Derek Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 16 hours ago, johnny said: i’m in couldn’t care less about him finishing the books. it’s dudes own fault. i’m not reading those long ass descriptive things anyway. if you love them i’m not hating on you, but that shit ain’t for me. thought game of thrones was still fine when they outran the books until they decided to completely rush everything because the showrunners wanted to move on. Lol. I made it through the first 2. In my own mind, I remember reading through 10 pages, describing curtains in some palace. I know that's not really the case, though. They're well-written. I just don't have the attention span anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwinIon Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 The new trailer sets up the initial stakes pretty well. Seems like a solid premise backed by an obvious budget. I'm actually a bit hopeful about this. I don't expect it to be on par with the best of GoT, but it could be a solid series worth the time. I did not realize at all that we'll be getting episodes of this and Rings of Power airing at the same time. It'll be an interesting comparison of two series that I'm rooting for, but both feel like high stakes gambles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 16 minutes ago, TwinIon said: I did not realize at all that we'll be getting episodes of this and Rings of Power airing at the same time. It'll be an interesting comparison of two series that I'm rooting for, but both feel like high stakes gambles. Probably far moreso for HBO as its viewer performance could very well determine the new entity's willingness to fund projects with higher budgets. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneticBlueprint Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 16 hours ago, TheLeon said: This is dumb, but I’m going to have a hard time taking this show seriously when like 90% of the main cast has that ridiculous white hair, especially The Doctor. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwinIon Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 14 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said: Probably far moreso for HBO as its viewer performance could very well determine the new entity's willingness to fund projects with higher budgets. Very true. With Amazon it's hard to say how they'll evaluate anything. I can imagine a scenario where the viewership is relatively low, but it drives enough new prime subs that they consider it a success. On the other hand, HBO started HotD with some resources already in place from GoT. It still looks expensive, but it helps to have already done a version of this show for the last decade and have a fan base built off of that. Amazon sunk a huge chunk of change into a property that could well not translate it's theatrical success from nearly two decades ago into success on TV. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 Amazon also continues to have the blackest of black boxes for metrics. Prime Video seems to be just another thing to keep people in the Amazon sphere, not necessarily Prime Video in particular. Hard to compare that with HBO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercury33 Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 3 hours ago, TwinIon said: Very true. With Amazon it's hard to say how they'll evaluate anything. I can imagine a scenario where the viewership is relatively low, but it drives enough new prime subs that they consider it a success. On the other hand, HBO started HotD with some resources already in place from GoT. It still looks expensive, but it helps to have already done a version of this show for the last decade and have a fan base built off of that. Amazon sunk a huge chunk of change into a property that could well not translate it's theatrical success from nearly two decades ago into success on TV. As long as it’s good it’ll have massive viewership. Wheel of Time wasn’t great and still did well. Witcher is one of Netflix’s biggest shows. And this is the most famous Fantasy IP there is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heydude93 Posted August 19, 2022 Share Posted August 19, 2022 House of the Dragon is a grim remix of an already gruesome song you’ve heard before WWW.THEVERGE.COM HBO’s new Game of Thrones prequel is full of dragons, but empty on magic What You Need to Know Before Seeing ‘House of the Dragon’ WWW.THERINGER.COM Twenty questions (and spoiler-free answers) to prepare you for the premiere of HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’ prequel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted August 19, 2022 Share Posted August 19, 2022 Reviews incoming: ‘House of the Dragon’ Review: Domesticating ‘Game of Thrones’ - The New York Times WWW.NYTIMES.COM HBO’s long-awaited prequel series has the swords and the dragon flame, the Hand and the Iron Throne. But something’s missing. Quote As an exploration of the social contract in a decadent monarchy and an allegory for a grab bag of modern ills, including patriarchal sexism and the corrosive effect of weapons of mass destruction, "House of the Dragon" is reasonably smart and well put together. That seriousness of purpose doesn't translate into engaging drama, however. There's a lot of sitting around tables and talking. ‘House of the Dragon’ Review: HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’ Prequel Delivers Dragons Aplenty but Overloads on Targaryens in Bad Wigs WWW.HOLLYWOODREPORTER.COM HBO's first 'Game of Thrones' spinoff/prequel goes back nearly 200 years before the original series to focus on a power struggle in the dragon-loving Targaryen family. Quote It's disconcerting to see House of the Dragonbecoming less distinctive and more beholden to Game of Thrones as it goes along, when it ought to be the opposite. There's a lot that's impressive in the first six episodes, but it's as safe as a show with incest, gore and horrifying depictions of childbirth could possibly be. It needs to find its own voice, though if that voice remains this Targaryen-y, winter may be coming for my once burning curiosity. Well, Well, Well: Turns Out ‘House of the Dragon’ Is Pretty Dang Good WWW.THERINGER.COM The highly anticipated ‘Game of Thrones’ prequel is not without its flaws, but after screening the first six episodes, it feels safe to say viewers can get excited Quote Some repetition is intentional. Martin and Condal are making a point about the cyclical nature of history by populating the cast with familiar archetypes. A weak king named Viserys threatens to throw his realm into chaos. A sweet-natured young woman learns the hard way to toughen up. A man with a physical disability uses his brains to get ahead. The same themes that run through House of the Dragon—that desire and duty are a deadly mix; that intentions mean nothing without the power to back them up—run through all of Martin’s work. House of the Dragon has many virtues, but novelty can’t be one of them. If Game of Thrones broke the wheel, House of the Dragon keeps the car running. ‘House of the Dragon’ is ‘Game of Thrones’ with more wigs, less grandeur - The Washington Post WWW.WASHINGTONPOST.COM Matt Smith and Olivia Cooke headline HBO’s prequel series, "House of the Dragon," set 200 years before "Game of Thrones." Quote For better and for worse, “Game of Thrones” made it increasingly difficult to shock us with its gore, cruelty, gratuitous sexual displays and twists of fate. The scenes where “House of the Dragon” strives to outdo its predecessor in those regards seldom succeed; it’s where the prequel feels most like a cheap knockoff. The most thrilling or unsettling surprises of the original show were rooted in character, and so it is with the new series. It’s too bad “House of the Dragon” takes such a long time to define and shade the Targaryens and those in their orbit. But once it’s done, their viciousness gleams all the more against the darkness. ‘House of the Dragon’ Is ‘Game of Thrones’ Minus the Fire WWW.ROLLINGSTONE.COM The 'Thrones' prequel supplies all the palace intrigue of its parent series, with none of the wit or energy. Alan Sepinwall's review Quote Inevitability doesn’t have to be a problem, nor people clashing over tangential matters. This week saw the end of Better Call Saul, a prequel that attempted to answer questions that most Breaking Bad viewers had never cared to ask, but that did so in such smart and exciting fashion that the audience’s foreknowledge turned into a feature rather than a bug. And some of the best GoT arcs involved characters like Cersei getting caught up in petty squabbles while a zombie army was on its way to wipe out all involved parties. Those shows, though, hummed with the spark of life that House of the Dragon rarely manages to generate. For any diehards who care most about Westeros itself and its history, that may not matter. But no matter how many CGI dragons it has to offer, the new series will not rekindle the fire in the hearts of viewers who loved Game of Thrones at one point not for the world, but for the people in it. ‘House of the Dragon’ Review: HBO’s Devout ‘Game of Thrones’ Prequel Rarely Roars to Life WWW.INDIEWIRE.COM HBO's latest drama stars Matt Smith, Paddy Considine, and more in the "Game of Thrones" prequel series. TV Review. Quote Yet what an audience wants and what an audience thinks it wants are often two separate things. If the prequel series satisfies the franchise’s loyal, expansive fanbase, well, it’s built to do just that. If it doesn’t, there will undoubtedly be further attempts. Perhaps enough distinctive creativity will emerge in later episodes to let this “House” stand on its own, or perhaps such bravery can only be found as a last resort. Time will tell, but courage is always needed. Otherwise, all there is to do is sit and stare, as the day turns ugly, yet again. HBO's first 'Game of Thrones' spinoff recaptures the power, grandeur of the original WWW.LATIMES.COM “House of the Dragon” will delight fans with a new, engrossing chapter in the saga — one that matches and at times improves on its predecessor. Quote While honoring the legacy and look of the original series, the spinoff wisely adopts subtle changes in tone and approach while introducing a fresh world of characters and storylines. ... The exchange between mother and daughter, and the artful contrast of dueling knights and dutiful midwives, are powerful enough on their own to render the first episode a smashing success and show that "House of the Dragon" has a depth of understanding of its female characters that "GoT" took years to find. But it doesn't stop there. ... Engrossing. ‘House of the Dragon’: HBO’s entertaining prequel has all the gore, gravity and gut-punch power of ‘Game of Thrones’ CHICAGO.SUNTIMES.COM The location shots are beautiful and lush, and the strong cast includes familiar veterans along with some greatly talented relative newcomers. Quote With quality direction and cinematography, strong writing that combines political intrigue, family melodramatics and some impressively nasty twists and turns, and powerful performances from a cast that includes a number of familiar and well-decorated and mostly British veterans along with some greatly talented relative newcomers, "House of the Dragon" has the gravitas and visceral gut-punch effectiveness of a series that could be with us for a very long time. House of the Dragon is bigger, bolder and bloodier than Game of Thrones – review WWW.INDEPENDENT.CO.UK The prequel series swoops onto our screens with beating wings, urban panoramas and, quite literally, fire and blood Quote The highest compliment I can pay House of the Dragon is to observe how much it feels like Game of Thrones. I remember eagerly awaiting the first Hobbit movie in 2012, nine years after the end of Lord of the Rings, only to find a dizzying film stripped of all the earthy charm of its forebear. House of the Dragon looks and feels like Game of Thrones. At times, that veers perhaps a little too close to pastiche: “I’d rather serve as a knight,” Rhaenyra tells her mother when the subject of marriage is broached, and it’s clear she’s come out of a focus group looking to serve fans of both Daenerys and Arya. But the dynamics of court, and the characters within it, are well drawn. Smith, in particular, gives a satisfyingly ambivalent performance as a slightly creepy uncle with a tremendous bloodlust. But, in the world of Game of Thrones, you never know who’s going to end up as hero or villain. Game of Thrones was not a phenomenon after one episode. Indeed, its first episode is rather po-faced, right up until the moment Bran Stark is pushed out of a window. It remains to be seen whether House of the Dragon can utilise those same, almost serpentine, twists and turns, and become a show that’s discussed in fevered terms at whatever the Work From Home equivalent of a water cooler is. This first episode, then, is a taste of things to come. “These knights are as green as summer grass,” Eve Best’s Princess Rhaenys observes, “none of them have seen real war.” The same, I suspect, is true of the audience. Real Westerosi war, with all its shadowy deals and tenuous pacts, back-stabbings and head-choppings, is on its way. House of the Dragon Arrives with Fire and Blood—and a Wisely Limited Scope WWW.PASTEMAGAZINE.COM The Game of Thrones spinoff finds a compelling story in its own right. Quote The Targaryens owe their power, in the end, to dragons, and though the principal players during the reign of Viserys I can’t see into the future, they already have a sense that when the dragons are gone, so are they; Robert Baratheon and Eddard Stark are still a century away, but the ghost of their inevitability haunts the royal house. And if you’ll pardon the metaphor, there’s a meta-parallel with the show itself and its creators. Their “dragon” is the human drama and power struggle at the heart of this era in Westerosi history, expertly crafted by Martin. It’s their critical weapon, their nuclear bomb, and it seems to me that they learned and internalized the lesson of their predecessor, which is that when you play fast and loose with the story, you risk a major and irreversible collapse. That day may come for them, too, when the pressures of extending the show and inventing new twists and turns begins to weigh them down. For now, though, I’m happy to report that they know their dragon, they’ve harnessed its power, and in Season 1, they’re pouring on the fire. House of the Dragon, review: all the potent ingredients of Game of Thrones – but without the humour WWW.TELEGRAPH.CO.UK HBO’s beautifully shot, big-budget prequel drops us right back into the sex, politics and extreme violence of Westeros Quote Some of the others, however, seem a touch functional. The biggest lack is a character to match Tyrion Lannister, Game of Thrones’s midget Machiavelli. Drawlingly witty, devilishly ingenious, perpetually getting himself into trouble and then somehow getting himself out of it: no one on House of the Dragon possesses his wicked charisma. In fact, there’s no one really funny in it at all. No one to give the dialogue a dash of playful zip and zing, like Tyrion, or the blokily blunt Bronn, or Lady Olenna Tyrell (the Westeros equivalent of a Wodehousian aunt). I don’t mean to suggest that House of the Dragon is a letdown. It’s not. It’s well made. It’s brilliantly shot. It seethes with tension. And I’m dying to know what happens next, particularly after the shocking end to episode six. It’s just that Game of Thrones – well, the first seven-eighths of Game of Thrones – set a dauntingly high bar. Perhaps, later in the series, this new show will manage to clear it. To begin with, though, I’d say it’s got more dragons – but not quite as much magic. House of the Dragon first look review – this epic Game of Thrones prequel is a roaring success | Television | The Guardian WWW.THEGUARDIAN.COM The long-awaited follow-up to the fantasy drama is here – and it’s every bit as great as its predecessor in its heyday. It’s fun, fantastic-looking and seems set to get us hooked all over again Quote In short, all is as it was in GoT’s heyday. Fun, propulsive, looking great and sounding passable. And that, after the bizarrely poor finale to what had been a roaring success of a show, is a relief. There are also signs that in the remaining eight episodes there will be much more of the magnificent Eve Best as Viserys’s cousin Rhaenys, known since her thwarted ascension to the Iron Throne as the Queen Who Never Was and I suspect to the writers as And One Who Might Be After All. Overall, a good time is coming. The Game of Thrones Prequel Suggests HBO Didn’t Learn a Thing From How It Ended SLATE.COM If you thought the original got too grim and misogynistic, wait till you see House of the Dragon. Quote In other words, House of the Dragon’s response to the backlash that greeted Game of Thrones’ final seasons seems to have been, somewhat inexplicably, to double down. Some of that negative response might have been from people who enjoyed the show without really paying attention to what they were watching—if you named your daughter Daenerys, that’s on you. But at least some of it had to with a turn towards grim determinism, with the characters behaving in atrocious ways mainly because the plot required them to. Martin’s readers will know much of what happens next in House of the Dragon, a lengthy war of succession chronicled in his book Fire & Blood, and—spoiler alert—very little of it is pleasant. So instead of starting with noble characters whose intentions are slowly bent towards the unspeakable, the new series begins with them terrible, and evidently expects people to stick around to find out just how much. It’s been 11 years since Game of Thrones’ premiere, and 26 since George R.R. Martin’s original novel was published. And while House of the Dragon is set in the past, the show exists in the present, in a world where simply appearing on HBO at 9 p.m. on Sunday nights isn’t enough to command an audience’s attention. If all you want is more Game of Thrones, then House of the Dragon might well be the Show That Was Promised. But if you’re looking for a show that is to the current TV landscape what Game of Thrones was then, well, there’s a long winter ahead. My casual observation is that UK-based reviewers are generally more positive towards the show than US-based ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 19, 2022 Share Posted August 19, 2022 Mixed, but generally more positive than negative. Is this going to be on Max despite the bloodletting happening now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted August 19, 2022 Share Posted August 19, 2022 1 minute ago, sblfilms said: Mixed, but generally more positive than negative. Is this going to be on Max despite the bloodletting happening now? Yes, it will be on Max day and date with its debut on "linear" HBO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greatoneshere Posted August 19, 2022 Share Posted August 19, 2022 I'll wait for the full season to drop before I bother. I still struggle to care on this one. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Massdriver Posted August 19, 2022 Share Posted August 19, 2022 2 hours ago, Greatoneshere said: I'll wait for the full season to drop before I bother. I still struggle to care on this one. I’m struggling too. Mixed reviews don’t help. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoberChef Posted August 20, 2022 Share Posted August 20, 2022 I'll be going in Sunday night with an objective outlook. I'll stick through the first season regardless (I need a new drama now that BCS has finished so I'm desperate!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skillzdadirecta Posted August 20, 2022 Share Posted August 20, 2022 I've heard bad things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercury33 Posted August 20, 2022 Share Posted August 20, 2022 If 12 year old me heard that I was even considering not watching a high budget, prestigious, high fantasy tv show. He’d slap the shit outta me. Watching all of it, don’t care. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny Posted August 20, 2022 Share Posted August 20, 2022 i’m actually fine with mixed reviews. with these huge IPs i feel like reviews can kinda sway to be more positive than they should actually be. sure this might not be good, but maybe it will be and some of the negative reviews are negative because it’s not what they were really expecting or wanting. film criticism with these big pop culture things is not much of a thing. kinda how i felt with eternals. RT score was lower but i liked it more than a lot of the 80% plus marvel movies lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fizzzzle Posted August 20, 2022 Share Posted August 20, 2022 2 hours ago, Mercury33 said: If 12 year old me heard that I was even considering not watching a high budget, prestigious, high fantasy tv show. He’d slap the shit outta me. Watching all of it, don’t care. That's kind of how I feel about Rings of Power too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 20, 2022 Share Posted August 20, 2022 I find myself watching cheesy junk food like Moonhaven if I enjoy the premise enough. I can’t imagine whatever this show ends up being as legitimately bad, even if this first season doesn’t hit the high points of GOT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
69los Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 Oh fine. I've got something to do for the next 9 weeks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amazatron Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 I thought that was a tremendous pilot and a return to form to the highs of the original GoT. Matt Smith is awesome as Daemon. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 I thought it was a really solid kickoff. I like that they didn’t introduce a too overwhelming number of characters. Good set up for the rest of the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fizzzzle Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 I quite enjoyed that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Vic20 Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 I'm giving it a spin this evening. I read a clip from some review that summarized it as "Succession, but with helicopters traded in for dragons" I'll take that, at least for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwinIon Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 spoilers for episode 1 I quite enjoyed the premier. I was actually a bit surprised how quickly the episode set up the plot. I feel like if this was GoT, the queen wouldn't have died until episode 3, Rhaenyra wouldn't have been named successor until episode 5, and we'd have spent the rest of the time meeting different characters all over the place. I rather enjoyed the focus here. If they can keep the plot moving like this without devolving into the worst of the later seasons of GoT, this could be a very worthy spin-off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fizzzzle Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 5 hours ago, TwinIon said: spoilers for episode 1 I quite enjoyed the premier. I was actually a bit surprised how quickly the episode set up the plot. I feel like if this was GoT, the queen wouldn't have died until episode 3, Rhaenyra wouldn't have been named successor until episode 5, and we'd have spent the rest of the time meeting different characters all over the place. I rather enjoyed the focus here. If they can keep the plot moving like this without devolving into the worst of the later seasons of GoT, this could be a very worthy spin-off. Agreed. It makes sense for the narrative. I haven't read Fire & Blood, but I am pretty familiar with the Dance of the Dragons plotline, and I'm glad they didn't introduce a ton of characters that aren't really going to matter until a long way down the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 One of the clever things they did was introducing supporting characters only in relation to their connection to the leads. GOT spent a lot of time on supporting character development that was pretty disconnected from the leads and the A plot. Here we know about those characters enough to make sense of the narrative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 this was a solid premiere. i’m excited now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firewithin Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 Matt Smith was a very good asshole. Milly Alcock who plays Rhaenyra is......quite beautiful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 23 minutes ago, Firewithin said: Milly Alcock who plays Rhaenyra is......quite beautiful I assumed she was 15 and was about to call the @FBI, but she’s actually 22 so you’re all clear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneticBlueprint Posted August 23, 2022 Share Posted August 23, 2022 Enjoyed it! Curious how this show would seem to a newcomer for this universe. I felt like you needed to know GoT a little to understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greatoneshere Posted August 23, 2022 Share Posted August 23, 2022 You guys suck. Don't make me get hype for GoT content. I'm a book reader, it's been difficult for 20+ years! 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoberChef Posted August 23, 2022 Share Posted August 23, 2022 I was not underwhelmed, nor disappointed by the premiere. So far so good then! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
69los Posted August 23, 2022 Share Posted August 23, 2022 I guess people are still interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Massdriver Posted August 23, 2022 Share Posted August 23, 2022 1 hour ago, Greatoneshere said: You guys suck. Don't make me get hype for GoT content. I'm a book reader, it's been difficult for 20+ years! I gave in. I enjoyed it. It’s not wheel of time. I felt connected to the characters! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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