Can't quite believe that 50% of you feel that either Jon or Arya will be the ASOIAF ultimate survivor! Knowing George, I doubt that will be the case. Time will tell. . .
Okay, so on to the next survey! Now that we have seen 5 episodes of HBO's Game of Thrones, what do you think of the TV series?
Personally, I feel that so far it has surpassed the high expectations I had for the show. Can't wait for next Sunday! ;-)
What about you???
35 commentaires:
I'm loving the show so far. If I had to pick a nit I'd say it feels rather rushed with so much being skipped over but that's to be expected. I'm watching with my wife, who has not read the books, so we do a lot of pausing for explanation. Adds about 15 minutes to each episode but we're still enjoying.
As a fan of the books I love it, but I'm concerned about how compelling it is for those who have not read them. It doesn't seem like there is a gripping story in each episode to bring in fans from across genres and keep them. The great ones like Sopranos, Battlestar, Tudors and Rome all had basically understandable plots in each episode that were a part of the bigger picture. Ordinary fans could get a quick fix yet still be intrigued about the whole story. My wife, who did not read the books, stopped watching after ep4.
I think this weeks episode (#5) was the first time the series gave me the same level of awe/fear/wonder/excitement as the books. Hopefully we can keep that going.
In all honesty, if you had asked this question before I saw episode 5, I would have said "I love it." But episode 5 was absolutely terrible, which knocks the rest of the episodes (of varying degrees of good and great) down a notch. I was not happy with ep. 5. Total train wreck.
Just going back to the previous poll: I really think you have a skewed perception of Martin. He's not this murderous bastard who loves to kill main characters. Writing the Red Wedding was brutal for him, right? And he's gone on record as saying that he doesn't like to kill main characters--readers just mistake who the main characters are.
Any main characters who have been killed are, in retrospect, quit clearly not "main" characters. They had a role to play in the plot and they played it.
Not saying that some of the main characters won't die, but why you're expecting practically everyone to end up deceased is beyond me.
Great beyond belief. I never would have imagined it could be this good. One of the best adaption’s of a book ever done.
Following up my last comment, I would bet pretty much any amount of money that Arya will not die.
Personally I think people are overlooking Bran. He must play a huge role in the ending.
I am happy with the show. It could be much worse. It could be better but only on a huge budget and someone like Peter Jackson directing. Some characters are spot on, and some are good enough. Theon is the worst for me.
Loving it. Superb casting, great pacing, high production values. ALmost everything that's been added or removed or tweaked has seemed necessary and well-done, with the glaring but still minor exception of Viserys' bathtub scene.
::throws up in mouth a little at that::
But the stuff that's annoyed other fnaboys (Littleifnger explaining the Cleganes to Sansa, Renly explaining the line of succession during gay sex, etc.) all worked.
My one beef is the Dothraki - A) They're basically pseudo-Mongols in the books, while here they look like miscellaneous extras from the Matrix II rave. B)They don't give the impression of an endless horde.
But again, this is a minor beef. I'm just loving the hell out of this - and I suspect it's only going to get better as we get more focused on Tyrion, Jon, and Arya.
My only complaint is with the actress who plays Cersei. Her portrayal seems to be a soft-spoken, broken woman who you almost feel sorry for which is definitely NOT the way she is written in the books.
Otherwise loving the show.
I'm enjoying the series with the exception of the "That's not how I imagined it in the book" moments that always creep up in book adaptations. Most of these I can shrug aside, but I cannot stand what they've done to Cersei. In the book she is all fire and brimstone--pure petulance. In the series they've made her too cold, too calm and collected, IMO.
It pretty much sucks if you compare it to the books. The major problem is it doesn't focus on the POV characters. It has scenes with everybody. It adds dumb scenes that never occured. The only scene better than the book is Ned and Jamie's fight. Well done. Everything else is a joke. Cersei and Robert would NEVER EVER have the conversation they had in episode 5. We don't care that Littlefinger and Varys are verbally dueling, nothing comes of it so why do we care? They should rename the show: Soprano's Middle Earth as the Producers advised.
Sean
@ S.M.D.
How was episode 5 a train wreck?
love it. love it. LOVE IT! I think I have a whole lot more respect for HBO now. sure there are some flaws here and there but they're so slight that you don't even notice them because of everything else that's great.
now this show needs only one more thing to make ita mastertpiece...HODOR!!!
I love it. You can see where Benioff and his crew are slowly creating their own show with it. Like the Renly/Loras scene for exemple. The casting and production are superb, especially the kids, but now the whole things starts to gel, kinda like The Wire. Not saying this will be better than The Wire, but so far it's building up.
@SMD
Trainwreck? This was the best episode so far. It keeps growing and growing. The Cercei/Robert scene is so far the best one in 5 episodes. The few moments exposing the Cleganes spoke miles without spoke exposition like in episode 4 (not bashing this exposition, as it's organically well meshed into the storyline now)
@anrake
A lot of my friends haven't read the book, but are raving about it now. Especially since the 4th episode.
Having only watched the first 2 episodes, it struck me as feeling slightly "cheap". I wanted that feeling of authenticity and epic grandeur that I got from the Lord of the Rings. Obviously there's a huge disparity in budgets but it also comes from an indefinable vibe that has nothing to do with how much money they spent on the sets.
Also, the casting choices seem a bit uneven. Sean Bean is amazing and perfect but then Khal Drogo as this gym-buff Fabio in eyeliner? Hasn't he spent his whole life riding in the desert sun and fighting? It's more likely that he would look like a young Danny Trejo than some guy who looks like he should be a trainer in a Hollywood gym.
I'm an episode behind, but so far I'm LOVING it. I've not read any of GRRM's work, which I think is a bonus since I've got no expectations going into it. But I think the show is amazing.
I think the show is great. Drogo didn't impress me at the beginning and I am looking forward to episode 6 - maybe we will see what he is made of then. Dany also seemed rather soft at the start, but I am really warming to her as she has shown the biggest character development of them all. There is one concern though I have: the fact that each book is told in 10 episodes. This is not enough to do the SOIF series justice. Perhaps the normal 20-23 episodes would? I presume the costs of producing an episode are exhorbitant(though surely not more expensive that Rome). However, this could be a cash-cow for HBO if the executives play their cards right. I do hope that the ratings remain high. That is what season 3, etc. depend on. Go George - it's looking good!!
It's been good but I expected better than good. My GF (who'd never read the books) gave up after one episode.
She should have hung on because things have cleared up, but I can't imagine anyone who hasn't read the book picking up on all or even most of what's going on in episode one.
While I for the most part liked the Robert-Cersei scene in V, I agree with those who feel Cersei is too calm and collected. And I don't see why the miscarried child was added in.
Issues with the Renly-Loras scene as well. I understand that Renly's gay, but I ALSO understand that in the books at least he's not a simpering weakling fop.
On the other hand, Dinklage as Tyrion has ruled. And there are times when Coster-Waldau (sp?) gives me a glimpse of the awesomeness of Jaime.
I keep waiting for Arya to totally kick ass like in the books, but that hasn't happened yet.
Here we go: Rome cost HBO 80 million, while GOT cost 60 million per season...
Just want to point out that most of the people who have become fans of the Game of Thrones Facebook page seem to be newbies. And they're loving the show, even though they have questions about each episode.
While there's a lot of mystery and the plot is far from linear, so far at least, I don't feel that the TV series is offputting for viewers unfamiliar with the books. Indeed, more and more viewers become fans of the show with each new episode, if the Facebook stats are anything to go by.
Game of Thrones, whether in book or TV format, may not be for everyone. But the ratings demonstrate that a good chunk of viewers are really into it.
I've not read the books and absolutely love the tv series! I'm planning on reading the series soon. It does feel rushed a little.
I'm really enjoying it. I've read the books twice so, I don't really want to see the show just transcribe the books. That would be really boring.
I do like what they've done with the scenes they've added - the Renly-Loras angle works pretty well, the Cersei/Robert scene added an interesting dimension to Robert and I can handle the new Cersei. Peter Dinklage is perfect.
The Dothraki are the one weak point, although my wife likes Khal Drogo for his body.
By the way, I agree with the earlier comment about GRRM not killing off characters right and left. He has really only done it when it made sense and advanced the plot, never gratuitously. I don't expect a complete blood-bath at the end, either. One or two POV characters, will probably get axed (figuratively), not the whole lot.
It's solid, it's watchable, but it's not great genre changing or defining TV. As a fan of the books I have to tone my expectations down and remind myself that this is largely what was written, but scaled down...a lot. I disagree with some of the casting choices, but we all have our own ideas on that. I am disappointed by their visualisation of Kings Landing and how sparse some of the crowd scenes are. Even though I knew the Tourney of the Hand wouldn't be as grand as what was described in the books I didn't expect it to be that poor. I'd love to hear an honest opionion from someone who has never read or has no intention of reading the books, though.
Love it. I was very very wary about how it would be, fearing a Legend of the Seeker-esque vibe (though I detested the source material of _that_ TV travesty as ell), but no they've made it awesome.
There will always be moments where you think "but what about this scene?! Why did they add that scene?!" but after the Robert & Cersei scene from ep 5, I have a lot of faith that the showrunners know the difference between being a slave to the source material and realising that adjustments need to be made for a different medium.
I haven't enjoyed every single moment, but 90% is easily up there with what I would call a classic in the making.
I understand the views of people that will always diss it because it ain't the books, but you need to take it at face value - the source material is brilliant, but we can't expect the solo, very intimate experience of reading a novel to be perfectly realised as we imagined on the small, or even big, screen.
In a word, triumphant.
Dinklage is good but I'm annoyed by his weak brittish accent. Overall I think the show is a pretty faithful rendition of the books which I'm not a huge fan of because of lack of likable characters.
I like the show, but the thing is it's too epic and overpowers the whole series.
Episode 5 was a bit of a leap in quality - although i understand they had to put in the groundwork first. Hopefully the show will be firing on all cylinders now until the season finale.
As a fan of the books I'm happy, especially with the added scenes. I'm still interested to see how TV only viewers are handling it - if they've stuck with it so far I suspect they are in for the long hall.
I'd give it a solid for now but think it'll be excellent by the end.
I can't believe how much of a crazed groupie I have become over this show! Not only am I watching the show, I'm reading the book at the same time! And not only must I be this crazed, I have drawn three more people (including my husband) into the Game of Thrones madness!! LOL. I'm LOVING this show!!
I'm halfway through GOT, but so far the show is enjoyable. I'm finding the pacing of the episodes disjointed however since the transitions between scenes are making it difficult to discern the timing of events. Varys seemed to be all over the place in the last ep.
Chris
I love the series, and I am also a devoted follower of the books. Some of the changes seemed off to me at first, but they hold up upon reflection. For example, the whole tempest in a teapot about Cersei -- I think most of the people carping are thinking of the unhinged Book 4 Cersei (after several traumatic events in her life), rather than the cool, assured Cersei from Book 1. You only need to review her confrontation scene with Eddard in Book 1 to see the difference -- I think the portrayal is true to Book 1.
I think episode 5 was garbage. I mean The Theon scene was unnecessary, the Renly Loras scene was not only unnecessary, but not even in the book(their relationship was only implied in the book) And the kid sucking on Lysa's tit..Really. I know It's a gritty story, but HBO needs to better decide what needs or not to be shown on the show.
MUGger has a good point as to the difference between Cersei in Book 1 until Book 4.
Having recently re-read the books she seems to lose her bearings toward the end of book 2 and obviously goes down hill from there!
As someone that doesn't like the books, I guess the show for me was doomed from the start. It actually falls in the 'Meh' category, but I had to say 'Hate It' since you added the bit about Legend of the Seeker.
The only reason I tried to read the books was because of your obsession with them. The synopsis of the books did not appeal to me. Unfortunately while I tend to agree with most of your book reviews, this one I just don't see any appeal.
Now if they make a Malazon TV series, that is a different matter.
The series don't get me near as emotional as the books but still,
they're great.
I hope to see more of Snow's wolf though.
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