Amazon.com
Cheesier than a double-thick slice from Pizzaland, Sopranos Unauthorized lives up to its title as a goombah's tour of New Jersey filming locations for HBO's hugely popular Mafia series. With no obligations to discretion or production values, this homespun documentary takes the low road of a tacky wiseguy, following host John Fiore ("Gigi Cestone" from two seasons of The Sopranos) and his mock-bimbo girlfriend (Marie Ruffalo) as they limousine around Jersey, visiting nearly every Sopranos location, from the aforementioned Pizzaland, to Vic and Patti Recchia's plush mansion (a.k.a. Tony Soprano's house) in North Caldwell, to the infamous Satin Dolls club, better known to Sopranos fans as the Bada-Bing. Good-natured and sporadically amusing, the tour is laced with behind-the-scenes video of Sopranos filming, and interviews with some of the show's whacked costars, like Vincent Pastore ("Big Pussy") and David Proval ("Richie Aprile"). It's all about as tasteful as leopard-skin pants at a funeral, but hey... it's Jersey! --Jeff Shannon
Description
This exclusive documentary goes further than the Feds to reveal the most talked-about show on TV: its stars, production techniques, and secret locations. Features rare bloopers and private home videos. Meet the stars and hear exclusive stories from the set. Visit over 25 filming locations including Satriale's, The Bada Bing and the real Soprano house. See interviews with cast members James Gandolfini, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, David Proval, Vincent Curatola, Dan Grimaldi, and Joseph Gannascoli. Bonus.....includes an extensive interview with Vincent Pastore ("Big Pussy").
Customer Reviews:
Goes beyond "so-bad-it's-good" to become awful!.......2007-06-13
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)
THE worst way to spend 2 hours.......2006-11-06
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.
Dizzy ditz tours various locations.......2006-08-31
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.
TERRIFIC SOPRANO DVD!.......2005-11-29
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!
disappointing.......2005-07-28
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.
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DVD
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Biography
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The Sopranos - Season 6, Part 1
The Sopranos - The Complete Fifth Season
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The Sopranos - Season 6, Part 2