[quote]Description: (from TV series Wikipedia)
The cable television series closely follows the multiple storylines of the A Song of Ice and Fire series,and author George R.R. Martin has stated that the show’s pilot script was very faithful to his work. Set in the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, Game of Thrones chronicles the violent dynastic struggles among the kingdom’s noble families for control of the Iron Throne; as the series opens, additional threats from the snow and ice covered region north of Westeros and from the eastern continent, Essos, across a narrow sea are simultaneously beginning to rise.
Further plot description (from the book’s WIkipedia page):
The story of A Song of Ice and Fire takes place in a fictional world where seasons may last for years. Centuries before the events of the first novel, the Seven Kingdoms on the continent Westeros were united under several generations of the Targaryen dynasty, who wielded the invincible power of fire-breathing dragons until their apparent extinction. The last Targaryen king was killed in a rebellion of feudal lords thirteen years before the first novel and young Robert Baratheon assumed power over the Iron Throne. With winter approaching, the books now follow three stories that are divided by geography and participants.[/quote]
This thread is obviously about the TV series, and not the books, so please only discuss the TV series here.
A very great fantasy series, although very graphic in the pretty much everything department. Blood, violence, nudity, sex, language… you name it. I’ve said a few times to my friends that Game of Thrones is “either a really great fantasy series, or a really bad porno.”
As for actually watching the show:
If you happen to subscribe to HBO, and you happen to use any of the following providers:
AT&T U-verse
Charter
Comcast
COX
DirectTV
Dish
Mediacom
Optimum
suddenlink
Time Warner
Verizon.
You can watch the entire series on HBO GO for free.
Otherwise, Season 1 is out on DVD, and Blu-ray, and Season 2 just ended a couple weeks ago, so that’ll be out eventually too!
So if you’re able, I would recommend watching it if you’re into fantasy stuff
I saw all of season 1 and enjoyed it, I haven’t made it to Season 2 yet. After Season 1 I checked out the source material, since the show’s popularity made them so cheap, and it’s hard to motivate myself to essentially “rewatch” Season 2, but I’ll get around to it. I didn’t realize that it had ended over a month ago. That’s a terribly short run
Another thing hampering my motivation to watch Season 2 is that the CG for the whole series looks like crap, and Season 2 is heavy on the CG. It’s better than anime’s notoriously bad CG (eg: the textureless blobs of Fate/Zero or anything by Gonzo) but it still looks too weak for me.
I do like that the show is a largely magic-free fantasy show, focusing more on the political “game” than Harry Potter/Negima! styled magic spell battles. With the questionable exception of Melisandre (who was miscast IMO), there aren’t many characters running around with magical powers in general, as opposed to shows like The Legend of the Seeker.
It’d be an easier watch for me if they’d swap out the cheesy sex scenes, a naked Hodor running amok with the camera showing things I don’t want to see) and pointless exposition which kills time (Little Finger spent Season 1 trying to be Hamlet). Maybe they could replace it with more on-screen violence; the show is remarkably lacking in on-screen death and gore for its subject matter.
That’s part of why I stopped watching the show: to me, they’ve been dead for years. The show was so SLOW (in large part because they shoehorned in too much pr0n of their own invention). I found myself unintentionally dropping spoilers as, when people who only watch the show started talking about the Red Wedding I mentioned some things that, much to my disbelief, the show STILL hadn’t gotten to.
I’ve heard it half-jokingly suggested that Arnold Schwarzenegger actually impersonates himself from the 80s because he’s actually lost his thick native Austrian accent (like Mel Gibson’s Australian accent) after living in the USA for so long but he knows his hype requires the accent.
Similarly, I wonder if GRRM is being so doggone slow in writing these books just to play up to his reputation as being slower than an Ent as an author. How can it not be done by now?
