Author Topic: A Game of Thrones (HBO)  (Read 249424 times)

Offline McMetal

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Re: A Game of Thrones (HBO)
« Reply #30 on: April 18, 2011, 10:47 AM »
Did not watch it, but Dave's review sounds about like what I expected.

Despite all the hype, this thing smells a lot more like "Rome" or "Tudors" than "LOTR". Lots of scheming, political machinations, talking. Not so much dragons, magic, elves, wizards and such.



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Offline BillCable

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Re: A Game of Thrones (HBO)
« Reply #31 on: April 18, 2011, 10:53 AM »
I thought it was a bit stiff, but I enjoyed it thoroughly.  It's definitely going to take three or four episodes to get your footing before you get a good idea who's who and what's what.  I think it'll be well worth the investment, though.  The reviews I've read from journalists who have seen the full season have been absolutely glowing.  "The best series on TV" level of glowing.

The only thing I felt was a bit rushed was the stories of Viserys and Daenerys Targaryen.  They touched a bit on how vile Viserys is, but it really paled compared to the book, and I seem to remember a lot more story about their relationship that wasn't covered in the episode.

And yeah, the books are very much about political scheming and very little about wizards and elves, so that's what you should expect out of the series.  They don't pretend to be another LOTR.  There are many mythical and magical elements, but the core is the relationships within and between the royal families. 
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Offline Scott

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Re: A Game of Thrones (HBO)
« Reply #32 on: April 18, 2011, 05:08 PM »
I could see how someone who hadn't read the books would be a bit lost.  With the accents and the pacing it is tough to know who is who...even for someone like myself, it took some jolting to remember what the Stark kids names were (they didn't even really mention Rickon)

It very much is more of a Rome than a LOTR...but set in a LOTR type world.  We aren't talking Elves and Dwarves here, more subtle, more supernatural with some fantasy elements mixed in (the wolves, dragons etc).  I think the whole book starts slow anyway and really doesn't get moving until a few hundred pages in

I liked last night very much and I am very much looking forward to next week.
« Last Edit: April 18, 2011, 05:09 PM by Scott »

Offline Jesse James

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Re: A Game of Thrones (HBO)
« Reply #33 on: April 19, 2011, 12:25 AM »
Is the Winterfell guy Boromir?  Or Triple H?  Or both?

I liked the first episode...  It's like Rome, meets Deadwood, meets some fairly decent softcore porn, meets a quasi-LOTR, meets Little People Big World, with maybe a hint of 300 to it.  I thought it was interesting.

I've never read the books but I'm betting my brother has so I'll probably ask him about it.  But I didn't have a terrible time following who is who really.  The opening credits going over that map kind of help you get your senses too though. 

I'm a little perplexed by this north gate thing. 

And where's the king from?  He's familiar...  that isn't the fat dude from Shawn of the Dead is it?

I liked it though.  I'll watch it if for no other reason than to see all the wild sex scenes.  That's always fun.  This show is sure to make Mr. Skin.
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Offline BillCable

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Re: A Game of Thrones (HBO)
« Reply #34 on: April 19, 2011, 07:48 AM »
Is the Winterfell guy Boromir?  Or Triple H?  Or both?

Yeah, he's Sean Bean, aka Boromir.  Not Triple H.  ;)

I liked the first episode...  It's like Rome, meets Deadwood, meets some fairly decent softcore porn, meets a quasi-LOTR, meets Little People Big World...

Peter Dinklage has probably the best role in the series.  It's been described by tons of geeks as "the role he was born to play" and the character just gets better and better through the books.

And where's the king from?  He's familiar...  that isn't the fat dude from Shawn of the Dead is it?

No.  I don't recognize him from anything he's done, but apparently he was in the Russell Crowe Robin Hood.

I liked it though.  I'll watch it if for no other reason than to see all the wild sex scenes.  That's always fun.

Can't argue with that!
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: A Game of Thrones (HBO)
« Reply #35 on: April 19, 2011, 04:14 PM »
I knew I'd seen him in something.  I know I've seen him in other stuff than RC's Robin Hood too.  I just can't quite place what those were.  He's not a leading dude.  I always like figuring out where all these people in HBO series are from.  I had no clue what all the doctor in Deadwood had been in.  There's a guy who can play a lot of different roles!
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Offline Jeff

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Re: A Game of Thrones (HBO)
« Reply #36 on: April 19, 2011, 04:23 PM »
I knew I'd seen him in something.  I know I've seen him in other stuff than RC's Robin Hood too.  I just can't quite place what those were.  He's not a leading dude. 

He's been in a lot of stuff.  He was on a CBS sitcom for a while, Still Standing.  He was also in A Knight's Tale (with Heath Ledger) and The Full Monty.
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Offline BillCable

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Re: A Game of Thrones (HBO)
« Reply #37 on: April 19, 2011, 04:54 PM »
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: A Game of Thrones (HBO)
« Reply #38 on: April 19, 2011, 07:09 PM »
He's been in a lot of stuff.  He was on a CBS sitcom for a while, Still Standing.  He was also in A Knight's Tale (with Heath Ledger) and The Full Monty.

That's it, A Knight's Tale...  Thanks Jeff.  I knew he was in something I liked.  I really thought that was a clever movie at the time it came out, and now I totally know that guy.  That was annoying me, so thank you.
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Offline BillCable

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Re: A Game of Thrones (HBO)
« Reply #39 on: April 25, 2011, 07:50 AM »
Seems like the series is just flying through the book.  It's been a few years since I read the first, but I want to say the stuff with the butcher's son was pretty deep into it, along with the consequences.  I guess that's what they need to do, though, to get to the meaty parts later in the book.

Peter Dinklage is already knocking it out of the park with Tyrion.  His talks with Snow are fantastic.
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Offline BrentS

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Re: A Game of Thrones (HBO)
« Reply #40 on: April 25, 2011, 01:47 PM »
Seems like the series is just flying through the book.  It's been a few years since I read the first, but I want to say the stuff with the butcher's son was pretty deep into it, along with the consequences.  I guess that's what they need to do, though, to get to the meaty parts later in the book.

If the Butcher's son is the part I think it is (events occuring during the trip to King's Landing) - that happens in the first 250 pages of the book. 

Offline BillCable

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Re: A Game of Thrones (HBO)
« Reply #41 on: April 25, 2011, 02:16 PM »
Yeah, that's the scene.  So 2 episodes in we're roughly 1/3 through the book, which supports my theory that they're rushing the start to get to the meaty parts of the book.
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Offline Tracy

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Re: A Game of Thrones (HBO)
« Reply #42 on: April 27, 2011, 09:00 AM »
HBO did the same thing when they turned the Sookie Stackhouse series of books into True Blood.  They rushed through some of the books, added their own story lines and took some wild plot turns that weren't in the novels.  It through me for a loop when I watched it.  The producers said they went on the theory that only 10% of the viewers had read the novels - which seemed low.  I would not be surprising if they take some creative license with the plot points in this series.  I haven't read the novels so I am just enjoying watching Game of Thrones. 
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Offline BrentS

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Re: A Game of Thrones (HBO)
« Reply #43 on: April 30, 2011, 10:26 AM »
Seems like the series is just flying through the book.  It's been a few years since I read the first, but I want to say the stuff with the butcher's son was pretty deep into it, along with the consequences.  I guess that's what they need to do, though, to get to the meaty parts later in the book.

If the Butcher's son is the part I think it is (events occuring during the trip to King's Landing) - that happens in the first 250 pages of the book. 

I watched episode 2 last night. I was able to get a 3 month subscription for HBO for only $5.99/month. So I will take advantage of that for as long as I can.

Anyway, I did enjoy it a lot. As with most screen adaptations, there is always somethings that they change and you scratch your head why?  However, all in all it's been very faithful to the book.

Since I am still reading the book (150 pages to go), I had it right next to me when I was watching. I flipped back to see where exactly they were and it turns out the last scenes (with Anya and the with Bran) are around page 135. Which is almost exactly 20% of the book - so it looks like through 2 episodes, they are paced almost the same. 

Offline Hemish

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Re: A Game of Thrones (HBO)
« Reply #44 on: May 2, 2011, 08:47 AM »
Finally got around to watching the first episode and enjoyed it.
The guy who they have playing the horse lord is he the actor they got playing Conan?
The nailed the casting for the Lannisters though, some of the Stark kids not sure about but so far it has been enjoyable
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