The Many Saints of Newark - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Many Saints of Newark



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras: :
Final Score:


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Movie
The Sopranos is probably one of the most iconic HBO shows of all times, paving the ways for shows like Game of Thrones and many more to take over the scene of adult drama in cable television. It was the show that got me hooked in watching non broadcast TV in my 20s, and despite one of the most controversial finales of all times, is still hailed as one of THE best adult TV shows of all time. Back then most people thought we might get a sequel with the end of The Sopranos, but after 14 years creator David Chase is back, but with a PREQUEL to what made Tony Soprano….well...Tony Soprano.

The film heralds back to the 1960s and 1970s when Tony was but a young boy. While the whole movie focuses around some of the main characters de-aged to an earlier portion of their career, the film runners pulled a brave stunt. You know how there are those characters that are referenced in TV shows but never seen. Characters like Morty on The Nanny, who are referenced and talked about, but never get face time ever. Well, They decided to go that route and have Dickie Moltisanti (Alessandro Nivola) who was the much talked about mentor and father figure to Tony (who actually is played by James Gandolfini’s son Michael as a teenage Tony).

The movie is more of a large series of vignettes about Dickie’s life more than Tony’s. We watch as his father (played by Ray Liotta) brings over an Italian bride half his age, see Dickie take over the family business when he puts his abusive father in the ground, as well as a plethora of interactions with various other characters close to the Soprano name. However, I’m going to be blunt. The movie really only resonates with those of us who have seen The Sopranos. The movie is well intentioned, and sets up Dickie’s life quite well, but unless you’re steeped in Sopranos lore the rest of the movie won’t make nearly as much sense. Sure it has a decent enough plot that you can follow along with, but this feels more like a case of “Memberberries” to hard core fans.

I absolutely LOVED the revolving cast of A and B list actors. Alessandro Nivola is fantastic as Dickie, and it was great to see the godfather of gangsters Ray Liotta pull off a dual role as two brothers. Vera Farmiga is near unrecognizable as Tony’s mother, and newcomer Michela De Rossi was mesmerizing. The only thing is, very little of the movie actually dealt with Tony and Dickie’s interactions. I personally feel that the intentions behind this movie were great, but the execution a little poor. While I understand this is about Dickie, but it feels like time would have been better spent showing just how much of a mentor and father figure he was to Tony. Michael Gandolfini was a FANTASTIC touch to play young Tony, but his screen time is minimal, and it’s hard to see the connections to what he will become. The dealings with the black gangsters and drug dealers was interesting, but once again, feels like a side story for the original purpose and subtracts from what the film COULD have been.




Rating:

Rated R for strong violence, pervasive language, sexual content, and some nudity




Video:

Once again, Warner is having distribution issues and the 4K UHD disc wasn’t sent out to reviewers this go around (hopefully that ends soon as distribution loosens up), but from what everything I’ve read from other reviewers in the industry the 4K UHD disc is quite the beauty. The film was shot using the ARRI LF cameras and then given a digital master at 4K, so the resulting 1080p disc looks stunning. The flick is stylized to give it that older 60-70 era look to it with a slightly green and amber hue and softer pastels and dulled primaries. Facial details are nothing short of jaw dropping, even with the makeup and facial reconstruction prosethetics meant to give some characters a different like (I’m looking at Vera the most). Black levels are deep and inky, and with no signs of crush, banding or any other digital artifacting that I could see. Simply put, this is an incredible looking Blu-ray that maxes out the format to the extreme in a literally picture perfect encode.









Audio:

Warner has given us a Dolby Digital track to go along with the Atmos track, but unless you’re equipment is ancient, the Atmos track is EASILY the one you’re going to choose. I was shocked at just how vibrant and powerful the mix sounded. The pulsating ethnic music at the beginning during the riots literally pressurized my ears so much I thought they were going to pop, and the sheer power and ferocity of the gun battles (that shotgun still makes my ears ring) is nothing to sneeze at. The film quiets down many a time to be a more dialog centric story, with soft ambient background noises during a party, or simply the sound of tires screeching in the distance. Great mix, easily on par with the video.











Extras:

• Making of Newark - Featurette
• Sopranos Family Honor - Featurette
• Deleted Scenes

Final Score: ​

The Many Saints of Newark is a good solid gangster movie, but one that will really only be GREAT to those who are steeped in The Sopranos lore more than your average viewer. It’s a fun jaunt down memory lane, but I still really feel like the last year or so of movies is banking on nostalgia rather than trying to create something new (some better than others, especially Spiderman: No Way Home). The Blu-ray is a great looking and sounding disc with a killer Atmos track, but the extras are a bit anemic. At the end of the day I’m going to say that while this is a solid enough rental, it’s mainly for the fans.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Alessandro Nivola, Leslie Odom Jr., Jon Bernthal, Vera Farmiga, Ray Liotta, Michela De Rossi, Michael Gandolfini, Michael Imperioli
Directed by: Alan Taylor
Written by: David Chase (Characters), Lawrence Konner
Aspect Ratio: 2.39 AVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 core), English, French, Spanish DD 5.1, English DVS
Subtitles: English SDH, Latin Spanish, Canadian French, Parisian French, Cantonese, Korean
Studio: Warner
Rated: R
Runtime: 120 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: December 21st, 2021

Recommendation: Solid Watch