Posted on 05/18/2021 3:38:07 PM PDT by CheshireTheCat
Two years after it ended, I finally watched the series Game of Thrones. Okay, you can tease me for being a few years behind everyone else. But I don’t have cable TV at all, let alone HBO. So there was no reason I would’ve seen Game of Thrones while it was still on the air.
But every year for my birthday, I buy myself something. So for my 58th birthday last month, I bought the entire digital box set of Game of Thrones to see what all the fuss was about.
If nothing else, I finally understand all those GOT cultural references people have been using for the last decade.
I’ll say this about Game of Thrones, it sure isn’t boring. I haven’t read any of the books the series is based on, and I probably won’t. I’m not much for reading fantasy. I hated the Tolkien books with a passion when I tried to read them decades ago. It’s just not my thing.
So I admit, I went into Game of Thrones not expecting much.
Boy, was I wrong. It is really excellent.
Though, there were some things I didn’t particularly like. Actually two things specifically.
First, is it grisly as hell. Gory... During the Battle of Blackwater Bay, one guy gets the top of his head cut clean off. Grisly, grisly stuff.
But I suppose the fact that I was completely grossed out by the gore is a sign that the special effects are really good.
Second, like most premium-channel shows, the sex and nudity is over-the-top and gratuitous...
But other than the occasional “intestines splashing to the ground” and too-graphic sex scenes, Game of Thrones is one of those shows you can’t stop watching. It is epic scale storytelling to be sure....
(Excerpt) Read more at patriotretort.com ...
The books are cheaper. And better.
I binged the entire run last year. What a treat. The production value was out of this world.
WARNIN; Any and all spoilers can come out in my post here, so be warned, although there really should not be too many people left who intend to see GoT but have not yet.
Seeing dragons brought to life was surreal, sort of like the first time in the movie Jurassic Park that you see the dinosaurs.
I was pleasantly surprised at how great the writing was.
I was initially pleased at how willing they were to kill off major characters. James Bond never dies. The threat of death rapidly becomes a joke when you refuse to kill off major characters. That willingness maximizes suspense and tension.
I most hated the homosexuality. Lesbianism is bad enough. Nude men kissing makes me puke.
I don’t understand why the nude heterosexual sex took minutes. I like to see pretty scantily clad/naked young ladies as much as the next red blooded American male, but I will never understand the need to go on for over a full minute. 5-10 seconds is plenty to get the point across that people are in love or someone is being raped or a slave is being exploited. I never understood the need for GoT to go full boat soft core Porn. Do women like this or something.
I read there was a change in producers after season 4 or 5 that caused the show to decline. I didn’t feel it decline, but I felt some change. Pacing accelerated and characters got a little more shallow and one dimensional. Some things did seem to happen for no reason. I still loved the show after this change. If it was that bad, I would have noticed a dramatic decline. I didn’t.
More spoilers...
Like you OP, I had no problem with Season 8. I heard it was horrible but after watching, just many people did not like what happened to one of their favorite characters. I was shocked and then I thought it made sense. Mad King, mad daughter. They did an abysmal job foreshadowing it though. I am told the book is far superior in setting up Daenerys madness and overreaction.
I did not see the kid becoming King.
My biggest problem with Season 8 is that they just killed off TOO MANY central characters. They could have left us a few besides the Starks and Daenerys. It just felt like some of the weight was lost in Season 8. I wish 4 or 5 of the early series heavyweights had lived to the finale. I feel like it would have just been more suspenseful. We really started running out of people you knew would matter in the end. A few bigs from the early series would have been nice. They were a little aggressive killing them all off.
I hated season 6 or 7, whichever one had the religious people takeover with their horrific inquisition. I hated that entire theme and will never watch that season again. The only thing useful to come out of that season was Arya becoming a silent ninja assassin. Even that made no sense, until it became pivotal.
I did not like how weak and wimpy they made the undead minions of the white walkers in the final, climactic battle. In the first battle we saw when the white walkers army broke through the wood gates and the Wildings had to evacuate by boat, the good guys had no answer to the undead fighters. I get that the dragon glass was the answer to killing the undead, but all of a sudden, the good guys are each just hacking down scores of undead single handed. That seemed cartoonish to me.
I would like to have seen the fighting be much more evenly matched and harder for the good guys. To that end, the Undead army should have been much smaller, like a 2 to 1 majority instead of 10 to 1.
Mother Spoiler.
The undead dragon was a plot twist of plot twists. Who saw that coming? Anybody who did, pat yourself on the back.
I don’t know if GoT is the greatest TV show of all time, but if it isn’t, I don’t know what is. I can’t wait to watch it all again.
And unlike LOST, it actually leads somewhere.
Funny, I never had that problem. I wish she was naked more. Nudity should support the plot and character. After season 2 and she had some clout being was such a hit, Clarke demanded less nudity. It got to the point where immediately after lovemaking, she would get up with the blanket around her type thing, like network TV.
Her nudity went from gratuitous to Victorian. It made no sense at all. It lost its realism. 2 people in private make love and the girl bundles up to get a glass of wine? C’mon. Stupid.
Indeed, there are almost no likeable characters in the entirety of GoT. I almost always hate movies/shows where everybody is self centered and no one is likeable. It is a testament to the writing and production value that I love GoT despite this. It a very rare and unique thing.
I’m at the end of season four of Breaking Bad. It’s one of the best series I’ve ever watched. Before that it was Hell on Wheels and Outlander. Also watching The Chosen which is incredible.
to each his own, I suppose. but I was actually calling the boob shots to my wife by season 3. “Isn’t it about time to see Emilia Clarke’s books? it’s been a while.”
Bam. 20 minutes later; Emilia Clarke’s boobs.
My wife asked me how I could see it (them?) coming. “I’m male. We’re pre-wired for boobs”
All she would have to do is smile at me and I would sign up.
but after watching GoT, I was tired of seeing Emilia Clarke naked. I mean, she’s naked A LOT.
Emilia Clarke got tired of being naked on the show and banded with the other females of the show to show less. People tend to gloss over that little behind the scenes factoid. Her standing up to the GOT creators did change a lot of other productions as less nudity was seen in productions across movies. So I understand where you and others are coming from but after that happened there was a lot less nudity going forward in GOT.
As far as being naked a lot, after the second or third season or so, there isn’t much to see with her clothes off. People exaggerate the amount of nudity throughout the entire series in regards to Clarke.
Haven't seen either one of them yet. Never saw Mash. Never saw Seinfeld. Never saw Dallas. If there was a major show everybody loved odds are I didn't see it. The last American series we are finishing up on now is season 3 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, 2 episodes to go. We also have 1 more episode of Prime Suspect, which ran in 2006. That ends tonight.
no one is exaggerating anything. it would have extraordinarily difficult for her to have been more naked than she already was. there was only one way to go.
And some were wonderful in GOT......beautiful gals....and ok I confess that was my penis double they used on Reek....I know everyone suspected that.....and Ramsay didn't cut it off really...it's movies ....u know
I particularly liked the babe Joffrey impaled with his fancy cross bow
I'd drink her bath water...scrumptious her....Ros
You’ll get no static from me. People have different views on any given character from the series, and they see some aspect they might not favor. I was disappointed that she became the new boss, same as the old boss. She could have ruled as the good witch, instead of the wicked witch. My view is that the the writers failed us all.
We are the same way. I am aware of the shows but dont watch them. We did watch Prime Suspect back in the day though. But we like British tv much better than most of what Hollywood puts out.
When one of our kids was in college, there was a discussion of shows that they watched when they were younger. Our daughter indicated she knew of the shows but didnt watch them. She was asked what she did instead of watch tv. She replied, “ she was living life.”
Another FReeper mentioned "Better Call Saul". I will act on that recommendation this Autumn when the weather forces me inside during the evenings once again.
My wife is British so we watch a lot of UK shows, everything from Emmerdale to Strictly Come Dancing to Vera. We have run through every major detective show. Prime Suspect was just one of many in our rotation.
Broadchurch was quite good. David Tenant
And Olivia Coleman. She went on to win an Academy Award while Tenant did some real stinkers. Deadwater Fell and Des come to mind. We’ve run through all of the Inspector Morse and spinoffs, The Bay, Foyle’s War, Inspector Lynley, The Mrs. Bradley Mysteries, Agatha Raisin, Death in Paradise, Murder on the Blackpool Express, Blue Murder and a lot more. I am always looking to feed the Beast because the Beast is always hungry :-) We watch a different mystery every night.
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