routehero
09-28-2002, 12:27 PM
By now I'm sure most people are aware of the high-quality production that goes by the name of 'Sopranos', shown on HBO. Because of that, I will not go in to heavy detail about the series itself, but rather the DVD packaging, quality and presentation.
Living in western Canada, we do not get HBO unless you are a satellite subscriber - something which I am not. Instead, we are forced to watch reruns of Sopranos, often awkwardly timed or simply not available unless you subscribe to 'Movie Central' (a bunch of movie/specialty channels out of Alberta). This is frustrating because this series is very enjoyable. However, being available on DVD, I decided to front the cash and purchase the first two seasons in June.
I paid just under $200 (Canadian bucks) for the first two seasons, which works out to be around $9 per hour of entertainment. I was very happy with the DVD packaging - while not the conventional plastic DVD casing, nor the often hated Warner Bros. paper nonsense, it came cased in a paper box with a ribbon attached to the bottom to bring out a booklet of DVDs. Inside are 4 DVDs, with the title, director and writer for each episode that is on the DVD written inside of the booklet. The DVDs are on a standard plastic case which is mounted on the booklet. Each DVD (in season 1 and 2) has pictures of the characters, which I presume is a guide for which issues/characters the episodes on that disc primarily deal with.
Season 3 was about $90 (Canadian), but the DVDs do not have images of the characters on the disc itself. A minor detail, but it makes me wonder if the production of the season 3 DVDs was rushed, or there was simply no way to group the characters appropriately.
All 3 seasons, when played in your DVD player, will prompt you for which audio track you want. For the audiophiles out there, there is no DTS -- but for me, Dolby Digital 5.1 is sufficient. From there, you can select the episode guide and see clips (including audio tracks) from the episodes on the disc you are viewing. When you select a specific episode, it brings down a second menu where you can select the scenes and read the episode summary.
At this point in time I haven't had a chance to view the writer and director commentaries for the episodes. There are also some 'extra' features like behind the scenes footage, which, with my sizable DVD collection, I have never really bothered with, nor have I with these 3 selections.
All in all, the DVD collection is worth the money, as not only is it cheap, based on a dollar to length ratio, but the quality of entertainment is top notch.
Adding each season as 1 to my DVD collection, it brings me up to 118 DVDs (I don't count the individual DVDs per season), and I'm happy to say that these are some of my best purchases.
Living in western Canada, we do not get HBO unless you are a satellite subscriber - something which I am not. Instead, we are forced to watch reruns of Sopranos, often awkwardly timed or simply not available unless you subscribe to 'Movie Central' (a bunch of movie/specialty channels out of Alberta). This is frustrating because this series is very enjoyable. However, being available on DVD, I decided to front the cash and purchase the first two seasons in June.
I paid just under $200 (Canadian bucks) for the first two seasons, which works out to be around $9 per hour of entertainment. I was very happy with the DVD packaging - while not the conventional plastic DVD casing, nor the often hated Warner Bros. paper nonsense, it came cased in a paper box with a ribbon attached to the bottom to bring out a booklet of DVDs. Inside are 4 DVDs, with the title, director and writer for each episode that is on the DVD written inside of the booklet. The DVDs are on a standard plastic case which is mounted on the booklet. Each DVD (in season 1 and 2) has pictures of the characters, which I presume is a guide for which issues/characters the episodes on that disc primarily deal with.
Season 3 was about $90 (Canadian), but the DVDs do not have images of the characters on the disc itself. A minor detail, but it makes me wonder if the production of the season 3 DVDs was rushed, or there was simply no way to group the characters appropriately.
All 3 seasons, when played in your DVD player, will prompt you for which audio track you want. For the audiophiles out there, there is no DTS -- but for me, Dolby Digital 5.1 is sufficient. From there, you can select the episode guide and see clips (including audio tracks) from the episodes on the disc you are viewing. When you select a specific episode, it brings down a second menu where you can select the scenes and read the episode summary.
At this point in time I haven't had a chance to view the writer and director commentaries for the episodes. There are also some 'extra' features like behind the scenes footage, which, with my sizable DVD collection, I have never really bothered with, nor have I with these 3 selections.
All in all, the DVD collection is worth the money, as not only is it cheap, based on a dollar to length ratio, but the quality of entertainment is top notch.
Adding each season as 1 to my DVD collection, it brings me up to 118 DVDs (I don't count the individual DVDs per season), and I'm happy to say that these are some of my best purchases.