Sopranos "Complete Series" box set (30 discs for $59 at Best Buy)

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by toptentwist, Jun 11, 2012.

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  1. toptentwist

    toptentwist Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Houston, TX
    This weekend, I stumbled across a "complete series" box set for the Sopranos that was marked down dramatically by Best Buy.

    It said it was for sale for $59.99 and that it was 30 discs, with 80 something episodes and 3.5 hours of new bonus material that you would not find in the previous box sets.

    There was a sticker on the box that indicated the previous price Best Buy sold this for was something north of $200 ($219 - I think).

    I remember there being a complete series box that came out one christmas that had some special featues that were exclusive to that box.

    I owned some of the season box sets... never purchased retail... always found cheap in pawn shops... Not even sure how many of them I have.

    The packaging for what I bought - shows a color photo of the characters on the outside... the photo is kind of plain... nothing like some of the elaborate artwork for the individual season sets.

    The box itself is about as tall as a VHS cassette box. Inside of it, there are individual folders (season 1, season 2, season 3, season 4, season 5, season 6 part 1, season 6 part 2, and bonus features).

    It looks like the content on the individual season folders is identical to what was sold for the individual season sets... just the packaging has been slimmed down so that it could all fit in a reasonably small box. There are bonus features on the season discs - but I think those were already on the separate season boxes (and they aren't mentioned anywhere on the packaging - and don't count in the 3.5 hours mentioned in the marketing materials.

    I'm guessing everything unique to this box is on the "bonus features" folder. I haven't looked at those - but they seem to be dinners with the cast, more interviews with David Chase, and other stuff I can't remember.


    My main concern is I seem to remember seeing this in the stores one christmas but I remember it being in a black box.

    Looking at Amazon, there seems to have been a 33 disc compilation - and I think the extra three discs were compact discs - presumably same as what was packaged as a single CD that that came out when Season 1 was aired, and a double CD that came out when Season 2 was aired.

    It would have been nice to get more music on compact disc - but that doesn't seem to be in the cards.


    Other than a Blu-Ray option - can someone confirm that there isn't an ultra deluxe super special supreme ultimate edition that has even more goodies

    I think this version came after the black box - and the only thing missing are those three compact discs
     
  2. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    That's it. Fini.
     
  3. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    I heard one of the discs was defective. They show the family at a restaurant, then it abruptly cuts to black, and they start playing "Don't Stop Believin'." They really should fix this.

    Oh, wait...
     
  4. stereoguy

    stereoguy Its Gotta Be True Stereo!

    Location:
    NYC
    Man, if there was ever a case for a new format to fit the whole Sopranos series on one huge disk, this is......I mean, 30 disks!!!!
     
  5. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    Nice. Sounds like a deal. I'd like to have this set.
     
  6. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    amazing deal! thanks...
     
  7. agaraffa

    agaraffa Senior Member

    This is the reason I stopped purchasing DVDs. I was a loyal Sopranos fan and purchased each season when they first released for somewhere around $60/season... I did the same for Seinfeld. 'Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me'... never again.
     
  8. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    the first few season look bad! lots of artifacts...never heard of the problem you are mentioning...
     
  9. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    I purchased most of my TV on DVD on street date...yes, we were fooled...nearly every one was available for third of the price with bonus features on complete season sets...and I wonder why the lack of love for the studios...:laugh:
     
  10. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    that's all it's worth really...
     
  11. Plinko

    Plinko Senior Member

    Perfection
     
  12. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    ...too bad they never followed through with the original idea of the Sopranos MOVIE...
     
  13. Scope J

    Scope J Senior Member

    Location:
    Michigan
    Such a deal
     
  14. Yankee8156

    Yankee8156 Senior Member

    Location:
    New York
    Great deal. If anyone is the slightest bit interested, go for it!
     
  15. I have to believe this is a clearance of some sort from HBO to move units before a Blu-ray set has been announced. HBO has been decent at getting their new shows out on Blu-ray and has selectively been releasing their older programming like Deadwood in complete BD boxes.
     
  16. mrwolk

    mrwolk One and a half ears...no waiting!

    Location:
    Ottawa, Canada
    Same here...i'll wait a few months and wait for the prices to drop...it's amazing how many sets i bought at full price..only to see the drastically reduced months after the original release dates...i'm also amazed with the deals i'm getting at garage sales...Clolumbo sets at $5.00 a pop...blu rays for $2-$5...and other DVD's for 2 bucks or less a pop.
     
  17. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    When the 1st & 6th seasons were released on Blu ray, I jumped the gun, and sold each season on DVD for $30.00 each to a Game Stop manager, took the cash and ran !

    I was without seasons 2-5 in the house, until my son moved back in with his big black box, with the 2 CDs, and now all is good again.

    It'll be better when /if they release 2-5 on Blu ray though.
     
  18. sparkydog

    sparkydog Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kentucky
    Vidiot was making a joke.
     
  19. toptentwist

    toptentwist Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Houston, TX
    I started delving through my box by watching the interview with Peter Bogdnovoch and David Chase that is part of the bonus material for "Season 1".

    I think this was part of the original Season 1 box. The interview is clearly old but it seems to have been taped sometime during the production of Season 2 (or immediately afterwards).

    A couple of things I found interesting:

    1.) Chase clearly indicated that he is a fan of "gangster" movies... but he wasn't really sure there was "anything" left to do, except the direction he went (which was explore how the blood family relationship co-exists with the gangster family). He indicated that he didn't personally know any mobsters growing up, but "other than the cursing" the family interaction is close to his own experience. He also happened to mention that he was glued to his television every week when the original "Untouchables" series was on television.

    2.) Chase mentioned that he always wanted Bogdonovich's job (director) but stayed stuck in his niche as a writer. Bogdonovich shocked Chase by mentioning that he was told by the great directors (John Ford and Orson Welles) that sometimes great direction was recognizing when to leave in something that wasn't originally planned. Chase mentioned a specific moment in the pilot episode where Gandolfini asked about a specific line that he hadn't really given too much thought about... something about when Christopher mentioned he could go to Hollywood and sell his story... Chase had just written a simple "No... don't do that" line for Tony, but Gandolfini said he thinks Tony would be VERY angry about that and asked if he could play it that way. Chase said that was the first time he truly "saw" Tony.

    3.) The basic idea behind the Sopranos seems to be based on a story Chase heard about a Philadelphia mobster who "had a mother who apparently could really dish it out". He said he kind of took that idea and ran with it.


    What I found absolutely fascinating is right there in Episode 1, Tony mentioned something to Dr Melfi about how people in his line of work can easily find them self greeted by a bullet to the back of the head. I think Tony even told Melfi that he had this "overwhelming sense of dread". That tells me that Chase, very early on, was probably trying to decide if wanted to Tony to live or die when the series was over.
     
  20. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    Well, yeah...those guys have to live with that uncertainty every single day.
     
  21. comperic2003

    comperic2003 New Member

    Purchased gladly at Best Buy today. Thank you for the heads up.
     
  22. toptentwist

    toptentwist Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Houston, TX

    There was a guy who went to my high school (and was kicked out sometime during his four years) who went on to becoming the leader of the Philadelphia mafia. He was gone by the time I was in the school, but there was a brief period where his father was the head mobster. When that happened, there was a lot of talk about his son (and jokes about the teacher who gave him a bad grade).

    Both father and son were killed pretty quickly. The life expectancy of the head guy in charge is most assuredly short - especially when there is a period of instability (which was very true for the Philadelphia mafia in the 80s).

    I just typed the son's name in wikipedia - and it has far more details about his career and his demise than I would have ever expected. Apparently the tales of his demise are from people who eventually turned state's witness.

    What I found most interesting is his killers apparently knew that it was going to be VERY tough to get this guy alone - because he was very experienced and knew a lot about what it was like to be the "housepainter" (a phrase I just heard for the first time today).

    That made me remember how I read one time an interview with a real mobster who was asked "What do you think of The Sopranos?" His comment stuck with me ("There is NO way the leader is ever alone as much as Tony Soprano is.")
     
  23. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    Interesting. :thumbsup:
     
  24. toptentwist

    toptentwist Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Houston, TX

    The phrase "housepainter" came from something I spotted where some guy claimed to kill Hoffa... BUT... doesn't know where he is buried.

    Apparently these type of things are sub-contracted out... leaving no one person with complete knowledge of the complete crime.

    The basic idea is if exactly one person is used, that person would know too much and he would be too tempting to eliminate. Giving different people parts of a bigger job, increases the longevity of the soldiers.


    I found it interesting that the guy who claimed to kill Hoffa said he was specifically used because he wasn't Italian - and didn't look the part.

    The way he described himself sounded strangely like Frank Whaley in the Hoffa movie with Jack Nicholson and Danny DeVito.
     
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