Sopranos: Season 4 on 10/28 (1 Viewer)

[Matt Naglieri]

From TVShowsOnDVD

The Sopranos: The Complete 4th Season


It's tough times in Jersey for Tony Soprano. The sluggish economy hasn't been good for the family business. His wife Carmela is angling for more financial security. Some longtime lieutenants aren't happy with Tony's recent decisions. A rival boss wants a bigger piece of the suburban pie. A Soprano is actually heading to trial for the first time in decades. At least one child seems to have lost interest in higher education. And the ducks aren't coming back anytime soon.

13 Episodes:
1. For All Debts Public & Private
2. No-Show
3. Christopher
4. The Weight
5. Pie-O-My
6. Everybody Hurts
7. Watching Too Much Television
8. Mergers & Acquisitions
9. Whoever Did This
10. The Strong, Silent Type
11. Calling All Cars
12. Eloise
13. Whitecaps

Street Date: 10/28/03
MSRP: $99.98
DVDs: 4

Aspect Ratio: Widescreen [16:9 Transfer]
Sound Track Language: English
Closed Captioning: Yes
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
Sound Quality:
Dolby Surround 5.1 - English
Dolby Surround Stereo - Spanish
Dolby Surround Stereo - French


Supplements:
Audio Commentary : Audio commentary on Episode 4 with writer Terence Winter
Audio commentary on Episode 6 with writer/actor Michael Imperioli
Audio commentary on Episode 8 with writers Robin Green & Mitchell
Audio commentary on Episode 13 with series creator/writer David Chase
Easter Eggs
Episodic Previews
Episodic Recaps

 

[Brent M]

I'll be passing on this release since Season 4 was the worst collection of Sopranos episodes ever(except for the one where they chop up Ralphie).
I have Seasons 1-3 on DVD and I would like to have S4 just for continuity, but there's no reason to buy a set of discs I'll never watch. I just hope Season 5 will be a major improvement.......whenever it finally airs.

 

[James L White]

Brent please use spoilers if you've gotta mention what happens in an episode!!!!!

I'm buying this, Season 4 can't be that bad.

 

[Jay Gunn]

James, it wasn't that the season was bad, it was just very slow-paced and character driven. There wasn't much action or mafia goings-on. I heard it was supposedly that way because David Chase had originally intended to have the 4th season as the next to last season, but had to change the plans when a deal was signed for another.

Speaking of HBO, is it just me are they really, REALLY slow on their DVD product? I mean, where's the second season of Six Feet Under, or even the FIRST season of the Wire?

 

[Tino]

Season 4 of The Sopranos was an excellent season IMO, expanding and improving on everything before it. I didn't find it disappointing in the least. The last episode alone is worth buying the entire season set, and will no doubt win an Emmy for Edie Falco.

The best show on television. A definite purchase for me!

 

[Brent M]

Compared to the brilliance of The Sopranos seasons 1 and 2, I don't know how anyone could have enjoyed season 4. Sure, there were a couple of good episodes, but most of the 13 shows were very disappointing. I'm one of the biggest Sopranos fans on the planet and I tried as hard as I possibly could to enjoy season 4, but it just wasn't any good. Great characters like Paulie and Silvio were basically reduced to cameo roles while boring wastes of time like Bobby Bacala and Janice were on screen far too often. I'm happy for those people who were able to enjoy season 4, but personally I thought it was awful and I won't be buying it on DVD to go along with seasons 1-3 that I already own. I'll use that money for season 2 of "24" because that was actually a show worth watching from beginning to end(and the bonus features for season 2 of "24" kick the crap out of those for Sopranos season 4). Just my opinion.

 

[Tom Rags]

The reason that Paulie was merely a "cameo" in the beginning of the season is that the actor who portrays him (Tony Sirico) had terrible back problems and required surgery during the beginning of filming. If you'll remember, they left a lot of plot points with Paulie danlging at the end of Season Three that could not be resolved until mid-season once Paulie was sprung from the can.
, or in other words, when Tony Sirico could come back full-time.

I agree, the episodes sans Paulie really suffered. However, the episode where he offs the woman at Green Grove
was one of my favorite all-time episodes.

 

[Michael Reuben]

Somehow I knew when I saw this thread title that there'd already be a handful of posts denouncing season 4. I guess that's going to be a regular feature of every thread about the season, just as it was in the TV forum when the episodes first aired.

I thought season 4 was brilliant. I suspect it will be even better on a second viewing, which is what I found with season 2 (another season that was criticized as meandering and unfocused).

M.

 

[Ron Kaye]

The Janice and Bobby stuff was lame.

I thought the rest of it was terrific.

 

[Paul_Stachniak]

I think the problem with Season 4, is that it is three episodes expanded into a whole season. It's a shame Chase couldn't stick to his original plan of the show ending in season 4, but I guess money talks. Frankly, the pacing ruined the season for me. I could hardly care about the characters, as it took forever for something significant to happen.

As a side note, the Sopranos is headed for a sixth season now. Because of Gandolifin's need to move on, I hear he will be abducted by aliens by the seasons end. And two new Mafia bosses will be brought it....er... wait... that was the X Files. Wasn't that show only supposed to last 5 season!? Hmm, we can only wait to see the outcome of the Sopranos new LONGER path.

 

[Tino]

You said it Michael! I hope this thread doesn't turn into another bash season 4 fest and praise 24 and Buffy like the last thread.:rolleyes

Compared to the brilliance of The Sopranos seasons 1 and 2, I don't know how anyone could have enjoyed season 4.

I do. And I did.

 

[Nick Sievers]

it was just very slow-paced and character driven.

Exactly what I love about The Sopranos. Give me character driven dramas over gun shoot outs week in week out.

 

[Brent M]

I don't mind the show being character driven if the characters they're focusing on are interesting. Unfortunately, season 4 focused on people like Bobby Bacala, Janice and Adrianna way too much at the expense of great characters like Paulie, Silvio and Johnny Sack. They watered down the mob aspect of the show this year and made it more like f**king "All My Children". I'm glad some people out there were able to enjoy season 4, but I thought it was a huge disappointment and I have no intentions of wasting money on the DVD box set when it comes out. I can only hope that for season 5 David Chase will recapture the spark that made the show so great in the first place.

 

[EdwardKarlinski]

Season Four of The Sopranos was terrible because David Chase forgot that nobody would ever have watched his show if not for the violence and sexual titillation. Now, that would not have been enough to sustain the show without great plot, acting, and dialog, but without those factors, the show has no edge. Further, Chase allowed the plotline to degenerate into a soap opera. He also failed to resolve every single hanging plot thread from the third season. I will purchase Season Four on DVD only to keep my collection complete. I will watch season five if convenient, but The Sopranos is no longer appointment television. It needs to prove itself all over again.

 

[Kevin Leonard]

I will purchase Season Four on DVD only to keep my collection complete.

Why would you spend $75 to $90 on something that in your estimation was "terrible" and not filled with enough "violence and sexual titillation?" From the sound of your post, it sounds like you'll never even watch S4 again, yet you'll spend a sizeable amount of money on it just for the sake of completeness? I never did understand this type of mentality.

And for the record, I happen to think S4 was in many ways equal to (and sometimes better than) the first season. I like how several of the background characters (Bacala, Adrianna and especially Johnny Sack) were given ample (and well-deserved) screentime.

Additionally, I enjoyed the fact that Season Four did a sudden about-face from the other seasons: from the first three seasons, we saw Tony Soprano carefully construct his empire--both at home and at his job. Now, that empire is slowly, painfully crumbling away, with almost everything--finances, relationships, loyalties, family--at a crossroads. I cannot wait for Season Five to air, but in the meantime this DVD set will help with the wait.

Oh, and for those that are complaining there wasn't enough Mafia-type aspects to S4, I seem to recall that Chase stating that the fourth season would focus on Tony's family, not Family.

 

[Shaun Guidolin]

Season 4 was definetly different... I guess it depends why you watched the Sopranos in the first place. If you watch it for the Mafia volience and the ganster stuff, then S4 was bad.. But if you love Family interaction drama than S4 was really good.. Between the stuff happening with Christopher and Tony/Carmela, it's a very good TV.. and the afore mentioned Ralphie wacked
episode is fantastic.. more so for it's matter of factness than classic action stuff.

 

[Brent M]

Season 4 equal to and sometimes better than the first season? Wow, that's a bold statement! The first season of The Sopranos was the best television I have ever seen(followed very closely by "24") and as far as I'm concerned, season 4 is not even in the same ballpark. The background characters(Bacala, Janice, Adrianna, etc) are boring and add nothing of interest to the show. Over the course of the show, we have lost great characters like Livia, Big Pussy and Richie Aprille and nobody has come along to fill their shoes(with the exception of Joey Pants as Ralphie--he's done an excellent job). Uncle Junior was always one of my favorite characters, but he's been reduced to a poor old senior citizen with nothing to do. Paulie and Silvio were main characters for the first couple of seasons, but now their roles have been reduced greatly and that has definitely hurt the show in a big way. Meadow and A.J. are beyond annoying and I've really grown to hate their characters--they should be whacked! The Melfi angle has been played out and is no longer interesting........Tony's been in therapy for 4 years now and it's not helping so maybe he should move on. Basically, the only reason I'm still a fan of the show is Gandolfini's masterful performance as Tony Soprano. If he left the show tomorrow, I'd never watch another episode because there aren't enough interesting characters left to make the show worth sitting through. I still have high hopes that season 5 will be a lot better and considering how bad season 4 was, I'm optimistic that it can't get any worse.

 

[EdwardKarlinski]

Well, it is easy to understand why one would purchase Season Four regardless of quality. I am a collector. I loved the first two seasons and thought that season three was weak but acceptable. It would actually be foolish for me not to complete my collection. If you don't understand this, then you are not a collector.
As to the quality of Season Four, I must state that taking the emphasis away from the mob and placing it solely on the family was bad judgment. The show was terrible in the fourth year. It had no edge. It emphasized boring characters such as Janice, who should have never returned. It is absurd that she sleeps with everyone in her brother's family. This has been overdone. Dr. Melfi became a joke when her rape was handled so badly. The season finale was the longest episode of the series and also the most boring. Tony's resolution to the problem was lame. This is a mob show. When the mob is removed, it has nothing. I didn't become a Sopranos fan to watch an Italian-American soap opera based in New Jersey. I grew up with that. I don't need to see it on pay cable.

 

[Lowell_B]

Yay! I've been waiting for a release date for this one for awhile now. Good to know they aren't going to sit on it to wait for Season 5 to come out.

 

[Dax P]

Just adding another vote to the 'Four was brilliant' side of things...

One weak episode (the parade). Many, MANY terrific moments. The finale was as good any other 'favorite' episode from earlier in the series.

Loved all the dangling threads, for Paulie, and Adriana, and Johnny Sack, and...

I'd accepted Season Five as 'the end', but I'm very pleased they've recanted, and we're going to get a 10 (at least) episode Season Six... that there are another 23 hours of this landmark series is excellent news...

And then I hope they move to features...

I think the negative press/reputation for Season Four was extremely undeserved.

After Season One, I remember being pretty disappointed with Two, but it improved greatly with a repeat viewing...



Ralphie didn't kill Pie-O-My. Paulie did.