Game of Thrones HBO Review

Ok so as cheesy as it sounds, but I admit i am a stickler for period movies with a generous sprinkling of fantasy and drama.

Ever since I was read my first bed side story, the child in me has held on to this genre of story telling. I fell madly in love with TV shows: The Lord of The Ring and the romance continued with such servings as The Tudors, Rome, 300, Spartacus, etc... But than came Game of Thrones and took my love for such fare to a whole new level.

Game of Thrones show is based on the bestselling fantasy book series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin – popularly (and rightly too) known as the “The American Tolkien”.

Well HBO took hold of the A Song Of Ice and Fire books and weaved a visual web of political intrigue, family feuds, ruthless swords, raw sex, chaos and carnage all in the reckless pursuit of power, for all lovers of The Lord of The Ring genre to get caught in-and honestly we ALL did get caught in HBO’s web called Game of Thrones, as hopelessly as HBO had expected us to.

For me reading the book became mandatory after watching the first season of Game of Thrones. It was then that I realized what a tough time the writer of the series David Benioff and executive producer D.B. Weiss must have had struggling to decide which elements to pick and which to drop as they compiled the tv script for the series. Since the book is infested with numerous characters and each has its own well crafted elements, from vengeance, lust, disloyalty, blind ambition to blood-lust. Yet each has been handled with defined perfection.

While the director Tim Van Patten displays the pinnacle of his creativity by portraying the settings as beautifully and hauntingly as it is in the book. Shot in locations like Northern Ireland, and Malta, the scenic beauty of these locales comes into its own as they are aptly combined with the visual effects added for the benefit of the viewers.

The fantasy land of Westeros, is the birth place of Game of Thrones. It is a land where numerous clans have lived and struggled for power for generations. All until the invasion by the Targaryens, who finally unites the Seven Kingdoms under its own iron fist and thus the age of the Iron Throne begins. But now as the iron fist is loosened by political intrigues and power struggles, the battle for the throne is reignited.

Game of Thrones begins with four stories being told at once. The story of Lord Eddard Stark’s (played by Sean Bean of TLOTR), King Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy) rules the House of Baratheon, the House of Lannister, which is also linked to House Baratheon because Queen Cersei Baratheon (Lena Headey) is a Lannister by birth, and lastly the exiled and most troubled House of Targaryen of Prince Viserys Targaryen III (Harry Lloyd) who’s ambition to win back the Iron Throne makes him force his sister Princess Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) to marry the leader of a vicious warrior tribe, Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa), so Viserys could build his personal army to win back the Throne.

As confusing as the plot may sound at the moment, the exceptional execution of the script and the end result of it all is a joy to behold and watch. And of course an amazing star cast is just another benefit of this visual treat. So in my humble opinion HBO’s Game of Thrones is one TV series you must not miss.