So.. having no knowledge of this series in advance, I feel the urge to spout my opinion:
Episode 1 was a huge letdown for me:
The first scene I thought it was some kind of Warcraft meets Romero movie. Blahblahblah evil zombiedemons blah. From the 3 lines I heard about it beforehand, I was hoping for less cheesy fantasy and more "realistic" fantasy, and then this as the first scene... *sigh*
Well, after that it didn't take long untill I had to burst out in laughter, seriously,
this was not necessary:
visitors can't see pics , please
register or
loginvisitors can't see pics , please
register or
loginHe even shook the hair in the same way! That was just too much.
Half an hour later I fell asleep. Nothing was happening. I'm not talking about action, I am talking about some story unfolding. There was none. Just a bunch of families that are in no way connected having a first appearance.
So yeah, a few days later, I woke up early, thought I'd give it another try and was hooked. Watched all 8 episodes without a break, can't wait for the next one. I still think the 1st episode was not well planned, especially the beginning, but if you get past that one, it's awesome.
Also, I totally love the sex scenes. Mostly because they are a big "fuck you" (pun intended) to the gore=ok,skin=evil fraction in this world. It totally fits with the story that is being told. It's a bloody, cruel world where women can sell their body for a coin or a crown. Either show both blood and sex, or nothing. Well done for that, too.
Edit: one last rant: (episode 5 or 6?)
The swordfight between Stark and prince charming. Oh my that was some terrible, terrible choreography. I've first seen Sean Bean in "Patriot Games" as Harrison Fords antagonist, I wanted to see him get a proper lead role in a movie. But this fighting scene was so horrible I had to turn away for a moment and reconsider that hope. Looked like the Obi Wan vs Darth Vader fight in IV: Lame