Customer Reviews

The Sopranos: The Complete Fourth Season

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

In the fourth season, this show starts to get repetitive. REALLY repetitive. Every few episides a new family member will either turn and start working for the Feds, or will become disenchanted and threaten to betray Tony. Tony can't control his temper. Get it? No? Then, we will have to watch him lose his temper every few minutes to prove it. Did I mention it gets repetitive? Tony threatens his own marriage, which he clearly values, my cheating on his wife every chance he gets. The same stupid neurotic type each time. Because -- they're like his mother. Get it? No. Then, we'll repeat it until you're sick of it. Tony is a hypocrite, screwing a partner's girlfriend while beating another associate for dating one of Tony's old girlfriends -- even after Tony gives his blessing. Because Tony can't control his temper. It's been a few minutes since the last pathetic rage, we needed to be reminded. Tony can't control his temper. Remember? Carmella, who I used to love, has become positively dippy and pathetic. She's gone from silly little school girl crushes on the family priest, a wall-paper hanger and now the driver, Furio. Christopher, whose heroin addiction was barely tolerable as a plot device, is now going into rehab -- because there might be one more laugh that hasn't been mined out of mob guys trying to do therapy. Tired, tired, tired. Has anyone else noticed that The Sopranos borrows it's structure from the Lion King, which borrowed it from Hamlet? The Prince, whose father has been slain, broods around the castle as his father's brother plots against him. Junior is Scar. This show was GREAT for three seasons. Plots used to have a satisfying arc, but in the 4th season, they start and stop with no rhyme or reason. It seems like they just try to repeat whatever worked in the first three seasons until you're sick of it. If it is funny to see a Mob Guy get offended and exact bloody revenge because of some stupid little joke, why not repeat this plot device over and over? They're all supposed to be tough, but they're REALLY thin-skinned, get it? No? Then, we'll just keep repeating the gag until you're sick of it. And Ralph is just Richie Aprile. EVERYTHING repeats until you're sick of everybody. Tony, after cheating on his wife with his partner's girlfriend, killing a guy, beating another for no good reason, sits in his psychiatrist's office and cries about how crappy world has become. What a pathetic dousche bag he has become. Somebody, please wack this guy before he emotes again! What, you're not sick everybody yet? Well then....

This show is great, but come on, does it really need to be so pricey when it comes out for sale? After all, you only get 4 CD's for this price. HBO has a tendency to boost the price up. If they need to put the price up because of the box set quality (because it is quite nice), well maybe they should look at something a little less costly.

Other than that, this series is quite entertaining and the cast are honestly first-class and credible. If you like any type of mafia movies or shows, this is the one you want to see!

Above all other seasons, the forth in this groundbreaking series focuses on the complex enigma that is Tony Soprano. Creator David Chase allows Gandolfini's character to go places rarely reached in television or film. Traveling through these thirteen episodes with Tony, a viewer will get to experience utter joy, limitless rage, and the unequaled pain that accompanies an acknowledgment of personal culpability in creating one's troubles.

Tony comes to realize how others truly see him in the early episodes of Season Four. He laughs at his friend Artie and his cronious cohort Councilman Zellman when they nervously try to discuss different requests. He does not understand why they should be so afraid. But soon, he validates their concerns and sees the monster inside that drives away the closest people in his life.

His marriage is also falling apart, a plotline most associated with this season. Gandolfini and Falco provide career performances, particularly in the finale's blow-up scene. But Tony's most powerful moments concern two important losses in his life. Sudden news of the passing of an old acquaintance sends an unstable (and violent) Tony back to therapy and another tender relationship with an animal (remember the ducks) ends with Tony out looking for blood.

Chase loves to allow small incidental moments to provide the genesis for much of the show's conflict, a comment on the fragile nature of life. In the first season, the jokes about Junior's acquired "taste" of his girlfriend drive the wedge between he and Tony that causes many to get whacked. In this season, a throw-away line made about the weight of a tangential character builds and festers animosity all season. Plot built in such a masterful way is just another example of why The Sopranos is television's finest hour.

Frankly I think they need to make the sopranos a couple more seasons. This season is just as good as all the other ones except for the fact they they jump to conclusions. If you're looking buying this season then that probably means you've already seen the first 3. Anyone who needs to read weather the Sopranos are good from this point has something seriously wrong with them. Go ahead and finish it up already! Why would you stop now!

I've always loved the Sopranos, mainly for its subtle humour and incredible writing and story plots. I always thought The Sopranos would make a good book, because it would sure to be a page turner. Season four is no different. We start the series revitalised and ready for any new troubles that may face Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini better than ever).

The economy is down and the mob business is slow. That can only mean one thing. All the guys are going to have to work twice as hard to make more money. As this happens on Tony's mob side of life, it becomes clear he's also facing troubles at home - amazing acting takes place between Edie Falco and James Gandolfini in the incredible final episode.

This is one of the best things ever to come off of TV, and each episode is almost like a mini movie, action - drama - twists and turns. The only problem is, you buy this DVD, you're guaranteed to call in sick for work the next morning to carry on watching. You may even find yourself dropping the words 'BADA BING, BADA BOOM' into a conversation unknowingly...

I am quite picky to what I watch on TV expecially with all the garbage thats on these days. Lately I have began watching the Soprano Series, currently on Season 3 but have been watching it quite quickly. The writing is brilliant, the acting is one of the best ever to be seen on TV. So convincing that it seems like you're right there watching the real people in action. All the actors in this show are extremely talented protraying the characters. I don't think anything can replace a series like this. Too bad HBO is not in Canada and Soprano's is no longer on Canadian Television, that I have to rely on DVDs. Pure Art!!

Season 4 is dead. Get out the holy water. THey spend too much time on Tony's kids and wife problems. If you think season 4 sucks, wait til you see season 5. THey should re-name the show to "Tony's family"...

Season Four is as riveting and dramatic as the previous three.

I cheered when Ralph got "what was coming" to him. Can't wait for Janice to get hers. The characters only get fuller, richer, and more interesting. Carmella is simply brilliant - her frustration, sense of betrayal, and finally her courage are brilliantly acted and directed.

We've been touched by Tony's soft spot for animals (duscks, horses, and dogs) and appalled at his own brute beastiness when it come to people.

The other characters are also developed nicely: Bobby, Junior, Silvio, Adriana, A.J., and Paulie become fully three-dimensional in this series. Their quirkiness, frailties, and sensitivities are very funny and/or maddening.

The series continues to grow more involved, engaging and fun.

I finally managed to catch an episode of The Sopranos. I was curious as to what all the hype was about. I am truly disappointed. This has to be the most overrated, boring, contrived and otherwise lackluster television program out there. Americans need to wake up and break their addiction to television. The Sopranos simply sums this up for me. This show is just an excuse for Godfather fans to maintain their obsession with fake mobster families, rather like the West Wing is a fantasy show for depressed Clintonites. Please waste your time doing something more constructive and entertaining. Like scouring your colon.

I am not going to give an episode-by-episode retelling of the season. I will tell why this season is different and why it got some bad press. Everyone knows that The Sopranos broke all the rules and set the bar high for itself, for HBO, and for TV in general. The first three seasons were marked with intensity, vulgarity, and, most importantly, violence. Season 4 did have violence in it (perhaps one of the most violent episode, in fact) yet the intensity was one of a different kind. Remember that this was the first season to come out after the events of September 11th. This season is a progression into the lives of the Soprano family, and ultimately their subsequent crumbling. Season 4 is The Sopranos as family drama, a hat it wears well. Regardless of what popular opinion has said, there is no disputing that there are major rumblings in the fourth season; anyone interested in the series cannot ignore the fact that this season is pivotal in that it will help the show's momentum in its final years.