Rock Howard Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 (edited) Anyone else notice there's a lot of parallels with Michael and Tony Soprano? 1. Both are middle-aged family men who are quite wealthy from their life of crime but are still miserable. 2. Both have short fuses and have violent outbursts/thrive on chaos. 3. Both are in therapy. 4. Both have big mansions. 5. Both are father figures/surrogate fathers to people they're not directly related to: Michael to Franklin; Tony to Christopher. 6. Both have dysfuctional relationships with their wives/kids. That's quite a lot of similarities.... This is why, having seen these trailers, despite cleraly not being all that original, Michael is my fave character right now. Edited May 1, 2013 by Rock Howard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
br00tal_j Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 lol i was thinkong of that afterwards, wasnt just me then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockstarMark Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 Yup, definitely. The scene where Michael is watching the tv reminded me of Tony watching his huge SDTV in his room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dotseoem Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 I thought that as soon as I seen the therapist in the previous trailer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rock Howard Posted May 1, 2013 Author Share Posted May 1, 2013 Yup, these new trailers have revealed a fair bit about their respective characters that's for sure. For me, most notably Michael's similarity to Tony Soprano and I like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrcTOtheJ Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 A friend and I were talking about the same thing. I really like it personally. The Threapy bits especially, hoping they'll be good, I enjoyed those in The Sopranos allot, and they seem like they'll work here as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGSFAN612 Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 I agree Also for some reason that old guy with Trevor at about 0:17 in the trailer reminded me of Junior Sorprano even though he doesn't like him that much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emergency_Room Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 I am wondering if Micheals back-story turns out to be something along the lines of. Was a high ranking member of the Alderney Mafia but after being betrayed, he flipped and went into the Witness Protection Program. I know Dan Houser said that he has never seen The Sopranos however someone who has a say in the game storyline certainly has. In GTA III and LCS there was the whole deal with Toni Cipriani having problems with his mother, similar to the way Tony Soprano had problems with his mother. In GTA IV there were quite a few characters who resembled those on The Sopranos. It seems like this go around there are a ton of references to The Sopranos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikobellic303 Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 Pegorino reminds me of frank vincents character Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capricornus Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 Looking at the OP, is funny how Dan Houser said that he doesn't really watch the Sopranos, or something to that effect, Franklin is my favorite but Michael is awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John The Grudge Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 (edited) Anyone else notice there's a lot of parallels with Michael and Tony Soprano? 1. Both are middle-aged family men who are quite wealthy from their life of crime but are still miserable. 2. Both have short fuses and have violent outbursts/thrive on chaos. 3. Both are in therapy. 4. Both have big mansions. 5. Both are father figures/surrogate fathers to people they're not directly related to: Michael to Franklin; Tony to Christopher. 6. Both have dysfuctional relationships with their wives/kids. That's quite a lot of similarities.... This is why, having seen these trailers, despite cleraly not being all that original, Michael is my fave character right now. I'd say Tony Soprano is far more emotionally unstable than what Michael appears to be. All your points are correct though except Tony and Christopher are actually cousins (though Christopher calls Tony his uncle due to the age gap). Edited May 1, 2013 by John The Grudge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben73 Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 Holy sh*t I forgot about these trailers. Better check them out. I love the sopranos, I thought he was a bit like tony after the first two trailers. BTW Christopher is actually related to tony in the show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rare.steak Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 Basically, he's miserable. I don't relate well to that, but it seems like no problem for a lot of you guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty2k7 Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 (edited) I've been saying this since the second trailer. When he sits by the pool with his cigar just reminds me of T. Not to mentioning his family dynamic and therapist (although Amanda seems to have given up on Michael, it took Carmela until like series 4/5 to leave Tony (and that didn't last). Also Dan Houser said he hasn't watched stuff like Breaking Bad and The Wire, but that he had seen a little bit of The Sopranos. From NY Times Q & A with Dan Houser Q. The closest thing to Grand Theft Auto I can think of that someone is doing in a different medium is the work of David Simon, who has tried to capture cities, in “The Wire” but even more so in “Treme.” It’s quite different, but TV is similar in the sense that people spend 30, 40 hours with a show. Dan Houser: I haven’t seen “Treme.” I never even saw “The Wire.” One of my weird disciplines is that I don’t really watch a lot of those shows, if they relate to what we do. I only watched a tiny bit of “The Sopranos.” No “Boardwalk Empire.” No “Breaking Bad.” Wherever it’s too close to crime, gangster, underbelly fiction, and it’s supercontemporary, I decided, for professional reasons, I have to avoid it. Someone mentioned Tony is more mentally unstable than Michael. So far this seems relatively new but I wouldn't be surprised if Michael starts to get worse as the story progresses. That's what being around Trev will do to a man Also, Christopher is Carmela's cousin so he and Tony aren't related by blood. Tony had the same Father/Son sort of relationship with Chris' late father, Dickie Moltisanti. Click here for a link to the interview with Dan Houser Edited May 1, 2013 by Liberty2k7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Scottish Guy Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 (edited) Excellent post Liberty2k7. I was going to post that picture of Tony on the bed staring up too. I was automatically reminded of that scene after watching that part in the trailer. Some great observations here. As many of you have also said, I already saw parallels between Michael and Tony during trailer 2... -Michael lying by his pool with cigar and scotch -Wife (who had a strong resemblence to Carmilla) arguing with their daughter -The therapist -The mansion etc ... but yesterdays trailer pretty much rubber stamped the similarities by showing Michaels temper (him assaulting the golf course was hilarious). Dan Houser said he doesn't watch the popular crime tv shows, but he'd seen "a little Sopranos". I personally think this was his way of hinting he is an avid fan of the series without being too blatent about it. It was all there in IV too (Pegarino's strip club baring a striking resemblence to the Bada Bing). Obviously he's not the only guy over at R* who watches tv, but I'd bet my left bollock Houser is a bigger fan of that show than most of us! And who could blame him! My all time favourite tv show, and my all time favourite game, being blended together to create a potion of awesomeness! It's been 6 years since The Sopranos ended, and I've missed it dearly, but it feels like R* are reviving it in some ghostly form. It's like we're getting a 7th season in the guise of a game! (Ok, maybe I'm getting a little over excited here!). Anyway, I couldn't be more happier at this point. Roll on September! Edited May 1, 2013 by The Scottish Guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesus Piece Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 I definitely get some heavy Tony Soprano vibes from Michael . Sopranos is my favourite TV show ever so I'm definitely digging Michael as a character. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Scottish Guy Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 I would've thought there'd be more fans of the show on a GTA forum? Or is my fanboyism clouding my judgement? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anzand17 Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 Anyone else notice there's a lot of parallels with Michael and Tony Soprano? 1. Both are middle-aged family men who are quite wealthy from their life of crime but are still miserable. 2. Both have short fuses and have violent outbursts/thrive on chaos. 3. Both are in therapy. 4. Both have big mansions. 5. Both are father figures/surrogate fathers to people they're not directly related to: Michael to Franklin; Tony to Christopher. 6. Both have dysfuctional relationships with their wives/kids. That's quite a lot of similarities.... This is why, having seen these trailers, despite cleraly not being all that original, Michael is my fave character right now. Agree 1000025893636555% Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rock Howard Posted May 1, 2013 Author Share Posted May 1, 2013 BTW Christopher is actually related to tony in the show. Nah, not biologically. Christopher is actually Carmella's cousin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waingro Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 Those are all pretty standard TV and film tropes. The shrink bit gets used a lot to help audience relate to an "unrelatable" character. The laying on the bed scene and midlife crisis could be construed as an homage to the Sopranos as much as American Beauty of the third season of Breaking bad, or anything else. Don't look too close, I'm telling you, it's a pretty standard writing trope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben73 Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 I'm just expecting the opening scene to be Micheal in his therapists office now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Pink Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 Anyone else notice there's a lot of parallels with Michael and Tony Soprano? 1. Both are middle-aged family men who are quite wealthy from their life of crime but are still miserable. 2. Both have short fuses and have violent outbursts/thrive on chaos. 3. Both are in therapy. 4. Both have big mansions. 5. Both are father figures/surrogate fathers to people they're not directly related to: Michael to Franklin; Tony to Christopher. 6. Both have dysfuctional relationships with their wives/kids. That's quite a lot of similarities.... This is why, having seen these trailers, despite cleraly not being all that original, Michael is my fave character right now. On my third watching of The Sopranos. I sure did notice similarities. Even the fact the kid seems like a pudgy douche and the sister is wants to do silly teenager things. It's a sort of familiarity I enjoy and relate to in a way that I believe it should be fun as The Sopranos family dynamic it worked amazingly for The Sopranos and it gave lots of room for mind blowing drama, hilarity and just purely entertaining scenarios. But this is just Michaels family life and we still have Franklin's personal life & Trevors plus one major theme to tie it all together. Heists! It will be more like a film than ever. Having 3 protags with 3 different personal live/subplots but one simple overall theme. Get money by doing heists. Rockstar's writing is at it's best when it's inspired by critically acclaimed drama and film that's also doused in humour. baked. ＲＵＢＢΣＲ░Ｊ♢ＨＮＮＹ （スオッ） Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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