TV: Game of Thrones

[Animeniax]

One Asian stereotype I wish my parents had forced me to fulfill is playing the violin. That was beautiful.

[rockmanj]

The Cold Wilds are Rising trailer is being voiced over by the actor of Stannis I'm guessing and I can't help but say I pictured his voice a lot differently. I pictured a bit of a huskier and softer voice.

I would have thought it would be much harsher and dare I say "stark". I kind of like the direction it went in though.

[Archangel]

I... came all over the fucking laptop.

[Assassin]

That intro has to be one of the best i've ever seen. They capture the atmosphere of that whole world so well with that music. It is nothing if not royally epic (and i mean that in a literal sense, not figuratively)

[animus]

I hear Clash of Kings is only gonna be one season of 10 episodes, right? If so, that would suck considering the first book just barely fit into those 10 episodes and Clash of Kings is much longer with way more characters to boot. I'd guess a lot of those characters will likely either be cut completely or combined with another.

[Animeniax]

I haven't seen the entire first season, but I've heard it's very close to the book. I imagine they'll stick with that instead of cutting out stuff and ruining what is considered a masterpiece with the first season. At least that's my hope.

[Y]

I haven't seen the entire first season, but I've heard it's very close to the book. I imagine they'll stick with that instead of cutting out stuff and ruining what is considered a masterpiece with the first season. At least that's my hope.

The first season did a compress and cut material, but a lot of it is just naturally smaller onscreen. There are quite a few chapters of characters just having internal monologues that, if reproduced onscreen, would literally turn 10 pages into a single shot of Tyrion looking morose or something. Some of the material from the start of Clash of Kings was moved to the final episodes of season 1 as well, to have plot threads end or begin in a more symmetrical way. However, I agree with animus that it's going to be difficult to fit Clash of Kings, much less the even longer and more overburdened Storm of Swords, into 10 episodes. SoS is already being split, or so I heard, so perhaps Clash will be edited so some of its material falls into the expanded Storm of Swords season.

[Archangel]

Thank fuck i never read the books and am able to enjoy the show at face value.

[Y]

Is that a troll post or something? I read all the books and the show was pretty much as fantastic an adaptation as possible, allowing for scenes that couldn't have occurred with a TV budget.

[Animeniax]

No, I think he's speaking the truth. I can never enjoy the LotR or Harry Potter movies as much because they will never stack up to the vision of the story that I got from reading the books, my imagination being superior to whatever Hollywood can produce. Even if they stayed true to the story and characters, it's the little intangibles that you flesh out the story in your own mind that film can never reproduce.

I think the only movie/tv adaptation I ever saw that was better than the book it was based on was Forrest Gump.

[Penner]

I'm with Arch on this, if you've read whatever series/book(s) a show or movie is based on you automatically compare it to what you imagined when you read it, unlike someone who hasn't read anything and instead gets to witness the awesome with virtually no preconceived vision of it.

And by far the biggest downside must be to already know everything thats going to happen during the entire show's lifespan... that would completely suck >_>

Thank fuck i never read the books indeed.

[rockmanj]

I'm with Arch on this, if you've read whatever series/book(s) a show or movie is based on you automatically compare it to what you imagined when you read it, unlike someone who hasn't read anything and instead gets to witness the awesome with virtually no preconceived vision of it.

And by far the biggest downside must be to already know everything thats going to happen during the entire show's lifespan... that would completely suck >_>

Thank fuck i never read the books indeed.

Really? I think reading the books gives you more of a perspective on things, plus, you know, reading is good for you. I always think it is interesting to see what someone else's vision is of a story that I have read. It usually is not the same, but I still enjoy it for the most part.

[Penner]

I guess if you've read the book a really long time ago and then now you finally get to see it "come to life" as a really awesome and well-made tvshow it might be pretty sweet :P

But personally i really wouldn't like to know whats coming up and not have any surprises or "oh shit!" moments ^^

[Y]

The Lord of the Rings movies absolutely, positively trounce Tolkien's work as entertainment. They are more tightly edited and the actors add warmth to Tolkien's unnaturally formal dialogue that just isn't present in a reading, no matter how vivid your imagination is. I think a lot of people give their personal vision of a work too much credit in that regard. I sure as hell didn't imagine half the gorgeous vistas in that film, nor plot out the battles half as meticulously as Jackson did, and I don't consider myself a disengaged reader.

I think the banal distaste towards adaptation mostly comes from viewing a work in a very shallow way - i.e. that the biggest thing you are getting out of it is the plot, as though reading the book were nothing more than a very detailed Wikipedia entry. The showrunners already took a few characters in interesting and new directions (a very mild spoiler follows) such as Cersei's talk to Robert about their marriage, which does more in the space of a few minutes to make Cersei into a human woman than all her chapters in the novels, where she comes off as an absolutely unhinged sociopathic monster.

[Archangel]

I love it when Y tries to rationalize someone else's personal enjoyment with his own standards.

I think a lot of people give their personal vision of a work too much credit in that regard.

All of my lol... I don't think anyone here categorized the book as a superior media to cinema, they just said they enjoyed it more. Unless we're presenting it as fact i don't know why you'd consider us overhyping our own opinions.

[Y]

I love it when Y tries to rationalize someone else's personal enjoyment with his own standards.


All of my lol... I don't think anyone here categorized the book as a superior media to cinema, they just said they enjoyed it more. Unless we're presenting it as fact i don't know why you'd consider us overhyping our own opinions.

Consider it mainly a response to Penner's post then? He does indeed shit on the idea of reading a book before seeing the adaptation.

[Penner]

We're getting closer, so here's two new trailers:

[Assassin]

i saw the first one already, but the second one is new to me...and its the best one so far i think. Man, less then a month left now i cant wait!!!

The only bad part is having to wait a week for each episode. I wonder if i'll have the will power and patience to just wait it out and marathon the whole second season like i did the first. And 10 eps is far too small...i hope S2 is more then 10.

Edit: So i was just watching some interviews and stuff and it seems that season 2 will differ from the books....whether slightly or significantly no one seems to know. I imagine they can't stray too far from the basic story line. At most perhaps they'll cut out certain parts or certain characters to fit the TV format. I do hope they stick as close to the original as possible though, its been bloody intriguing so far.

[oyabun]

Anyone here played the THe game of Thrones 2nd Edition Boardgame? Me and my friends received it a few weeks ago and it goes well with 2nd Season coming out soon. The game rocks, backstabbing, plotting and ofcourse making war across Westeros. The only problem we have is that we can't find more players to play 4-6 players type of game. The setting changes when you have more players but the 3 player setup is still kewl.

PS: The trailer is pure win. I read the books and I'm so excited for Season 2.

[Penner]

The trailers just keep on coming :P