55 replies to this topic

[Jane Doe]

ckwatch1958, on 09 July 2011 - 02:30 PM, said:

Liked the season generally, but two recurring complaints;
1)Changes that seemed to be made for no reason at all. Like not having the comet. No huge deal, but since the comet starts off book 2, and every faction claims the comet as its own omen, why make the change? Did someone stop and say to themselves "lets get rid of the comet"? How much would a damn comet cost?

2)Feeling the need to explain everything, and leaving out things that they can't "narrate". I know that novels and inner recollections are hard to translate to screen. I have no expectation that everything from the book will be part of the show. But do they have to pound things into our heads? Couldn't we have gotten a feel for Tywin without him giving Jaime the deer skinning speech?

Couldn't we have figured LF out piece by piece, without him giving a speech to one of his hookers?

The Wire was one of my favorite shows. Some people complained that it was hard to follow the plot and remember all of the characters, etc. But figuring it out, re-watching, etc , taking each scene as it came and piecing it together, without being spoon fed, or having someone give you a long speech to let you know what was going on, that was part of what made that show special.

I was hoping that is what I'd see here, instead, it felt a bit more like the first Harry Potter movie, where there was lots of "gee-whiz, look at that magic stuff".

Frankly, I think they wasted too much time trying to make it accessible to people who hadn't read the book. Instead, they should have made it of such high quality that people wanted to read the books.

I agree with EVERYTHING, especially the comparison with The Wire. I was so disappointed when I realized how much we were being spoon fed here. If I wanted to be spoon fed, I could just open the TV and watch any network show. With HBO, I expect The Wire or The Sopranos, at least Boardwalk Empire quality, and frankly it fell short of that.

Bronn Stone, on 10 July 2011 - 05:16 PM, said:

You do realize that the broadcast version of The Wire was a commercial and ratings failure.  It has done reasonably well in DVD release, but if GoT had followed that model and achieved the same results, we'd never see it finished.  GoT is EXPENSIVE to make, in a way The Wire never was.  HBO is less concerned with ratings than other networks, but far from unconcerned.  Were D&D to listen to you, we could be 100% certain that A Storm of Swords would never make it to the screen.  It would go on the Firefly list of great shows that died in infancy.  I'd much rather have excessive exposition and multiple seasons of GoT.

I definitely could understand your view. I guess it's just how we appreciated TV. For me, personally, I would rather watch 1 season of The Wire repeatedly for 6 times than to watch 6 seasons of, say, CSI. Because, so many years after Firefly people are still watch it, but how many people will remember True Blood after it's done?





For me, the show is  6.5/10. I have read the book, so I have no idea how I would feel if I have't read the book. Apart from being spoon fed sometimes, a lot of details are lost in the translation. I know there are probably no way to translate "Ned, promise me" into any scene, but still, it a big part of the reading experience and it's not my viewing experience. Also, I think sometimes the scenes are too short. Flying to Winterfell to KL to Dothraki Sea so quickly, I'm not getting to spend any time with any character. It felt more like a procedure show than a serial show. Aye, I wish we have a 13 episodes season instead of 10, so this is hardly the show runner's error.

Edited by Jane Doe, 19 September 2011 - 11:34 PM.

[Just so..]

My only complaint is that it is too short.    They needed a couple more episodes to fill out the characters..they skipped over some interaction that was important to understanding the characters better.    Obviously being restricted to 10 episodes caused this, and our good directors would have loved more episodes to play with.

I give it an easy 8/10 though.. brilliant casting did it for me.  The scripts were awesome also.  They did do justice to A Game of Thrones.. although obviously they couldn't do it perfectly.

[Hooper]

I agree with the length. Giving two to three more episodes would match many other popular shows these days. Perhaps HBO was being conservative for the first season, and we may see more.

With S2 approaching, I'm very pumped as we approach the Battle of the Blackwater.

[littlespider]

I'd give it a 9.5/10, and I'm a huge fan of the books. I'm not wedded to the idea that it's got to rigidly adhere to the books: of course it can't! GoT is a loooooong book so inevitably, some material is going to be cut, or adapted for greater efficiency. Some changes irritated me (sexposition, lame drinking game with Shae) but were strongly compensated for by other truly fabulous aspects of the show: to name a few, Mark Addy's presence, everything about Michelle Fairley and Varys, and especially Peter Dinklage's amazing performance.

Loved LF, loved Cat. No, she's not OLD. She's Ned's wife, and both of them are of a similar age, if not the same. Sean Bean married to a 30-something wouldn't work, especially with the aging up of the children.

My personal, idiosyncratic quibble involved the reduction of roles of some favorite characters (the Hound especially). But see my point above about greater efficiency of narrative. Overall it was fine.

As TV show: fabulous, tight, fast-moving, gripping. As book adaptation: same, the key word is 'adaptation.' It's a different medium, different work of art, it's going to be different, and it should be different.

The big question is what the heck do I do with myself while anxiously awaiting the next season?

ETA: it was interesting to see small changes they made to either "soften" up characters or "harden" them to make their agendas more clear. They removed Cat's brutal "It should have been you" and Sansa's informing Cersei of the Starks' imminent departure from KL. These moves would have been tougher to stomach on TV. Many book readers have never forgiven Cat and Sansa: my guess is that even fewer viewers would have forgiven them. Likewise Jaime's story about Aerys: B & W want to get the audience invested in him as a complicated person rather than having many non-book readers write him off as that evil man who chucked Bran out the window.

Edited by littlespider, 23 September 2011 - 09:57 AM.

[Hooper]

I'm post-tv reader, and I still remember reading how harsh Cat was to Jon. Had I seen that on the show, yes - you're correct, no forgiveness.

[Skore]

I thought the interpretation was good, the pacing was off and to be honest - with fantasy series/movies being so niche, a little bit of spoon feeding was needed to garner a wide audience and keep them up to speed.

But the pacing.....frustrated me sometimes. No Battle of the Green Fork yet we had 10 minutes spare to hear about Robert's first kill? Don't get me wrong I liked some of the new interactions added for TV such as LF and Varys/Robert & Cersei's marriage counseling session. But I think the viewers would have been better served with a bit more discussion on how cold-hearted and cunning Tywin Lannister is and a bit more explanation of the Kingsguard and why Jaime has such a stain on his name; Kingslayer in the TV show doesn't nearly carry as much contempt in the TV show as it should.

[Azerate]

I watched the show before reading (well I did read half of asos few years ago but long forgot all of it) and IMO it was great and I really loved it. It made me read the whole series and I'm not your usual bookworm (which I am not ashame of btw, I don't believe preferring some hobby over another makes me inferior) but when I got interested I drill through the books like mad.

When reading aGOT after watching the 1st season of the tv series I felt that it was nearly identical to the adaptation, yes some minor things were left out but I noticed only 2 major differences. First of them being Jon and his relationship with Catelyn. I had no idea why didn't she want him to say goodbye to Bran in the tv episode (it was the only scene of her hate towards him basically). Second of them was the time Tyrion's childhood was presented, it also served to make Shae actually more human than she was in the book (like she really cared for him). Other than that it was pretty much a carbon copy which I've liked.

PS. Forgot about the battle in which Tyrion participated, it was completely removed which wasn't the best but I guess they had to do it to fit everything into 10 episodes.

[King Harren]

Disappointed with portrayal of the Hound, he came across as more of a kindly uncle than the murderous, hate-filled, mentally disturbed individual he really is.

[gmoney88]

I'm honestly amazed that so many people didn't love the show. This is probably the most respectful, faithful, and accurate adaption of a book series ever! Let alone a fantasy series!

I was totally blown away. Every episode stunned me with its professionalism, attention to detail, and clear devotion to the source material. So what if minor things are different? Its a TV series that is NOT aimed at people who read the books, and has limited time and a limited budget.

People keep complaining about Ros but having a recurring whore who likes to talk was a very clever way to get multiple characters to speak openly. TV shows have to think of ways to deliver information without internal monologues. Ros was a great way to get around this.

And on the battle scenes, when was the last time a TV show has giant armies clashing? You people are just dreaming.

On the matter of "spoon feeding", you have to understand that most viewers are not like you, they do not analyze what every character says. The show is already a challenge to follow with the huge amount of characters and political information that you need to keep track of. TV shows have to keep things moving, and they can't afford to risk confusing people. I thought the writing was highly intelligent, and its no fault that it makes things clear.

For me this show is 10/10, every episode. In terms of real literary value, it is admittedly behind The Wire, Deadwood, and Rome. But for thrilling plots, memorable characters, and straight epicness, HBO's Game of Thrones is a triumph.

The show could not possibly be better. A+ for actors, cinematography, writing, music, set design, costume design, effects, all of it.

I only recently read through the series, but I'd think that long time readers would see this series as nothing less than a miracle. You have no idea how lucky you are to get an adaption like this, because it NEVER happens.

[StannisandDaeny]

It was great. I was stunned by how well some scenes reflected my original imagination when I first read the books, and after seeing Terry Goodkind's series butchered by the television it was a relief to see how true they stayed to the books.

The changes there were I could understand and I even applaud the book and series not being exactly the same. The last scene with Daeny and her dragons or where the killer attacks Cat for example were almost exactly as I imagined them. There were some good adaptions like having Ned fight Jaime, I always felt Ned deserved more action than he did in the books. Skipping the battles is lame but apart from budget problems (imagine how much they must spend on all those different actors), there may also not have been much time for a large fighting scene. There were enough small fighting scenes to keep me satisfied with the action however.

The casting was also great but for a few characters who seemed way weaker in terms of personality and character than they should have been (Renly, Jon Snow) and also a little older (like Catelyn was supposed to be a beautiful woman) or just plainly wrong-looking (Theon, Renly) but it didn't overly bother me because other characters were cast extremely well like Daenerys and Gendry, who looks exactly the way I imagined him. The series also has some actors like James Cosmo (the Old Bear), Owen Teale (Alliser Thorne), David Bradley (Walder Frey), Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister) who I really liked seeing again. The only one who didn't really convince me was the Greatjon, for some reason. He just seemed over the top.

Also, a 10/10 for the costumes and armour.

Edited by StannisandDaeny, 15 October 2011 - 04:50 AM.

[Sakaea]

I just finished watching season 1 for the third time, in preparation for the season 2 premiere on April 1.

Every time I watch the series, I'm just in awe of how well they did. The costumes and props were perfect, the casting was wonderful, the music beautiful, and even tho they had to cut some things out, I think they did a grand job overall.

My favorite characters in the show were Tyrion, Danaerys, and Arya, oddly enough. In the books, I didn't like Tyrion much, but Peter Dinklage really brought him to life. I'm very much looking forward to the continuation of Arya's storyline in season 2. And Dany's storyline in season one was just perfect. The ending of the last episode was so good it gave me goosebumps. The dragons were better than I'd dared to hope.

I saw a preview the other day for season 2, and it looks like it's going to be even better than season 1, if that's possible.

All in all, I'm highly pleased with the HBO series, and I just hope they can keep it up.

[Leto Atreides]

I saw the show first, read Game of Thrones and then watched the show again. I liked the serie a lot more the second time because I knew about the characters. It also made some of the flaws stand out.

I thought some of the extensive nudity scenes were not needed at all. Especially Petyr giving lessons to the 2 whores and Viserys taking a bath with his servant girl. 20 minutes of precious time down the drain that could have been used for better purpose. Such as including  the scene where the Hound explains to Sansa what happened to his face.

Tyrion getting knocked out during the battle was also disappointing.

For season 2, I think they will be able to include the battle of King's Landing by making us see it from Tyrion's POV on top of the walls. It's Davos' POV on his ship that would cost a fortune in special effects. They can also minimize Tyrion's sortie by removing the ship bridge and just making him attack the ram.

[Rhaegar Targaryen's Ghost]

Leto Atreides, on 28 February 2012 - 09:33 PM, said:

I saw the show first, read Game of Thrones and then watched the show again. I liked the serie a lot more the second time because I knew about the characters. It also made some of the flaws stand out.

I thought some of the extensive nudity scenes were not needed at all. Especially Petyr giving lessons to the 2 whores and Viserys taking a bath with his servant girl. 20 minutes of precious time down the drain that could have been used for better purpose. Such as including  the scene where the Hound explains to Sansa what happened to his face.

i couldn't have put that better myself. i watched, read, and watched the same as you, and i felt the same way. at least in the viserys bath scene he is talking about something relevant, little fingers scene with the whores was totally unnecessary, he could have said all of the same stuff in 30 seconds at another time. i'm hoping that because book two is even more in depth that there won't be room for those pointless scenes.

[Jack's Smirking Revenge]

I'd give season 1 9.0/10.  I didn't like many of the changes (like making Theon more sympathetic, Shae, Renly, and The Hound) but it was still great.  I love the sets and shooting locations.  I wish it was easier to shoot with animals because the season could have done with more of the Direwolves.  The scene where Robb saves Bran with Summer and Greywind was much cooler in the book, same with Jon killing the wight.  I recognize the budget constraints though and overall this season was great.

As for the added scenes, yes some of them were pointless.  The Littlefinger and Viserys scenes were pretty pointless.  However I thought the Jamie/Tywin scene was excellent and was the best addition to the show.  I just thought it was wonderful and was a hell of an introduction to Tywin.

[K1NGSLAYER]

I really liked season 1, there wasn't an episode I didn't like. I actually liked that they made Theon more sympathetic because it wil make what happens in A Clash of Kings even harder to bear. My only problem with the first season is the lack of the direwolves but I understand that it would have been hard to shoot with the dogs, so I'm looking forward to hopefully seeing more of the direwolves in season 2.  I thought the sets and costumes were fantastic, as was the acting. I liked most of the added scenes and the Jaime/Tywin scene and the Bran/Luwin/Theon scene were both great.I was a bit disappointed that they didn't show the battle of the green fork but it looks like they have more then made up for it in season 2. I think that the season keeps getting better and better every time I watch it and i'm really looking forward to the second season.

[lyvyathan]

Having read the Book and watched the production - I'd give the HBO production a 9/10. I think the casting, the writers, and most esp the design, set props etc.. was simply magnificent. Well compare it to other book - to film adaptations - like the Frank Herbert Dune series, and this has done pretty well.

One small complain I had was the use of the prostitute Ros as a "crowd puller" and as a plot device to help advance the story plot - which I thought was unnecessary.

[lyvyathan]

Leto Atreides, on 28 February 2012 - 09:33 PM, said:

Tyrion getting knocked out during the battle was also disappointing.

Actually I thought it was a pretty good revision. I thought that Tyrion's uber fighting skills as portrayed in the book seemed a little too far fetched. Yes, of course we have dragons, white walkers, krakens - but I don't think my imagination could stand seeing another "Gimili" or "Yoda (Prequel version). Just me of course

I mean Tyrion's very smart, a "stud" with the girls, and he's also an amazing fighter as well... wait does that mean he's also going to be a dragon fighter pilot too?

[Songlian]

Loved the first season. Would give it a 8-8.5, with the last episode being my favorite.

Leaving aside the small issues that bothered me when I first saw it - lack of battles, no direwolves, etc - its biggest achievement imo was the actors' game. The cast made me like characters I never thought I would - Dany, Jorah, Jon, Arya, and many others.

[Lady Lilac]

I liked the first season a lot and was what made me want to read the books in the first place.
Overall I'd give it a 8.5-9.0/10 since there were some changes that I really didn't like. Mainly series Renly as opposed to book Renly and most, if not all, Ros scenes. Still, the strong point of the series was in the actors and casting and for that I really appreciate HBO

[Gurney Halleck]

I enjoyed it thoroughly. I think the main thing to remember is that discussions about it here are always bound to be pretty positive; I mean, we are all fanish and committed enough to hold profiles here at Westeros and actively seek discussion.

Being a book reader, I was filled with hope and doubt for the series.
But really, it fucking rocked.

My Girlfriend and several friends were interested because they could see my level of enthusiasm. but, due to the complexity and setting, were in the end impressed/confused/shocked (Baelor) and also a fair bit of MEH.

I hope as a community we can continue to be honest and impartial with what we all know is very well understood source material, especially by forum members like us.