Game of Thrones

[Mongoose]

When's this coming out?

Looks kind of interesting. Haven't gotten around to reading the books yet.

Most of the folks I know who like it hate WoT and the synopsis I read wasn't terribly encouraging but I'm curious to check it out anyway.

 

Anyway, the Sword of Truth series turned out to actually be far more entertaining than the books, so I'll keep my eyes peeled for this anyway.

 

Edit: Oh, if it's going to be on HBO On Demand, that's too bad. Guess I'll be waiting for the DVDs.

[Werthead]

There's a 15-minute preview airing tonight on HBO which will then be put up on the HBO website. The series itself starts airing on 17 April, so two weeks from tonight.

[raitora]

Here's a link to the preview online: http://www.hbo.com/video/video.html?view=grid&vid=1170886&autoplay=true

Can't wait for it. :)

[hotpocket2006]

I got gooseys. It was good. Can't wait for the whole thing. The Others look pretty sweet.

[Krakalakachkn]

It definitely made me eager for more, but I can't say it blew me away.

[Elend]

Going to go ahead and watch it now o.O

 

I hope its good. aSoIaF is probably my favorite series out there.

[hotpocket2006]

It definitely made me eager for more, but I can't say it blew me away.

 

Well most of it was stuff we had already seen already, well if you had watched the little clips they have been having. I think the whole hour though will be amazing.

[Suttree]

It definitely made me eager for more, but I can't say it blew me away.

 

Well most of it was stuff we had already seen already, well if you had watched the little clips they have been having. I think the whole hour though will be amazing.

 

Thought it was ace, the interplay of light and dark in the forest beyond the wall was ridiculous. Thought the Others were pretty cool too. Here is the link to Mr. Martin's post on it.

 

http://grrm.livejournal.com/208119.html

[Emperor]

Really left me wanting for more. I kept checking the clock and wondering just how much they would show.

[Red2111]

i like dit as well. two things worry me

 

 

15 mins for just the prolouge

 

and the focus they've given to the Others ... i think by focusing that much on them will give the audience the wrong impression. especially since the Others don't start impacting the series directly until later books. but again, i say the same thing about the Prolouge of the book as well

 

 

i'm happy though. can't wait until the 17th and have both my DVRs set for Borgais on GoT's *nods*

[Werthead]

A review by Televisionary, a somewhat hard-headed and unsentimental American TV blogger (and one of the vanishing few who got to see the original pilot last year) who normally doesn't gush, but GoT made him gush hard:

 

I'm anxious to watch them again and again, to fall once more under their spell, to get caught up in the deft plotting and lose myself in the staggering and beautifully realized world that the production team has brought to life. This is the type of series that comes around but once in a lifetime, a groundbreaking and absorbing drama that is utterly unlike anything else on television today.

 

Miss this impressive and stirring drama at your own peril.

[Visar Falmaien]

I can't wait to see this show! Just gotta make sure somebody's got HBO somewhere and I'll be set! Might have to get it myself at some point but we'll see.

[Basel Gill]

I've been wondering, does anyone find it odd that the show is named after the first book and not the whole series? Song of Ice and Fire is a bit of a mouthful for a TV title, especially for the uninitiated. But if they stick to the announced plan of each season covering one novel's worth of events, that means Season Two and onwards will be called Game of Thrones but will be adapting events from after Game of Thrones.

[Elend]

The Game is still going on in the later books though, so its not that big of a deal.

[Suttree]

A recent video clip in the "Making Off" vein...

 

[Sakaea]

*starts bouncing* Only 3 more days!!! I'm sooooooo excited to see this! Thank God for TiVo; I'm gonna record the whole series so I can re-watch it as many times as I want to. *continues to bounce*

[Werthead]

My early review of the first two episodes. Obviously as a fan of the books, it's from that perspective. I try not to spoil anything but I'd hesitate about reading on if you know nothing about the books at all and want to come to the story cold.

 

Last night I attended the premiere of Game of Thrones at BAFTA's HQ in London. Twelve years after reading the first book, sitting down to watch the first two episodes on a huge cinema screen with the actors playing Robert Baratheon, Benjen Stark, Theon Greyjoy and Viserys Targaryen sitting two rows in front of me was a surreal - but cool - experience.

 

Things got off to a slightly amusing start when the rep for Sky Atlantic (the new home of HBO in the UK) came out and gave a marketing spiel about the show and the channel. His statement that, "Sky Atlanic is free for all existing Sky customers," isn't completely accurate, as a commentator in the audience couldn't help pointing out: "Until August!" Once the introduction was over the traditional HBO logo came up and the first episode, Winter is Coming, began.

 

Generally speaking, I was impressed. The opening title sequence is gorgeous, a work of art in its own right. Basically it's a map of Westeros assembled out of blocks, like a high-resolution version of MINECRAFT, and as the camera pans to each city or castle the buildings rise up out of the map, spinning around like cogs and gears. The sequence changes every episode as well: Episode 1 focuses on King's Landing, Winterfell, the Wall and sweeps across the Narrow Sea to Pentos. Episode 2 drops Pentos and moves much further east to Vaes Dothrak. People who've seen the first six episodes confirm this continues: later episodes bring in the Eyrie, for example, and I hear that the Twins will also appear before the end of the season. The series logo appears over a seal made up of four of the sigils of the Great Houses: Stark, Baratheon, Lannister and Arryn (slightly odd choice that last one, but I suppose a falcon's head looks better than the jumping fish of Tully), whilst each actor's name is accompanied by the sigil of the house he or she belongs to.

 

The acting is excellent throughout. Sean Bean adds a dash of humour and warmth to differentiate Eddard from Boromir: Eddard is a much more rounded and complex character and Bean brings a solid maturity and experience to the role. However, whilst Bean has been focused on a lot, this is an ensemble show and it's surprising how long he goes without appearing (particularly in the second episode). Michelle Fairley is also excellent as his wife Catelyn, though the script has deviated from the books in softening her hard-edged political acumen to make her more sympathetic. Possibly a mistake, as it makes a decision she makes in the second episode slightly less plausible. Kit Harington is a serious but interesting Jon Snow, playing his outcast status quite well, whilst Richard Madden makes the most with limited material as Robb Stark (expect him to come into his own later in the season). Sophie Turner puts in a good performance as the (at this point) air-headed Sansa, but the character suffers from losing a couple of character-establishing scenes from the book. Maisie Williams and Isaac Hempstead-Wright are both outstanding, bringing maturity and acting skills way beyond their years to make Arya and Bran compelling characters. Hempstead-Wright will break your heart in one pivotal scene in the first episode. Joseph Mawle makes the most of his short appearance as Benjen Stark, bringing 150% to the role. I remember that when he showed up in Season 2 of MERLIN he seemed to be in a different show to everyone else, with a notable focus and intensity that seemed a bit out of keeping with the camp elsewhere in the show. He's more at home here on THRONES.

 

In the Lannister camp, Lena Headey brings a steely cold reserve to Cersei in public, but her private scenes with her children or with her brother show flashes of warmth and humour. She has an absolutely outstanding scene in the second episode with Fairley where Cersei and Cat have a moment of common bonding as mothers. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau pretty much nails Jaime Lannister: the brash arrogance, the flamboyant disdain for others and a hint of cruel humour. However, he becomes more sympathetic in his dealings with Tyrion, letting the mask slip a bit. Of course, Peter Dinklage is every bit as good as Tyrion as everyone was expecting: sardonic, witty, funny but also on occasion furious and hinting at his loneliness. His exchanges with Jon Snow are particularly good. Tyrion also has a highly memorable first scene. Jack Gleeson is effectively tosserish as Prince Joffrey, bringing a cruel streak to the role that makes you want to punch him before he even says anything. Rory McCann is much quieter and more reserved than in the books as the Hound, which is a different approach though it is still hinted that he is dangerous. Mark Addy is also great as King Robert, Henry VIII as played by Brian Blessed only not quite so loud and OTT. A terrific, charismatic performance.

 

Across the Narrow Sea Harry Lloyd brings his eye-rolling dementedness from DOCTOR WHO (he played one of the aliens in the HUMAN NATURE two-parter) but dials it down a notch as Viserys. He's as cruel, capricious and Caligula-like as in the books, but also gets across his anger at having his throne stolen from him, as well as brieft bursts of good humour. Viserys is a more nuanced character on-screen than in the books (the only character who is improved from the novels so far). Emilia Clarke is quiet and reserved as Daenerys, as Dany herself is at this stage, but shows signs of steel and intelligence. The two episodes don't really give Dany much to do apart from hanging around naked for long periods (though Dany's first scene of the season cleverly foreshadows the last). The same is true of Jason Momoa as Khal Drogo: he's a bit of a blank slate so far. Later episodes should give him more to do. Iain Glen brings gravitas and presence to the situation as Ser Jorah, and one exchange between him and Lloyd is terrific as Glen is able to transmit a lot of what he's feeling without resorting to eye-rolling or obvious signs of bemused disgust. Unfortunately, Roger Allam, a very fine actor, seems a bit out-of-sorts as Illyrio. He does an okay job, but he has a couple of iffy moments (possibly down to his exposition-heavy dialogue).

 

Unfortunately, if THRONES stumbles somewhere, it's with the Dothraki scenes in the east. Whilst Lloyd and Glen get everyone to raise their game, there's still a whiff of corncheese to the Dothraki and Dany learning the 'womanly arts' from a bed slave (played by Roxanne McKee from HOLLYOAKS). Some pretty awful sex scenes push it towards TRUE BLOOD territory, not helped by the ambiguity of the Drogo-Dany relationship not being handled as sensitively as in the book, leading to some uncomfortable moments.

 

Taken as a whole the series gets off to a good start: exposition is balanced against drama, dialogue is pretty good and performances are strong. According to my girlfriend, it's also well-balanced for newcomers who haven't read the books, though there are a couple of moments of confusion (for example, the Mad King is referenced but I don't think named, leading to confusion between him and his son Rhaegar; both being dead when the story begins and not appearing in flashback adds to the confusion) due to this desire to reign in the exposition but also having to provide information. The effects - what there are so far - are also great, though outside of the main title the music is a bit forgettable. Possibly a bigger problem is that whilst Episode 1 works really well, Episode 2 feels less strong, possibly because everyone is journeying from Point A to Point B and it's all a bit transitory. Once Eddard is established in King's Landing and Dany in Vaes Dothrak (their bases for much of the rest of the season) that should be less of an issue.

 

Overall, it's good. Not outstandingly brilliant from the off, but some excellent moments and assured performances overcome the problems. It's interesting to reflect that by the end of Episode 2 many of the book's more iconic characters (Barristan Selmy, Littlefinger, Varys, Alliser Thorne, Samwell Tarly etc) haven't even shown up yet, so there's plenty left to look forward to.

[Shmuel Goldberg]

I thought it was quite cheesy. The fight at the wedding. I cringed. The boys shaving. Ugh. And why's everybody doing it doggy style? What's wrong with reverse cowgirl for instance?

[Elend]

Personally, I loved it. I was very skeptical on Dany from the few pictures I'd seen but I'm now sold on her- the hair doesn't look nearly as bad as I'd feared it would.

 

Cheesy really isn't the word I'd use to describe it. And that opening sequence was amazing.

[hotpocket2006]

I too loved it. I think everyone was cast perfectly. Jamie and Cersei especially. I totally hate them already *laughs* There was nothing cheesy about it, I think the shaving part was cute, a good contrast to what's going to eventually happen.

 

Tyrion's first scene was definitely memorable. *laughs* I could probably go on and on about how well I thought it was done, but I won't. It wasn't perfect by any means, but I am definitely sold and can't wait for more episodes.

[Elend]

Agreed, the Tyrion scene was pretty awesome. My only issue is that, based on some reviews (largely a certain NYT one) people will think Tyrion is a Dwarf and not a dwarf.

[Shmuel Goldberg]

The wedding scene starts like Janet Jackson's superbowl ended. Then the dancer gets dry-humped and it turns into a bad MTV video. So comes the next neanderthal, and a few grunts. barks and snorts later it looks mostly like something from the Discovery channel. I lol'd. It was bad, dude.

[Red2111]

as it stands, i caught it and was actually very impressed. loved the added scene with Tyrion and the adult house in Winterfell; with Jamie all like "i figured you'd say that, comeon in girls!!" that was great. it really showed good on Jamie & Tyrions relationship, which is important for later on in the books and will be a good contrast to Tyrion's relationship with t he rest of his family.

 

 

all the actors were wonderful, loved Roberts vengful/insane glare when talking about Danny & Viserys still being alive; and i'm already rooting for Viserys death having just met him on screen. i had reservations about this actor, with his whole attitude on trying to see Viserys froma sympathetic view; but with seeing 3 scenes with him acting like a total jerk those reservations are gone.

 

 

the only part i had a disagreement with is the wedding night scene between Danny & Drogo. they made him out to be a vicious savage when in reality he was actually really gentle with her and didn't force himself on her.

 

the wedding itself was fantastic though and pegged the Duthraki's to a tea!! yes it was a bit dancey & staged; but as a people in the series the Duthraki are primativey like that, and it stayed true to the book for me as in that scene we see killing, fights & open sex acts.

 

 

all in all, i have extremely high hopes for this and it makes me have equally high hopes if HBO or Showtime ever takes on the WoT as a mini series!!

[raitora]

Loved the heck outta it, can't wait for more.

[Beidomon]

I haven't read the books, but I generally liked the first episode. Production value is fantastic. Great detail. Good, but limited effects. I'm getting the impression (from just one episode, I know) that this series is a lot more about politics and intrigue then it is about magic, good versus evil, etc.

 

I can definitely understand now why HBO picked up the series. Lots of violence, intrigue, politics, and SEX SEX SEX!!! Ugg on that last point. My big problem with HBO is how some of its shows are basically soft-core porn (ahem, True Blood, Deadwood). I'm no puritan, and I don't mind sex scenes, but to me it is totally unnecessary to the story to depit the sex so graphically on screen, or use such vulgar language so gratuitously. I'd be embarassed to recommend this show to my parents, for example, and I certainly would be embarassed to watch it with anyone except my wife. I turned to my wife at one point, as she was rolling her eyes at yet another gratuitous sex scene, and said "my books aren't like that."

 

I also must admit that I'm a little envious seeing LotR and now this getting the bigtime movie/HBO treatment, but knowing this will probably never happen for WoT. (Well, maybe it will happen once we get an ending, some screenwriters who can cut it down to 6 seasons, etc).