Customer Reviews

Sopranos Unauthorized - Shooting Sites Uncovered [VHS]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

The subject matter and amateur film footage leant itself to a fun documentary, but the "host" & "hostess'" were unfunny & annoying.
The same raw material could have been turned into something decent, even with the same host but not his ridiculous companion), by a competent documentarian.

Some interesting sites, but the script/dialogue is terrible. The mafia "doll" that's along for the ride is distracting to the whole idea of the tour. What innane comments! I would have dumped her in the Jersey Meadows within five minutes.

Two people give us a tour of the locations where the soprano's were filmed. Pizza parlors, the Bada Bing club, the restaurants, the pork meats store. Current owners are introduced. Some footage of poor quality videos made by fans that filmed some of the shoots have been made available for this production. But the overall quality of the content, and post-production, is quite low. It could have been made into a much better production.

Don't raise your expectations too high for this poorly-made, B-acted documentary. But those details are exactly what makes it enjoyable to watch. Some of the behind-the-scenes details are memorable, especially the Satriales Pork Store facade and the pizza shop montage. John Fiore hams it up throughout, and goofs on himself in the process, but doesn't take himself too seriously and ruin the mood. Overall, good stuff for the diehard Sopranos fan, but don't expect Jimmy Gandolfini or Edie Falco memorable moments to show up much on this production.

Like one of the other reviewers of this DVD, I'm someone who will stay with almost any DVD I put in the player through to it's conclusion. I just couldn't do it with this overacted, uninformative, almost-never-amusing, strictly-amateur video. There were a handful of mildly entertaining bits (seeing the real "Soprano House," the revelation that people call Pizzaland from all over the country to order Sopranos pizza, and a couple of fan videos shot on location) but perhaps enough to make a 10-minute featurette. This is primarily a drive around northern NJ to look at various Sopranos locations and sometimes talk with the owners of those locations. Through lame jokes, uninformed interviews and an almost total lack of reference to what those locations look like in the actual series, the director manages to make that much less interesting than you'd think it might be.

Left at that, this might have been a "not-bad-to-have-on-in-the-background" type of fan-based documentary. But they try to pull it together by having John Fiore and a bimbo girlfriend have such exciting between-scense banter as "Oh, Johnny...NOW can we go shopping?" If Fiore's acting had been this bad when he appeared in the actual series, he'd have been whacked after one episode. And he's a positive delight compared to his "Marie" who, if this is any indication of her abilities, couldn't get a part in a high school production of Annie.

Some other reviewers have characterized this as "hip," and "tongue-in-cheek" but I see no evidence of the self-awareness this production would require to be a succesful parody of anything.

If you want background information on The Sopranos, get one of the behind-the-scenes book (HBO's own "The Sopranos - The Book" is a very entertaining read with some great photos). Save your money and don't buy this DVD. If someone gives it to you, return it (or at least save yourself 2 hours by throwing it away)

As a huge sopranos fan, I thought this would be worth the $10. Good lord was I wrong! horrible quality, bad host, and THE most annoying woman I have ever seen. Don't waste your money.

Really lame and stupid, couldn't stand to watch more than 5 minutes. It is not even worth one star.

As a Sopranos avid fan, I was very excited to recieve this DVD as a gift. From the moment I pressed play and John Fiore's "comare" Marie emerged from the limo, I wanted to throw my remote at the TV...ANYTHING to make her STOP TALKING! The reason I gave any stars at all was because they did cover basically all the sets from The Sopranos and gave some backround information. They also had some interviews from cast and crew members. If it wasn't for that, I would have turned it off, because Marie's overacting of an Italian girlfriend and her horrible nasally voice and excessive whining made me want to go "whack" someone!

When I put on a video I almost always watch the whole thing, even if it takes me a few sittings. But for this one, I stayed with it less than an hour and gave up. It is pretty awful.

The title Sopranos Unauthorized made me think that there would be some interesting and revealing things about the show. There aren't any of those. It is mostly just looking at locations, like Pizzaland, or the Sopranos home in North Caldwell, or Satriale's pork store. It's like taking one of those boring tours of stars homes. I've never done that and never will.

What's worse, there's a lot of what passes for comedy but is really unfunny. Someone plays the dizzy ditz, and she isn't the least bit funny or entertaining. She just plays a caricature, and it isn't worth watching.

This is one of the worst videos you can get on Amazon.

I really enjoyed this tongue-in-cheek documentary...it was mesmerizing seeing VINCENT PASTORE talk about his death on the show...DAVID PROVAL talking about the real SOPRANO HOUSE used during filming...the HOME MOVIES with JAMES GANDOLFINI shot at the SOPRANO HOUSE were a hoot!!...really really cool scenes shot during the filming of the pilot...and BLOOPERS!!! NOTHING LIKE THIS IS ON ANY OF THE HBO DVDS!
Among other things, a real standout is a trip to the Actual BADA BING (A.K.A. Satin Dolls) used in the show with the REAL girls that appear in the series.
This show is really for the true SOPRANOS fan and they will appreciate all the effort and details that went into it...The footage assembled that was shot by some of the fans at the actual shooting locations is amazing.
For some reason DAVID CHASE and HBO don't shoot ANY Behind-the-Scenes stuff at all, but you will find it here shot by third party bystanders!
Almost every main shooting location is explored with the help of JOHN FIORE (Who played Gigi for 2 seasons on the Sopranos) and his hot Italian Girlfriend, Marie. I think they do a great job hosting and are hilarious in the show! POSITIVELY RECOMMENDED!