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Featured in Hollywood’s Top Ten: Critics’ Choice Nominees: Drama (2011)

Chronology

Nine noble families fight for control of the lands of Westeros, while an ancient enemy returns after a millennia of dormancy. George R. R. Martin’s wife once said she would leave him if he killed Arya or Sansa. Tywin Lannister: Any man who has to say “I am king” is not truly a king. During the opening credits, each actor’s name is accompanied by the insignia of his/her character’s house..

Quite the opposite

Main Title (Uncredited) Written and starring Ramin Djawadi. Over time, I started watching “Game of Thrones”; from the first episode (slowly because I was so busy) because I had heard nothing but amazing things about it from friends, family, and IMDb reviewers. Plus, with such great talent and a brilliant book series, how could it go wrong? The good news is that ‘Game of Thrones’ hasn’t gone bad. Not only is it a rare TV show that does its original source material justice and treats it with respect, but it’s also one of the best, most addictive, and consistently compelling shows in recent years. A TV show so brilliant that one has to actually check to see if it was made for TV, when everything is done to such a high standard that it puts many of the movies being made today to shame.

Visually, ‘Game of Thrones’ looks amazing

This is one of the strongest examples of an acclaimed show that deserves every ounce of praise it’s received. The scenery is spectacular, the sets are extremely atmospheric and beautiful to look at with a real meticulous eye for detail, and the costumes fit the characters to a tee. Then there are the special effects which are some of the best of any TV show and are neither overused nor abused, the scale, detail and their true character and soul are better than those in many big budget blockbusters. As is the cinematography and editing which are also of film quality. You can’t talk about ‘Game of Thrones’ without mentioning the thematically, orchestrally and atmospherically multi-layered musical score and the unforgettable main theme. Again worthy of a big budget fantasy/action/drama film.

Whenever there’s a scene or a more action-packed scene

It’s hard not to be taken aback by the quality of the writing, the adjective excellent is not strong enough to describe how good the writing is. It always has a natural flow, is layered and thought provoking and demonstrates a wide range of emotions such as gripping suspense, touching pathos and witty humor. The storylines are so beautifully paced, structured with such nuance and coherence, high emotional stakes, and touch on complex and sensitive topics with intelligence and tact. It’s always for a reason, never for the greater good. Not only are the sets done with great scale, excellent staging, excitement, and dramatic tension, but underneath all the scale and lavish attention to detail, there’s a lot of heart and layers. They’re not too long, nor are they out of place elements.

The characters play a huge part in the appeal

‘Game of Thrones’ has characters that are as well-developed and as close to real life as you can get, despite being in a fantasy world. These characters are not archetypes of heroes and villains (Joffrey is the only one who comes close to that, but the difference is that he is an extremely interesting character with great development, who ranks well above a hundred percent on the threat level scale), they are much more, and they have strengths and weaknesses. The decisions are logical, and one does not like any character any less when the decision is not right, because mistakes are acknowledged and learned from.