Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season 4K UHD (2011)

[BluProofie]

Originally Posted by pottyaboutpotter1

The best show of all time is entirely subjective of course, but there's no denying that Game of Thrones is one of the biggest media phenomenons of this decade, perhaps even the century rivalled by Harry Potter, The MCU, Twilight and The Walking Dead. I'd even argue Game of Thrones redefined the fantasy genre for film/TV and arguably redefined TV in general. It's raised the bar for television.

Game of Thrones has become one of the most successful and critically acclaimed TV series of all time. Yes there's shows that *may* be better, but there's very few that have reached this level of success. A prequel series is shooting a pilot next year (with four other spin-offs in development). Most of the stars have become household names. The show has made a massive cultural impact, certainly the largest out of any television show this decade. It's become a large successful media franchise all of its own; Game of Thrones merchandise is EVERYWHERE and you don't see that for just any TV show. Game of Thrones is an event.

I don't see a reason to put Game of Thrones down. It's a well written, well made, critically acclaimed and hugely successful series. The only real reason to put it down is because it's so popular and you're one of those people who likes to be edgy and put down something popular. I think, by the end of this decade, Game of Thrones will rival the MCU as the biggest media event of the decade.

Its absolutely one of my favorite things ever. I adore the show and the books and the incredible world GRRM created.

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by PS3_Kiwi

For me, Breaking Bad is king!

Better Call Saul is up there too!

[BrownianMotion]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

Better Call Saul is up there too!

It's better than Breaking Bad.

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by BrownianMotion

It's better than Breaking Bad.

In some respects, yes. Jimmy and Mike are tragic figures because they're not as dark and twisted as Walter White became... their downfall is due more to bad choices made and unfortunate circumstances rather than pure hubris and ultimately greed. Bob Odenkirk knows how to skirt comedy whilst hitting all the dramatic notes. Showrunner Vince Gilligan is on a roll!

I think the first season of Fargo was some damn fine TV too and a quality semi-sequel to the Coen Bros. movie that bares its name.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by BrownianMotion

GoT is a far easier show to digest for you and people like you, hence the ratings. You sound like a guy whose favorite movies are the Transformer films.

Aww, I thought we were having a nice debate and then you went and turned into this kind of person. Shame.

Originally Posted by fighthefutureofhd

I haven't seen Games of Thrones yet, but I highly doubt it's any better than The X-Files, THE REAL greatest television show ever.

Well I said serialized shows to differentiate. My favorite episodic shows would be Star Trek DS9, Star Trek TNG and The X-Files.

[TitusTroy]

Originally Posted by BrownianMotion

GoT is a far easier show to digest for you and people like you, hence the ratings. You sound like a guy whose favorite movies are the Transformer films.

Originally Posted by Vashetti

Is there any need to resort to personal attacks? Preferences are all subjective. If you don't like the show, or don't intend to discuss the UHD, or future season UHDs, then why stay in the thread other than to incite people?

exactly...nothing wrong with having a different opinion but no need to put another person down for having a different one...the funny thing is that BrownianMotion likes to think that he is smarter then everyone else for liking The Wire but then makes silly comments that compare GoT fans to the Transformers movies...so high brow taste in TV/movies equals poor social skills/Asperger syndrome in the real world?

[myanks12]

Personally, I've lost interest in a lot of the characters and found the story to be really lacking the last couple of seasons on GoT, but particularly in season 7. Maybe it's because Martin's books aren't finished and the television writers are forced to do all of the heavy lifting. I'll watch to the end because there's only 6 episodes left.

That being said, there's no doubt that the special effects are still top notch and the show has talented directors to stage compelling battles. So while the story isn't nearly as good as what I've found in the earlier seasons(mainly seasons 1-4), the show is still an entertaining ride for me.

[bradnoyes]

On the subject of all-time great shows...

[TitusTroy]

Originally Posted by myanks12

Personally, I've lost interest in a lot of the characters and found the story to be really lacking the last couple of seasons on GoT, but particularly in season 7. Maybe it's because Martin's books aren't finished and the television writers are forced to do all of the heavy lifting. I'll watch to the end because there's only 6 episodes left.

That being said, there's no doubt that the special effects are still top notch and the show has talented directors to stage compelling battles. So while the story isn't nearly as good as what I've found in the earlier seasons(mainly seasons 1-4), the show is still an entertaining ride for me.

the story has suffered a bit over the past 2 seasons while the special effects have gone up to another level...even though the story is not on the same level as the first 4 seasons it's still better then 99% of other TV shows and even most movies

the easy answer to the slight drop in quality is that they ran out of book material so they decided to spend $15 million an episode to create the most amazing special effects ever seen on television...since George RR Martin told the TV showrunners how his books will end I'm expecting the final season to once again be epic both in terms of CGI/special effects and story

the only show even close to GoT in my opinion is Breaking Bad

[myanks12]

Originally Posted by TitusTroy

the story has suffered a bit over the past 2 seasons while the special effects have gone up to another level...even though the story is not on the same level as the first 4 seasons it's still better then 99% of other TV shows and even most movies

the easy answer to the slight drop in quality is that they ran out of book material so they decided to spend $15 million an episode to create the most amazing special effects ever seen on television...since George RR Martin told the TV showrunners how his books will end I'm expecting the final season to once again be epic both in terms of CGI/special effects and story

the only show even close to GoT in my opinion is Breaking Bad

Yeah, I think it's a smart move to throw as much money at each episode as possible, especially if the story isn't as strong. But I do think the final season will be better because there will be no holding back. The plot armor on certain characters will be lifted and we should get a season that is a bit more in line with the first 4 seasons, even if the writing isn't as good.

I haven't watched Breaking Bad yet. It's on my list..possibly during the holidays this year.

[WBMakeVMarsMovieNOW]

for those who say the UHD has more detail, is that compared to the original, stand alone season 1 blu-ray or the season 1 blu-ray from the 1-7 boxed set?

I just noticed that the 1-7 set seems to have at least the first three seasons (maybe, but hopefully not the rest) remastered and while they added 7.1 the discs are all a lot smaller and the video is much more compressed. I just peaked at one S3 D1 scene where a guy is running through the woods and standing around and then more running and the standalone was hitting 32+ bitrate while the new set from the 1-7 box was only hitting like 21-22 bitrate (I didn't compare well, but a vague impression is that his face looked waxier with less microdetail on the new set).

For whatever reason each STREAM folder on the new discs also contains less files.

I wonder why they'd remaster to bump audio to more channels only to also spend money to remaster the video to seemingly noticeably worse quality? Do they want the blu-rays to look worse to make it easier to make 2K DI upscales on UHD look better in comparison?? All very odd.

[TitusTroy]

Originally Posted by WBMakeVMarsMovieNOW

I just noticed that the 1-7 set seems to have at least the first three seasons (maybe, but hopefully not the rest) remastered and while they added 7.1 the discs are all a lot smaller and the video is much more compressed...

I thought they only added Atmos support on those discs...nothing was changed as far as the video quality

[WBMakeVMarsMovieNOW]

Originally Posted by TitusTroy

I thought they only added Atmos support on those discs...nothing was changed as far as the video quality

Hmm that is strange then, since my 1-7, I compared 2 discs from the first season to my collector's edition from way back and 1 disc from season 3 to my stand alone set from way back and each disc uses a number of GB less storage space and just looking in the STREAM directory the file size is smaller for each episode file in the new set and then while watching the current, avg, max peak bitrate on one scene the bitrate for the video was coming up noticeably higher for my old version in every respect. Each of the stream folders also has less total files in it.

If they are supposed to be the same then I'm really baffled as to what is going on with the 1-7 set Amazon just delivered me. One possibly odd thing is that 5 of the 7 sets have a French Canadian rating added to the specs on the back, not quite sure if that is normal. The digital code says it is for USA and Canada though which doesn't seem to out of the ordinary. The printing on each disc on the front is of very different quality and type compared to the old discs. They also have a much newer date printed on the front of each disc (but that would only make sense since they added on Atmos, has get a number date).

Has anybody else ever compared the old discs to the ones from the new set?

Did they just make some new batch of the new 1-7 set where they dropped down the video bitrate on? Is this some Canadian version that is slightly different than the US one? Or did nobody else bother to check yet and notice that they dumped down the video bitrate?

[WBMakeVMarsMovieNOW]

Seeing the high price the digital downloads for this set are going for on ebay and the low price Amazon had it for that couple or so of days, not like I will have paid so much for it in the end though, basically getting 1-3 free and 4-6 (that I didn't have before) for only cents over $6 each if you look at it that way (and for all I know 4-6 have the same encodes too as the standalones so I might not even be missing anything video quality-wise for the seasons I cared about in this set, so for, it's sort of basically $6 a set for 4-6 and then 1-3 free, even if they have worse video they have the 7.1 if I care and basically are free, since I don't care about the digital codes and can sell them).

[bradnoyes]

Originally Posted by WBMakeVMarsMovieNOW

Seeing the high price the digital downloads for this set are going for on ebay and the low price Amazon had it for that couple or so of days, not like I will have paid so much for it in the end though, basically getting 1-3 free and 4-6 (that I didn't have before) for only cents over $6 each if you look at it that way (and for all I know 4-6 have the same encodes too as the standalones so I might not even be missing anything video quality-wise for the seasons I cared about in this set, so for, it's sort of basically $6 a set for 4-6 and then 1-3 free, even if they have worse video they have the 7.1 if I care and basically are free, since I don't care about the digital codes and can sell them).

That is the single worst sentence I have ever read.

[WBMakeVMarsMovieNOW]

Originally Posted by bradnoyes

That is the single worst sentence I have ever read.

well, I gave it a shot

[Colson]

Originally Posted by PS3_Kiwi

For me, Breaking Bad is king!

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

Better Call Saul is up there too!

I was worried that there was a whole page of "best TV show ever" without mentioning these two. Glad you guys saved the day

Let's not forget the true king, though: Seinfeld.

But yeah, as far as serialized dramas go, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, and The Sopranos are certainly at the top for me.

[WBMakeVMarsMovieNOW]

Originally Posted by Colson

I was worried that there was a whole page of "best TV show ever" without mentioning these two. Glad you guys saved the day

Let's not forget the true king, though: Seinfeld.

But yeah, as far as serialized dramas go, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, and The Sopranos are certainly at the top for me.

Seinfeld, Fawlty Towers, Coupling, Simpsons although a bit more uneven eventually, not sure if the Honeymooners counts as it was only sort of a little bit serialized,
Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel, Veronica Mars, Lost, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, iZombie, Batman 1960s live action, The Clone Wars (at least the later seasons), X-Files, perhaps a guilty pleasure but The O.C.

also give a touch mention to 24, The Americans, Homeland, Smallville, Cheers, The Odd Couple, The Office, Star Trek 1960s, Friends had good stuff but was also uneven, among lots of other stuff

[fighthefutureofhd]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

Well I said serialized shows to differentiate. My favorite episodic shows would be Star Trek DS9, Star Trek TNG and The X-Files.

I know. I think The X-Files is a serialized show. Moreso than episodic to me. OR at least it had a fair share of serialized moments in the series. I think it's one of the first to do a "serialized" take on tv shows. At least ones that weren't soap operas anyway.

Originally Posted by BrownianMotion

The Wire is better than the X-Files. Do yourself a favor and watch it.

Ok. I can check out The Wire, but I seriously doubt it will be any better than The X-Files. The only thing I love more than The X-Files (in terms of visual mediums) is Star Wars. I'm not too much of a tv guy though. I think tv ended when The X-Files ended. I haven't found much to watch on tv that isn't reruns of "old" shows. And by "old" shows I am referring to shows from the '80s mostly. When I do watch tv nowadays. I haven't sat down to watch new tv shows hardly at all within in the last 9 years or so with the exception of The X-Files.

[bradnoyes]

The X-Files did seem to slowly transform into a more serialized show over the course of its run, but I thought the show was at its best when it was simply taking things one episode at a time.

And even though I will never waver in my belief that The Wire is the finest show that has ever graced the screen, it's definitely not for everyone. My only advice for anyone watching for the first time is to stick with it and pay attention. Hopefully it will get its hooks in you.