting for the right deal, and 61% off is it.
 

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