Tonight marked the premiere of HBO's adaptation of George R.R. Martin's epic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire. Being a long time fan of the books, this was absolutely a "must order HBO" event for me. And the results did not disappoint.I'm not the sort of purist that is going to pitch a fit about the minor details that changed -- the slight aging of some of the children, or the Targaryens not having purple eyes. (Hell, I didn't even remember that last detail until Martin mentioned it in a recent interview.) I was just looking for the major elements of the book to be rendered faithfully -- and they absolutely were.
I imagine that anyone who watched tonight and isn't familiar with the books had a similar experience to what I felt reading the first 300 pages or so of the first book for the first time. Namely: "There are so many characters! Who the hell can keep all this straight?" But they packed in plenty in this adaptation, giving good screen time to over a dozen major characters, and introducing a few others for the fans, setting people up for the future even though they had no dialogue tonight (Joffrey and The Hound, for instance).
The environment was lavishly rendered; the sets, costumes, and CG assists on the backgrounds were all superb. Whether or not they matched the way I'd imagined things as a reader, I felt I could instantly look at any character or place and know exactly who or what it was I was seeing.
After the episode, I found myself chattering away with other friends, noting all the exciting twists and turns yet to come in the story (many not even due to happen in this first season). After that, I found myself wondering if familiarity with the books -- which right now I think is making me enjoy the series more -- might eventually come to make me enjoy it less. Will knowledge of every upcoming twist in the road continue to thrill me with anticipation, or will I grow bored by the lack of surprises?
Hard to say. I can only say that I was very pleased with the way this series kicked off, and I'm eagerly awaiting the next episode.
2 comments:
Somehow I knew that A Game of Thrones was going to turn up on this blog. :-) Can we expect your usual episodic reviews?
Being almost as much of a long-time fan of the books as you, I would love to be watching this series. Unfortunately, I don't have HBO, and far from picking up a premium channel, I just cancelled my "expanded tier" cable service, leaving me with just the basic service. So I guess I'll have to wait for it to turn up on DVD. :-(
Can't say I would ever have recalled what color anyone's eyes were supposed to be (other thsn the fact that Tyrion Lannister's were two different colors); it's been years since I read the books. I've been thinking I should reread them before A Dance With Dragons finally appears... if it ever does.
Yes, I'll probably talk about it every week.
And I'm playing host to about five friends who don't all want to get HBO separately, so I can understand where you're coming from. :-)
Post a Comment