HBO adaptation of Game of Thrones - will this be just for nerds? (NO SPOILERS PLEASE)

I started re-reading this, and I have to say I am worried that the show will sort of overwrite my own visualization of the various locations, kind of like Lord of the Rings did, despite my best efforts to resist it. May skip the show.

LOTR overwrote the visualisations from the Bakshi film for me, so an improvement.

really dig the king's landing/winterfell contrast in those first two pictures. one of my favorite things in these books is (extremely minor spoiler) how homesick sansa gets for winterfell, and how defensive she is about the way it looks--low and grey and, um, stark, in a way she didn't know she loved when she was there, and didn't know was so much like her, cuz she thought she was all king's-landing-glam.

yeah my own visualization of winterfell wasn't quite as cloud-city-ish but i really love how it looks there anyway

i like how both castles have architectural styles that aren't just plucked straight from the medieval europe cliche of a castle

On first impressions, I don't thing it's stark enough? The interiors could win me over but in a general way, isn't constructing round buildings a lot more work and finesse-y than square ones? Doesn't seem in keeping, all the extra labor and attention just to result in some inconveniently round rooms.

I agree with that. I definitely didn't picture it to be some kind of architectural marvel. it's supposed to be ancient.

it's been awhile since i've read these i'm pretty sure bran the builder (i swear i had to look him up!) was famous for his building.

There's nothing particularly fancy about a rounded castle tower, and when they're built that way it's for a reason - they protect against siege weapons differently than a square building would. It's not exactly how I pictured Winterfell either, but it's a valid design decision that doesn't contradict anything we know about the Starks (and yeah, Brandon the Builder gets mentioned a lot... there's supposed to be a great architectural tradition in the North, eg. the Wall)

u r the biggest shithead

also can I just:

"NERRRRRRRD"

tbh this series is probably third only to LOTR and harry potter for fans geeking out over minute details

(eep shithead comment on wrong thread btw)

That's a relief!

lol lol

tamtam i find it ridiculous that you have read these for some reason

that is some ugly composited architecture, the wall one has two horizons ffs

My "nerd" comment 100% meant for tamtam...I kid bc I love

haha thom, as i was composing that post i imagined you coming along and registering disgust with me

First 15 mins
http://www.hbo.com/#/game-of-thrones/about/video/exclusive-preview.html/eNrjcmbO0CzLTEnNd8xLzKksyUx2zs8rSa0oUc-PSYEJBSSmp-ol5qYy5zMXsjGyMXIyMrJJJ5aW5BfkJFbalhSVpgIAXbkXOA==

that is some ugly composited architecture, the wall one has two horizons ffs

Okay, I keep looking but I'm not seeing these two horizons at all.

Already watched much of those 15 minutes through teasers, but still nice to see. Especially inside Winterfell. Was hoping to get the show's title sequence, though.

looked great...looking fwd to the start of this.

Productions values are satisfyingly high anyway

From the mid-season tv thread:

Not going to the Game of Thrones thread(s), but as someone who's never read the books, should I try to get in on the miniseries?

― Leeeter van den Hoogenband (Leee), Saturday, April 16, 2011 11:16 AM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

YES

― VegemiteGrrl, Saturday, April 16, 2011 11:19 AM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Not going to the Game of Thrones thread(s), but as someone who's never read the books, should I try to get in on the miniseries?

― Leeeter van den Hoogenband (Leee), Saturday, April 16, 2011 6:16 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

The thread for the series is spoiler-free I believe.

― Gukbe, Saturday, April 16, 2011 1:03 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i tried reading the book a couple years ago but i hated the writing and never got more than 40 pages in. that said, reviews for the show have been stellar so far and i'm really excited for it.

― Mordy, Saturday, April 16, 2011 1:12 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

stellar? NYT and slate both hated it

― ban drake (the rapper) (max), Saturday, April 16, 2011 1:26 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Both those reviewers seemed to have chips on their shoulders

― Number None, Saturday, April 16, 2011 1:31 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

and the Slate review is basically unreadable

― Number None, Saturday, April 16, 2011 1:33 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Yeah, I was reading something someplace that compared it favorably to a D&D The Wire (possibly on Wired.com?).

― Leeeter van den Hoogenband (Leee), Saturday, April 16, 2011 1:33 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

From the NYT review:

While I do not doubt that there are women in the world who read books like Mr. Martin’s, I can honestly say that I have never met a single woman who has stood up in indignation at her book club and refused to read the latest from Lorrie Moore unless everyone agreed to “The Hobbit” first.

In other words, I don't think Ginia Bellafante is predisposed to this sort of fare.

― reggaeton for the painfully alone (polyphonic), Saturday, April 16, 2011 1:36 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ilana-teitelbaum/game-of-thrones-hbo_b_850014.html

― reggaeton for the painfully alone (polyphonic), Saturday, April 16, 2011 1:41 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Heather Havrilesky from NYT doesn't dislike it but has some interesting thoughts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Riff-t.html

Sepinwall loved it, VanDerWerff really liked it, but they have the advantage of 6 episodes.

Oh, and should we throw down some ground rules if people are going to be discussing this week-by-week? i.e. if you've read the books don't discuss anything further than where we are, but discussion of any differences in the TV show and the books from what we've seen is fine.

obv i know but we don't want another Doctor Who thread on our hands.

and to breakdown VanDerWerff's thoughts from his podcasts:

He has larger issues with HBO moving away from episodic television, and those issues manifest themselves in GoT. He wasn't too enthused when he'd watch one episode, but when he'd watch two in a row he'd really be into it. Also aside from the nudity of one character, he finds a lot of it to be somewhat gratuitous.

Also, Myles McNutt has a series of posts in the lead-up:

A Televisual Love Letter

A Question of Taste

On Winter's Doorstep

and Zoller Seitz has weighed in on the reviews:

Slate, NYT to fantasy buffs: Grow Up

that seitz article is good

it's basically getting two kinds of reviews as far as i can tell - good ones, and fantasy-hating dismissive ones (i didn't think there'd be so many of these!)

Oh, and should we throw down some ground rules if people are going to be discussing this week-by-week? i.e. if you've read the books don't discuss anything further than where we are, but discussion of any differences in the TV show and the books from what we've seen is fine.

― Gukbe, Saturday, April 16, 2011 4:51 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

this seems sufficient to me

Sepinwall loved it, VanDerWerff really liked it, but they have the advantage of 6 episodes.

― Gukbe, Saturday, April 16, 2011 4:49 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

i think almost every reviewer is working w/the first 6 eps btw

Fantasy-hating dismissive reviews make me want to take up my sword >:(
jerks

Yeah, Gukbe's ground rules sound good to me too.

Alan Sepinwall gave it a great review: http://hitfix.com/blogs/whats-alan-watching/posts/review-hbos-game-of-thrones-an-epic-mature-well-crafted-fantasy-series

JESUS, this is starting tonight! For some reason I thought it was next fall.

so excited!

WOOHOOO

HBO doesn't do itunes season passes do they? may have to break my moratorium on bittorrent to watch these without waiting months

yayayayayayaay

I got an invitation from someone who has HBO!!!!!! Pretty excited over here.

No HBO. Gonna try to stream or download it.

lets do this

Started watching but the stream was shut down. So how was it?!

It was good. The story doesn't really start moving along until farther along in the story. This was more just of an introduction. What makes it so good is the characters and what happens to them.

so that was the queen and her brother at the end there?

Yeah. "the things I do for love"

Production was second to none. Great look and sound to this. Having read the book I was also pleased with the storytelling. The one gripe I have is at the end of the episode, which diverges from the book as I remember it. But a minor point.

The sets look great, as was the dialogue. And I had planned on expecting them to change some things in the story line. There is a lot to the story.

The one gripe I have is at the end of the episode, which diverges from the book as I remember it. But a minor point.

― calstars, Sunday, April 17, 2011 10:25 PM (39 minutes ago) Bookmark

Yeah, that was the only change I didn't care for. Otherwise, pretty good.

AV Club review claims this is the weakest of the first six eps.