Topic: Game of Thrones: The TV Show (Read 9979 times)

Thad · « **on:** April 10, 2011, 04:09:02 PM »

Making Game Of Thrones (HBO)

Looks like they've shot the entire first book.

Appears it'll be 10 episodes, which sounds a bit tight but should be plenty of time to adapt all the important stuff. (The audiobook runs 34 hours, but the TV show will presumably require substantially less time to establish how all 735 characters dress and wear their hair.) Not sure whether the episodes will be full hours, "TV hours" of 44 minutes, or vary -- HBO doesn't have to keep its shows to a strict schedule, and I remember one episode of John Adams was 90 minutes. By comparison, the theatrical versions of Lord of the Rings add up to about 9.5 hours, and the extended cuts add up to about 11.

Looks good, and looks like the sort of TV I'd really like to see more of. With any luck, it'll be a success and we WILL see more.

(Actually, I saw a comment the other day that Disney's decision to make a Tron 3 despite Legacy barely breaking even at the BO implies that studios are focusing more on home video sales than theatrical runs. Which could indeed mean more HBO/Showtime/Starz miniseries, especially for genre stuff.)

Thad · « **Reply #1 on:** April 13, 2011, 10:45:24 PM »

io9 likes it. Charlie Jane Anders says it doesn't feel rushed but it IS hard to keep track of all the characters and relationships (which is true of the books too, frankly, but they have appendices).

Thad · « **Reply #2 on:** April 17, 2011, 11:06:52 PM »

And all in all it was a great damned adaptation; hit all the major beats and hit them well. I don't like the Daenerys portion of the story ending on implied rape; that's not a good way to keep an audience.

Thad · « **Reply #3 on:** May 30, 2011, 01:43:42 PM »

I'm going to talk about this thing some more so I've gone and split it.

I guess general Walking Dead rules apply: tag spoilers from the most recent episode, tag and SPECIFICALLY MARK spoilers for things from the books. (Actually, since I've only read the first two books, it would probably be a good idea even to say WHICH book you're spoiling. And if you can't remember, err on the side of caution? Like "Spoiler for Clash of Kings I think but maybe it's Storm of Swords"? Or there's always Wikipedia to make sure you've got it right.) Non-spoilery references to specific scenes are all right and I have a couple below that aren't tagged; keep them vague.

ANYHOW. It's hard to pick the thing that's blown me away the most about this show but it's probably the pacing. They really ARE fitting the first book into ten hours admirably, though it's going to be tight. Three hours is going to be just right to wrap up the major plots at King's Landing, the Wall, Winterfell, and Across the Narrow Sea, as well as Tyrion's journey through wild territory, and the material they've shed really is mostly material that was unnecessary. (The new scenes have been a mixed bag; I think they've managed to make Cersei much more sympathetic and less cartoonishly evil than in the book, and Tywin's introduction this week did a perfect job of laying out exactly who he is in a single scene, but on the other hand Petyr's infodump-while-two-chicks-make-out scene was pretty goofy.)

Aside from the quality of the adaptation, I've also been consistently impressed with the cast. Peter Dinklage is the real standout, though Tyrion is already my favorite character so he started out with something of an advantage. The sets and costumes are likewise fantastic, and if I have one complaint it's that the wolves are seriously underused. Funny that in a show of this quality with this high a budget the hardest part seems to be the use of trained animals.

Thad · « **Reply #4 on:** August 04, 2011, 08:18:44 PM »

Game of Thrones: The 16-bit RPG

(first season/book spoilers, NSFW if you work somewhere where people object to pixellated sprites doing things that the characters in GoT do)

Büge · « **Reply #5 on:** August 21, 2011, 02:24:11 PM »

Jason Momoa wants to return to the second season of A Game Of Thrones. He even wrote some scenes!

Zaratustra · « **Reply #6 on:** August 22, 2011, 04:04:08 AM »

I've seen a couple of episodes and I think I can't keep watching it. These people are too horrible and I doubt they'll get their what-for any time soon.

Crouton · « **Reply #7 on:** August 22, 2011, 04:39:10 AM »

Quote from: Zaratustra on August 22, 2011, 04:04:08 AM

I've seen a couple of episodes and I think I can't keep watching it. These people are too horrible and I doubt they'll get their what-for any time soon.

Book 2-5 spoilers:
[spoiler]Not any time soon, but they do, and in some pretty spectacular ways. I'm talking straight up vengeance from the grave "kill you and feed you to your family" ways.[/spoiler]

Thad · « **Reply #8 on:** August 22, 2011, 05:48:33 AM »

Quote from: Zaratustra on August 22, 2011, 04:04:08 AM

I've seen a couple of episodes and I think I can't keep watching it. These people are too horrible and I doubt they'll get their what-for any time soon.

Not mousing-over Crouton's post just in case it's got important book 5 spoilers, but...well, the tl;dr is you're right, bad things continue to happen to good people and (most of) the villains continue to be rotten sons-of-bitches whose comeuppance is not swift. If you don't want more of the same, it's probably a good call to bow out.

Esperath · « **Reply #9 on:** March 24, 2012, 02:37:35 AM »

Disposable Ninja · « **Reply #10 on:** April 01, 2012, 07:11:51 PM »

I just watched the first episode of the second season.

Man, Joffrey really is the worst little piece of shit ever.

Romosome · « **Reply #11 on:** April 01, 2012, 08:51:41 PM »

I love it but ever since Deadwood I've been horribly paranoid about HBO and lavish expensive period pieces

Yes I know it's fantasy and not technically a "period piece" but it still means "huge fucking sets and a retarded costume budget"

Was Rome axed early or was it always planned to be short? I haven't finished it.

no spoilers guys I want to see if Caesar makes it or not

Kayma · « **Reply #12 on:** April 01, 2012, 08:53:51 PM »

Every moment where Joffrey gets slapped is the best moment in the series.

Disposable Ninja · « **Reply #13 on:** April 01, 2012, 09:44:15 PM »

I do enjoy the sound he makes when he gets slapped.

Ten Minutes of Joff Getting Slapped

Rico · « **Reply #14 on:** April 02, 2012, 10:35:55 AM »

Season started out well but the people I was with who hadn't read the book had a hard time following some of the jumps. The second book is maybe the weakest of the series right at the beginning, but it does make me wonder about the series' longevity.

Büge · « **Reply #15 on:** April 02, 2012, 08:09:20 PM »

Fans have had that concern in their minds for the greater part of a decade, Rico. George R. R. Martin is not young, nor is he healthy. Personally, I worry that if he does shuffle off this mortal coil, will his successor be able to maintain the level of detail and craft in the books? I pray to the Seven that the task never falls into the hands of Kevin J. Anderson or Terry Goodkind.

Mongrel · « **Reply #16 on:** April 02, 2012, 09:47:57 PM »

It will probably depend on if he has semi-detailed forward plans or a designated successor.

And even then it may not save things. Frank Herbert had all of the first and some of the second and his son still produced horrible drek.

Thad · « **Reply #17 on:** April 03, 2012, 07:01:37 AM »

Far as the TV show surviving: well, it's doing ratings gangbusters right now. It's more expensive than Deadwood, but it's pulling in a lot more eyeballs, too. To the point where they're not just putting support behind it, they're looking at other fantasy properties. (American Gods is getting made into a series; no, it won't be nearly as expensive as GoT, but it shows HBO's still seeing dollar signs in the genre.)

Per the specific episode:

Well, I'm going to start by declaring a moratorium on season 1/book 1 spoiler tags. If you have somehow made it this far without knowing all the major twists of the first season, it's time you stopped pushing your considerable luck and got out of the thread.

And minor, untagged spoilers of this week's episodes and the equivalent bits in Clash of Kings follow.

So okay. Changes:

While I understand that it's simpler to have a one-liner explaining that Stannis got Ned's letter, it bothers me. In the book, it turns out that Stannis was the FIRST to figure out Joffrey wasn't Robert's son and set Jon Arryn on the trail.

Also, I forget -- who did Ned give the letter to? I know Cersei tore up Robert's will, and I thought they intercepted the letter too (pretty sure they did in the book). I could see Littlefinger having it delivered anyway, but not Varys. (Varys wants unity. Littlefinger's motivations are less clear -- we know he's got a Napoleon complex and an unrequited childhood crush, but those don't explain everything he's done five books in.)

A change I DO quite like: the scene with Cersei and Joffrey at the end, and the clear implication that HE'S the one who gives the order. It makes Joffrey less stupid and Cersei less evil.

Best bits, per usual, were Tyrion's. Points off for actually saying, in dialogue, "You love your children. It's your one redeeming quality." but his followup line mostly redeemed it. I think the best part was his delivery of the line about how it must be hard to be the disappointing child for a change -- he could have presented it mockingly, but that it's the only thing he says that actually sounds completely sincere gives it all the more depth -- and sting.

Also, Craster and the Old Bear didn't take off their clothes when they started delivering exposition, and I think we can all breathe a sigh of relief on that one.

Disposable Ninja · « **Reply #18 on:** April 03, 2012, 07:12:05 AM »

Quote from: Thad on April 03, 2012, 07:01:37 AM

A change I DO quite like: the scene with Cersei and Joffrey at the end, and the clear implication that HE'S the one who gives the order. It makes Joffrey less stupid and Cersei less evil.

Yeah, I loved the look on Cersei's face as it slowly began to dawn on her that this little shit shouldn't have the authority over a pregnant cat, much less an entire conglomeration of kingdoms.

NOTE: haven't read any of the novels, I just wiki'd Joffrey a bit because I wanted to know [spoiler]when he dies. Not soon enough.[/spoiler]

Thad · « **Reply #19 on:** April 03, 2012, 07:58:59 AM »

...yeah, my fiancee asked how Joffrey got to be the way he was and I said there's good evidence that he's just a sociopath.

I decided not to tell her about the cat.

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