The Sopranos: The Complete Series

For six seasons, fans have devotedly watched Tony Soprano deal with the difficulties of balancing his home life with the criminal organization he leads. Audiences everywhere tuned in to see the mob, the food, the family, and who was next to be whacked. Celebrate the show that Vanity Fair called, "the greatest show in TV history", in the ultimate Sopranos keepsake.
Price: $279.99

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Last year HBO released the complete series of this ground-breaking show with the very high pricetag we've come to expect from any HBO original series on DVD. According to the press release, a year later, HBO wants to make this collection more available to consumers with new compact packaging and a lower price point. I continue from the press release:

The new package is still book style, but of a vastly different sort - it opens up from a split down the center in a gatefold fashion, and discs slide in from the side. Speaking of discs, HBO informs us that all of the DVDs from the previous Complete Series set will be included, with all the bonus material found on them. However, the extra soundtrack CD discs will not be packed in with the revised collection. Still, the new list price is a hundred dollars lower, which certainly good news for any fans who perhaps couldn't afford last year's model.

End of press release. The bottom line on this is we are paying one hundred dollars less to give up 2 music CDs and in exchange get packaging that should not enable so many scratched discs. The extra features include an interview with series creator David Chase conducted by Alec Baldwin and two "Supper With the Sopranos" featurettes that will show cast members sitting down for dinner to discuss their favorite episodes.

As for the series itself, if the Godfather saga was the view of the mafia from the executive suite, this series is a complex tale of the mafia from the working man's point of view. If you've never watched this show, you're in for an extended treat. Yes, there is violence and nudity, but it is never gratuitous and is needed to contrast Tony Soprano, the thinking man's gangster, with the reality of the life he has been born to and, quite frankly, would not ever have left even knowing how so many of his associates have ended up. Tony Soprano can discuss Sun Tzu with his therapist, then beat a man to death with a frying pan in a fit of rage, and while dismembering and disposing of the body with his nephew, take a break, sit down and watch TV while eating peanut butter out of the jar, and give that nephew advice on his upcoming marriage like they had just finished a Sunday afternoon of viewing NFL football. Even Carmella, his wife, when given a chance for a way out, finds that she really prefers life with Tony and the perks that go with it and looking the other way at his indiscretions versus life on her own. If you followed the whole thing, you know how it ends. If you didn't, trust me you've never seen a TV show end like this.