25 Apr 2012

Game of Thrones



I have become totally addicted to Game of Thrones, along with pretty much everyone one else I know. It's based of the series of books A Song of Ice and Fire by George.R.R.Martin. It totally makes sense to make a fantasy series into a television programme and it cuts out all the hassle of making 3 1/2 hr epic movies that will never be as good as the book. So far in the tv programme there has been very little left out, and you don't have to suffer a numb arse, as was had while watching Lord of The Rings. HBO have a pretty cool website for the series with interactive maps and family details, which is probably helpful for those who have not read(gotten totally addicted to) the books.

I read lots of fantasy books, and most of the time I love the fanastical story, but more often than not the characters are a mix of wooden, chauvinistic, and plain irritating. In contrast Martin's characters are layered, compelling, intelligent; even the 'bad' guys are likable because they are so well written. This is fantasy for grown-ups, where politics and intrigue just happen to be in a magical world, with all it's delicious complexities.

Tyrion Lannister is definitely the best character, he gets all the wittiest lines, and is a master puppeteer in the political circus. The character in the book is fantastic and Peter Dinklage is cast brilliantly in this role, you might remember him from The Station Agent and Intermission.

The texture and detail in the show is fantastic, it's amazing the budgets that tv programmes get now, it's like watching a film. I would be tempted to buy the dvd box set just to watch the extras so I could see all the work that went into it. While we are on the subject of dvd extras, it drives me mad when there aren't good ones, in an age of downloading they really have to offer you more to coax you into buying the box set. I watched The Borgias recently and they had 2 minute soundbite HBO specials about the production. It was like watching a children's show it was so dumbed down. It seems illogical to have a simplistic reality tv style documentary to accompany a show that is quite intelligent; if an audience is smart enough to get the plot I'm sure they have a longer attention span than 2 minutes. Has anyone watched the Game of Thrones extras, are they any good?




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1 comment:

  1. Yes, I am an addict too! Its one of the very few programmes I look forward to watching. I actually would never read a fantasy book but I love the series. Plenty of nice eye candy too!!

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