Game of Thrones

[Luddite]

The wife's still watching which means i was sort of (while painting some bowmen).

All i can say is that i have absolutely no idea what's going on, who rhe main characters are or what the story actually is.

Some bloke who i think is some sort of king said (and i paraphrase) 'a war's coming, i don't know with who or why, but it's coming'.

For me that summed up what i've seen so far.

Oh and the gratuitous nobbing scenes are a bit much aren't they?


In general, i agree that American speech in these series is getting harder to understand.  Whole episodes of some things my wife watches (ER springs to mind) goes by without me having a clue what anyone is actually saying.

There are afew thing's i'd say to the producers of these things, especially the HBO productions...

1.  Get the actors to speak a bit clearer.

2.  Turn the bloody lights on.  TV is a medium of light.  Hospitals do not have mood lighting.  Get the lights turned up so we can see what's happening.  The first 5 episodes of Pacific were pretty much filmed in pitch darkness with the only light sources being muzzle flashes.

3.  Tell a story.  Figure out what story you're trying to tell, and GET ON WITH IT.

4.  22 Episodes in series 1 is insane. 

Frankly i find it astonishing that cobblers like The Tudors gets made while quality like Firefly gets cancelled.   

[Maenoferren]

Was out in the black last night, so will try and watch it tonight

[Jim Ando]

liked the bath scene then wandered off  and did something wargames related. I usually have a problem with all fantasy nonsense and this is no different.

Jim

[johnny boy]

Luddite, you might have hit the nail on the head for me. 
I am a fan of the books and they do tell the story, however he does take his time to build up the plot line. As I said previously this makes filming a problem, you know, too many words for the MTV generation to take in and retain and not enough gratuitous violence to keep their attention. 
The Pacific was a similar series where, due to the multiple story lines, telling the story becomes difficult and because if this I felt almost no connection with any of the characters. The series showed well the horrors and hell of the pacific fighting and the viewer, I hope, understood how real war is not like the movies. Tht said, I am not a big fan of the series and think they might have been better following one of the main characters more closely over a smaller episode run.
A game of thrones is in danger of becoming the fantasy version of the pacific as it has all of the problems the pacific had due to the scope of the book. They have only shown three of the locations by the end of episode 2 and touched on a few of the characters who will have some direct input to the story. There are many, many more to be unveilled and as a fan of the books, each adds to the colour and depth of the tale.

Glad to see it made, but am worried it will be left incomplete at the end and that no other TV network will be able to pick it up to finish the story. Only if the writer ever finishes the last book 

[Leon]

The Pacific was a similar series where, due to the multiple story lines, telling the story becomes difficult and because if this I felt almost no connection with any of the characters. The series showed well the horrors and hell of the pacific fighting and the viewer, I hope, understood how real war is not like the movies. Tht said, I am not a big fan of the series and think they might have been better following one of the main characters more closely over a smaller episode run.

I was like that with the Pacific, it took me about 4 episodes to get into it.  The main problem I found with that (and I can't see a way of fixing it!) is that during the combat scenes, you have no idea who is who, who's been shot, who's alive, etc.  So at the end of each battle sequence, I found myself doing a 'virtual' headcount of which characters had survived!

[johnny boy]

Leon, your right.
Pacifics problem was unless you already knew the history quite well and knew of the main characters you never really connected with what was going on. A lot of 'is it as good as Band of Brothers' went on, but they are dogs of a different breed. Band of Brothers followed a very small group of characters allowing you to 'bond' with the characters. This was a feat that The Pacific never managed. The confusing night fighting scenes already mentioned, even when they culminate in the winning of the medal of honour, left you breathless but no further forward to knowing the characters involved.
As I said, I hope Game of Thrones manages to pull all the pieces together, but I am not sure it will. That being the case I can see the whole thing being dropped as viewing figures slump.

[Squirrel]

And so it's ended .............. and just as it was all kicking off and getting interesting! At least they bumped off Sean Bean

Wonder how long we'll have to wait for the next series?

Cheers,

Kev

[Leon]

It grew on me as it went on, and despite still not having a clue how all the characters were related to each other, I really enjoyed it.  I'm considering giving the books a go now, I'm interested to see if the first book ends the same way, with so many loose ends left untied.

I'll have to go and check on the second series, cos I don't want to wait too long now!

[Squirrel]

despite still not having a clue how all the characters were related to each other,

That's the easy bit ....... they are all related to each other ......... or having relations at least Aren't they?

Cheers,

Kev

[Leon]

That's the easy bit ....... they are all related to each other ......... or having relations at least Aren't they?

I got that the Queen was nobbing her brother, everyone seemed to have a b*stard son somewhere, and some old blind dude was some kind of heir to the throne?  And the blond girl in the desert is somehow tied to the rest of the story, but I assume that will become clearer in the second series?

[Squirrel]

I got that the Queen was nobbing her brother, everyone seemed to have a b*stard son somewhere, and some old blind dude was some kind of heir to the throne?  And the blond girl in the desert is somehow tied to the rest of the story, but I assume that will become clearer in the second series?

Ah ............... "the blonde girl in the desert" Mmmmmmm ........................... sorry, distracted for a moment there I think she's going to be a key player now she's got those tiny dragons - just what she needs fopr fighting imps. Might be wrong though as I've not yet read the books. Otherwise is sounds like you've got the hang of it!

Cheers,

Kev

[Leman]

Well, I didn't half enjoy that! To be honest I didn't find it half as confusing as some of the rulebooks I've come across over the years. Having read the first book now I think HBO did a really good job of it and Sean Bean was just right for a stiff, self-righteous and rather humourless character. This is the first fantasy stuff I've read and enjoyed since I read Lord of the Rings back in the 70s - bet that confused a few of the computer generation. Unless, of course, I count Cornwell's Arthur trilogy, which got me into Dark Ages gaming.Roll on series two!

[Leon]

I might go see if I can find some kind of online family tree that shows how each character is related.

[Squirrel]

I need to buy the books and get reading - but that means diverting funds from the modelling budget

Cheers,

Kev

[Dazza]

I might go see if I can find some kind of online family tree that shows how each character is related.

FAMILY TREE LINK

Something like this ?

or this :

2nd Tree Family link

[Leon]

FAMILY TREE LINK

Something like this ?

or this :

2nd Tree Family link

Spot on!  Excellent, cheers for that Dazza, I'll be studying those when I get in, might clear up some of the questions I've got.

[Leman]

Cheers Dazza, excellent link to family trees.
DP

[Leon]

Has anyone been watching the second season of this?

I've just watched the final episode, and the whole thing has grown on me so much that this is now my favourite thing on TV.  The second series took a little while to get into again, as with the first they didn't fully explain who everyone was, so it took a few episodes to work out what was going on.  Aside from that though, it's a cracking series, and definitely something worth getting on DVD if you've missed it so far.

[Derek H]

Absolutely fantastic.  Just discovered it about two months ago and spent an entire Saturday watching series one in a single sitting.

Best programme on the box in a long time. 

[nikharwood]

Totally agreed - superbly done.