166 replies to this topic

[Frost_Nocturne]

Papa Manderly, on 05 June 2012 - 12:25 AM, said:

The White Walkers. I loved the White Walkers. Very realistic looking and they had an ephemeral, other-world look to them. Those blue eyes were haunting. However, I really hate Sam just sitting there as a zombie army amasses around him and the White Walkers just not caring about him. Doesn't make any sense. Also, although realistic, I didn't like how the three horn blasts were so close together. I imagined them being deeper and mor edrawn out. That isn't really important though. Also, the attack should ahve been at night. That is kind of important for White Walkers. Great looks with fundamental flaws gets you a C.

This is exactly how I feel about the ending. I had been envisioning a night scene of the Fist with close-ups on Sam and LC Mormont as the horn blows deep and slow, then the camera zooms out as the third blast rings through the night. Maybe you see a glimpse of a WW army surrounding the fist, maybe not. But they decided to go all out, and while they did fine work creating the Others and wights, Sam being in the middle of it was ridiculous. Also unfortunate that they dragged in an attempt at humor in the beginning of the scene. This, along with it being daytime, the horn being so soft and quickly blown, and Sam surviving despite his position, all combine to make the scene feel less terrifying than it should. It should have had a serious, foreboding feeling from the beginning. Compare it to the final scene of S1. Huge difference in tone.

[Howdyphillip]

The Lost Direwolf...... i would like it to be made explicitly known that i didnt take the same issues as other people did about season 1. I brought up the Renly and Loras thing because that was an example of people over reacting to script changes.
My apologies if i wasnt clear enough about that

[Nathaniel Hawke]

B-. Please remember that I consider 'A' a godly top-tier quality show that will never be surpassed in history. B- is quite nice. I liked season 2 and didn't mind most of the changes done, because I can re-read the books anytime and I'm playing a pen and paper RPG so I can relive any moment of the series as I imagine it to be

But in all seriousness, I am in peace with the fact that it is an adaption and will never be the same as the books. Non-readers enjoy it precisely because they are disconnected from the events of the book, so half of the things that would disappoint them, don't.

[Loose seal]

Holafernando Torres, on 05 June 2012 - 05:31 AM, said:

The Lost Direwolf...... i would like it to be made explicitly known that i didnt take the same issues as other people did about season 1. I brought up the Renly and Loras thing because that was an example of people over reacting to script changes.
My apologies if i wasnt clear enough about that

Oops sorry, misread your post.

[Xray the Enforcer]

[mod] Keep it civil. [/mod]

[Qhorin Halfhand and Yoren]

Season 1 grade A or A+
Season 2 grade B or B- not sure.

It is still pretty good television so B or B- is not a grade that I give to bad or even mediocre shows,  but I do have some significant issues with how they handled parts of it so it is not great the way season one was but still good and entertaining. Certainly a noticeable drop in quality from the first season.

Edited by Qhorin Halfhand and Yoren, 05 June 2012 - 07:01 AM.

[Come Try Me]

Before last season's premier of "Game of Thrones," I had never heard of ASoIaF and was blown away by the HBO series. After watching about six episodes, I decided the read the books and fell in love with them. The old saying, the book is always between than the movie and its true in this case. I would give this season a C-. Blackwater was the best episode and the Theon arc extremely well done but they completely screwed Dany, Jon and Stannis IMO and the entire season felt rushed. Last season I would give an A.

[Dolorous Ali]

1st season: A+
2nd season: B
If it wasn't for Blackwater, I'd give it a C, because they fucked up Arya and Jon's story. The house of the undying was not even remotely enough. Still, I will keep watching show, because if GRRM decides to stop writing or something happens to him that makes him stop writing, the show would be the only way to know what will happen in the end, as GRRM has told the producers the main plot points of the future novels.

Edited by Dolorous Ali, 05 June 2012 - 07:06 AM.

[KAralinda]

S1 - A-
S2 - B-

My guess is that S3 and probably S4 it will be more less the same grades... But i will be real curious how they will adapt Feast of Crows and Dance with Dragons... If the Series get there...

[Reposado]

Quote

This was NOT the story last year. The story was that the show had been ruined because of the changes...That story was led by the loud minority, just as this years reactions of disgust is held by the minority. The fact of the matter is that the vast majority of the people who watched the show absolutely loved it.

This is not to take away what anyone feels about the show. There are people here that have been fans of these books for over 10 years that have been coming to this sight or it's predecessor to talk about them. We have all earned the right to have an opinion.

not exactly. yeah there was a minority that objected to all changes last year. but this it has been joined by a growing faction that feels that the show has dipped largely in quality because what we have seen on the screen has not been that good. and yes, partially these complaints are voiced about scenes that were changes because those are largely the parts that don't work. most people that i know that watch it haven't read the books, and there is a growing feeling that this season was a mess as a tv show. good parts, surely but a lack of compelling drama.there could have been zero changes and it would still not worked with the cliff notes approach to plotting they used.

The Halfhand, on 04 June 2012 - 11:52 PM, said:

1) House of the Undying. It seems obvious that the prophecies in the books are crucial to the plot of the story...why would D&D scrap these?

in retrospect it makes sense to drop most of them for the show. they don't know exactly what will be cut in the show. daenerys might not light three fires, she may not be betrayed three times, etc... certainly parts they could have kept though

[TC_Chaos]

There should be a poll in this thread.

This season is definitely not the same quality as the first one in terms of keeping the adaptation faithful. However, the last two episodes were really good.

Season 1 = A-
Season 2 = B-

Overall though, this show is still my most anticipated show to look forward. I'm going to buy the blu-ray to show support. If only book 6 comes out next year too...

Edited by TC_Chaos, 05 June 2012 - 08:25 AM.

[The GreatRon]

C

disappointed all around with it minus a few good moments.

[Howdyphillip]

The Lost Direwolf, on 05 June 2012 - 06:01 AM, said:

Oops sorry, misread your post.

No problem... I completely understand your reaction to the interpretation you got. If I had thought that someone was slandering people for homosexuality, I would have called it out as well. My apologies as well for not making it clearer.

[TheEvilKing]

King's Landing - A
Superb performances by Tyrion, Cersei, Varys and Joffrey. They made the story more basic but still kept to the books. Also, that motherfucking Blackwater episode bitches.

Arya - C+
The acting carried these scenes. Arya, Tywin, Yoren and Jaqen all put in really great performances. The storyline itself was rather stupid, and the changes to Arya's kills felt stupidly forced. Made the first big change of the series to really piss me off by not having Arya kill the guard. Harrenhal looked great but I wish we'd seen more of it.

The Dragonstone Crew - C+
Stannis wavered between excellent and silly (the scene where he strangles Mel... just no, sorry, that was dumb). I think the main trio have been brilliantly cast but erratically written. Also suffered from a lame intro, not enough screen time, poor handling of the shadow assassin and Sallador Saan's pointless appearance.

Robb's Army - D
Having more Robb sounded so good, but then they wasted it all on a boring, cliched love story. And it turns out Talisa is, apparently, just a noblewoman from Volantis, since they've already been to the Crag to negotiate a surrender and apparently nothing of any interest happened there. Casual viewers will not know who Roose Bolton is. Coupled with Walder Frey's total of about 3 minutes screentime, it'll be interesting to see how they react to the end of next season.

Iron Islands/Winterfell - A-
The ending of this storyline could have been better, but it seems they spent the budget elsewhere. Some really intense scenes, as well as marvelous acting from Maester Luwin and to a lesser extent Theon, helped to make this story a win.

Jon Snow - F+
Just crap. The false cliffhanger with Craster, Qhorin being a really old dude instead of a badass, and the utter bungling of the climatic scene. The + is for Ygritte who I think has been cast and written quite well, but we spent far too much time with her and Jon wandering around together.

Dany - C
Difficult one to grade, as so much has changed from the books. Started off fairly low key in the Red Waste. Oh look, they've killed of Rakharo, one of my favourite minor characters. That scene at the gates of Qarth was cringeworthy. What of the Qarthians? Xaro was played well, as was Pyat Pree. The Spice Merchant was a delight! Quaithe hasn't even spoken to Dany yet. Why did they even bother to cast her at this stage? Why no prophecies from her or the Undying? Why do they hate prophecies? Oh wow, Xaro and Pyat have turned on the Thirteen and taken Qarth. That was a cool plot twist. But they killed off Irri, one of my favourite minor characters. The House of Undying... the Throne Room scene was lovely, the Wall, Drogo... that was it? No portents? Pyat Pree's dead, Xaro's dead, oh and look they've killed off Doreah, one of my favourite minor characters.

What of Dany herself? She alternated between being poorly written and acted and well written and acted. Jorah was the biggest disappointment though. One of the strongest performances in season 1, he's been reduced to Dany's loyal lapdog, faithfully following his khaleesi around and gaping at her with puppy dog eyes.

Overall season rating: B-

[Leto Atreides]

I give Season one an  A-

Season 2: C

Rating by character storylines:

Robb & Cat: F
Arya: D-
Brienne: B+
Sansa: C
Daenerys: D
Tyrion: B+
Theon: A
Jon: D-
Stannis: C
Davos: B+

[Thunderfist]

As a whole I´d give season 2 an F

[Reposado]

I gave an overall grade earlier but I'd like to go in on this plotline rating

Theon A.
fantastic acting from allen throughout, great scenes and a logical plotline. my onlu complaint is the strange ending,

Daenerys D
Red Waste worked. Qarth didn't. The plotline where Xaro becomes king is silly. Something of that magnitude needed to be delved into more or shelved.

Jon F
none of this worked. This was supposed to make me like Ygritte. I hate her. Just boring tv throughout.

Arya C+
the scenes with Tywin were good but eventually became repetitive. The scenes with Jaqen were good also. But it was all too easy for Arya.

Robb F
Partially biased because I was excited to see new scenes with him. What we got was a mess that made me want him to lose the war.

Tyrion/Cersei A-
Good scenes abounded but I felt we never got to see what Tyrion was doing that was so smart.

Jaime A++
every scene he was in was magic

Davos C
Underserved. Complaining only that we didn't get enough of it. Much more Dragonstone would have been better with a lot more screentime.

[The Scabbard Of the Morning]

Season 1: A, 9/10.

Season 2:

King's Landing: A, 9/10
Theon/Winterfell: A, 9/10
Arya/Harrenhal: C, 6/10
Stannis/Dragonstone: D. 5/10
Jon/North of Wall: D. 5/10
Dany/Qarth: F  3/10
Robb/Catelyn: D, 5/10
Renly/Tyrells: B 8/10

Overall: C+,  7/10

[Sanette]

Season 1: A
Season 2: C

And it isn't just because they fucked up the characters. It just wasn't as good as the first one. The best episodes are imo: 3, 5, 9. Sakharov should direct all the episodes. At least he showed some talent and new ideas. The writing was really weak for some characters, full of plot holes and clichés. Except Theon's storyline there wasn't a scene that I found moving or memorable. No build-up, no suspense, just generic and endless dialogue scenes that didn't accomplish anything. The Blackwater episode just makes it worse because I can compare it with the rest. It's still "good" television. Not great but good. The visuals and costumes are beautiful but it isn't a great adaptation anymore. Also the soundtrack adds A LOT to my grade. Love it even more than the first one.

And rating by plotlines:

Theon/Winterfell: A
It was excellent until they ended it with that anticlimatic scene.

Daenerys: C
I was ok with the changes at first. The scene where Pyat Pree kills the 13 is beautifully shot. But then it just went to hell. Xaro was unbelievably annoying and then the HoTU happened... or didn't happen. A terrible ending to what could have been a great storyline.

Catelyn/Robb: D
Just bad. Robb's romance is so corny it makes me laugh and Catelyn just sits there. Telling them about the death of Bran and Rickon would make this much better.

Arya/Harrenhall: D
Again, a missed opportunity. Chatting with Tywin doesn't really make for interesting television. Especially when you repeat it for two or three episodes. And I felt like her storyline wasn't dark enough. There was no real threat. Extra points for Jaqen though.

Jaime: A
Good. I can't really complain about anything. NCW is perfect for the role.

Stannis: B
Meh. Wasn't bad but it could have been great. Just add a few more atmospeheric scenes with Mel and Stannis and the whole storyline would come alive.

King's Landing: A
Just because of Blackwater. Otherwise there isn't much interesting happening. Tyrion just chats with Cersei and Varys. No real plotting or suspense.

Jon: D
My favourite character and it was probably the worst storyline. There was no atmosphere, no emotions and none of the great dialogues from the book. Rose Leslie is brilliant as Ygritte so she saves some of the scenes. Still, they fucked up Jon's and Qhorin's character and nothing can really make up for that.

Edited by Sanette, 05 June 2012 - 06:06 PM.

[Sun]

Season 2 ==== B:

Mostly for butchering both Robb and Catelyn's characters,  but also for some of really bad writing (Robb/Talisa scenes were universally dire), and for pacing issues in the first 4 episodes of the season. They also lost points for the finale, of which I found the last 18 minutes or so of Dany, Jon, and the Zombie apocalyps sequences, really sub par - they really demolished the impact and bungled the significance of Jon killing Qhorin.

For reference, Season 1 ==== B+.

Edited by Sun, 05 June 2012 - 07:10 PM.