Friday, April 22, 2011

TV series review: Game of Thrones (HBO) Episode 1

The most highly anticipated TV series of 2011 finally debuted last weekend. HBO's fantasy TV series, "Game of Thrones" was aired on the 17th April.

Based on George R.R. Martin's first book of "A song of fire and ice", "Game of thrones" is set in the fantasy world of the 7 kingdoms of Westeros. Where summer can last a few decades and winter can last a life time.


The making of "Game of thrones" is an ambitious project, and the TV series itself is often referred to as "The Sopranos" in "Middle Earth", with HBO throwing in big budgets for season 1 (50~60 million USD). The series has a strong cast, the lead actor is Sean Bean, who is well known for his portrayal as Boromir in "Fellowship of the Ring".

The story evolves around the dynastic struggles amongst the 7 nobles families of Westeros to gain control over the Iron throne, this grand tale is filled with treacheries, twists and betrayals. In episode 1, some of the main characters are well introduced, setting up for the premises of the story.

After watching episode 1, I am really impressed by a few things:

1) The visuals of this TV series are absolutely stunning.
















2) The story is compelling, complex and full of intrigues

3) Sean Bean really brought the main protagonaist "Eddard Stark" to live.

4) The supporting actors/actress all did great jobs















5) The production value and the direction of this TV series is probably the best I've seen before in any TV series.

6) The story is very faithful to the original novels of George R.R. Martin's "A song of fire and ice".

However, I also have to warn the would-be viewers that, Game of Thrones contains very heavy contents. Therefore, the violence is pretty heavy, and there are a lot of sex scenes (not very explicit but very suggestive). Therefore, if you want to watch this TV series, you have been warned of its heavy content.

Personally, I can't wait to see episode 2 this weekend.

Rating: 8.5/10

6 comments:

  1. watched a bit of the first episode and the nudity was hectic. Any comment on the rest of the series with regards to nudity?

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  2. Hi John, I haven't watched the rest of the series... but I believe that there are alot of nudity scenes throughout and didn't decrease as I thought it would so I stopped after episode 4, because eventhough the quality of the tv series is good, but I just thought it wasn't a good idea for me to keep on watching shows with a lot of nudity scenes..

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  3. I watched the entire season. It is absolutely fantastic. It inspired me to read the books which just blow you away. In regards to nudity or sex, it does have a role in virtually every episode, whether it is seen or talked about. If you jump over those scenes you can still enjoy it no problem, but sometimes there are some important plot devices or facts that are brought up during them.
    Overall, the show is beyond anything i have ever scene. It is an astounding story and if you can watch it I really think you have to set apart some time to do it. If you don't want to see it, read the books. The first season was almost verbatim the book.

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  4. I was interested in what "Christian movie reviews" had to say about this show, due to the extreme sexual content. I'm sad to hear you recommend this show Daniel. We live in a world engrossed in sin and sexual immorality. I've fallen far too many times into this snare my self, and it's almost impossible for me to fight it if I "skip over parts", because my flesh is just too weak to do that.

    Now, I haven't followed this blog enough to know if you recant your high recommendation of this show. But I would like to serve a warning that this show is filthy with nudity and sex. It should be avoided at all costs if you want to try to stay as pure as possible.

    “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." -Matthew 5:8

    Good luck saints, the Christian faith is a battlefield for your soul.

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  5. Trey, the Bible also has very strong sexual contents (especially songs of Solomon to his wife). From your point of view, I wonder if we should ban the Old Testament because it might arouse sexual feelings for those who are weak in the flesh?

    If you struggle with this kind of stuff, then by all means avoid it, but no offense, please remember not everyone struggle with the same problem as you.

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  6. A super fun game to play. This game is absolute worth your time. The story is interesting, and the game is overall very well developed. All from music to shooting works perfectly, and the setting and graphics are wonderful. This game is absolute worth playing if you enjoy this game series.
    See more review: Jurassic World Evolution
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