Game of Thrones: The Complete Collection 4K Ultra HD Review

THE SERIES

Season One:
From the scheming South and the savage Eastern lands to the frozen North and ancient Wall that protects the realm from the mysterious darkness beyond, the powerful families of the Seven Kingdoms are locked in a battle for the Iron Throne. [Read Full Review]

Season Two:
Kings from across Westeros vie for the Iron Throne. As winter approaches, the cruel young Joffrey Baratheon (JACK GLEESON) sits upon the Throne in King’s Landing, counseled by his conniving mother, Cersei Lannister (LENA HEADEY), and his uncle Tyrian Lannister (PETER DINKLAGE). But the Lannister hold on power is under assault on many fronts, with two Baratheons donning crowns and Robb Stark (RICHARD MADDEN) fighting as the King in the North. A new leader is rising among the wildlings north of the Wall, adding new perils for Jon Snow (KIT HARINGTON) and the Night’s Watch, while Daenery’s Targaryen (EMILIA CLARKE) looks to shore up her depleted power in the East with her three newborn dragons. [Read Full Review]

Season Three:
The Lannisters barely hold on to the throne after a savage naval onslaught from Stannis Baratheon (STEPHEN DILLANE), while stirrings in the North threaten the balance of power. Robb Stark, King in the North, faces calamity as he attempts to build on his victories over the Lannisters. Beyond the Wall, Mance Rayder (CIARIAN HINDS) and his army of wildlings continue to march south. Across the Narrow Sea, Daenerys – with her three fast-maturing dragons – attempts to raise an army to sail with her, in hopes of claiming the Iron Throne. The families of Westeros continue to clash as bonds are strained and loyalties are tested. [Read Full Review]

Season Four:
The Lannisters’ control over the Iron Throne remains intact, but can they survive with the ongoing threats around them? While an unshaken Stannis continues to rebuild his army, a more immediate danger comes from the South as Oberyn Martell (PEDRO PASCAL), the Lannister-loathing “Red Viper of Dorne,” arrives at King’s Landing. At the Wall, the Night’s Watch seems overmatched against Mance Ryder’s army of wildlings. Daenerys, accompanied by her fierce trio of dragons, is poised to “liberate” Meereen, which could provide her with an imposing force to execute her plan of reclaiming the Iron Throne. [Read Full Review]

Season Five:
Across Westeros and Essos, protagonists look to fill a power vacuum. At Castle Black, Jon struggles to balance the demands of the Night’s Watch with those of new arrival Stannis. Meanwhie, Cersei scrambles to hold on to power in King’s Landing amidst the Tyrells and the rise of a religious group led by the enigmatic High Sparrow (JONATHAN PRYCE), while Jaime Lannister (NIKOLAJ COSTER-WALDAU) embarks on a secret mission. Across the Narrow Sea, Arya Stark (MAISIE WILLIAMS) seeks an old friend, while a fugitive Tyrion finds a new cause. Daenerys finds that her tenuous hold on Meereen requires some hard sacrifices.

Season Six:
After shocking developments – including Jon’s bloody fate at the hands of Castle Black mutineers, Daenerys’ near-demise at the fighting pits of Meereen and Cersei’s public humiliation in the streets of King’s Landing – survivors from all parts of Westeros and Essos regroup to press forward, inexorably toward their uncertain individual fates. Familiar faces will forge new alliances to bolster their strategic chances at survival, while new characters will emerge to challenge the balance of power in the East, West, North and South.

Season Seven:
Deanerys has finally set sail for Westeros with Tyrion, her newly appointed Hand. Jon has apparently consolidated power in the North after his spectacular conquest of Ramsay Bolton and the return of Winterfell to Stark control. In King’s Landing, Cersei, bereft of any surviving heirs, has successfully seized the Iron Throne. But the cold specter of another apocalyptic threat – in the form of an army of undead White Walkers – threatens to undermine the status quo and obliterate the outcome of these smaller, all-too-human rivalries. [Read Full Review]

Season Eight:
An epic clash between the living and the dead. With the Army of the Dead – led by the Night King, his White Walkers and an undead dragon – bearing down on Jon and Daenerys and their combined forces, a denouement eight seasons in the making will be reached. Meanwhile, Jon’s true identity promises to undermine Daenerys’ claim to the Iron Throne…and, of course, Cersei has a devious strategy of her own. [Read Full Review]

SPECIAL FEATURES – 5/5

This 33-disc set is housed in a sturdy case which also has a large slip cover. Each season is in its own black 4K UHD case. Tucked inside the first season is a single code for the Digital HD copy. All features from previous releases have been ported over. Below is a quick breakdown on each season.

Season One:
Audio Commentaries

• Executive Producers/Writers David Benioff & D.B. Weiss (‘Winter is Coming’)
• Actors Lena Headey, Mark Addy & Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (‘The Kingsroad’)
• Actors Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams & Isaac Hemstead Wright (‘Lord Snow’)
• Writer Bryan Cogman & Actor Kit Harington (‘Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things’)
• Actors Peter Dinklage, Emily Clarke and Harry Lloyd & Director Daniel Minahan (‘A Golden Crown’)
• Co-Executive Producer/Author George R.R. Martin (‘The Pointy End’)
• Executive Producers/Writers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss & Director Alan Taylor (‘Fire and Blood’)

Featurettes: Character Profiles (30:42) for the major players; Anatomy of an Episode: A Golden Crown picture-in-picture BTS; Making Game of Thrones (30:02); From the Book to the Screen (5:15); Creating the Show Open (5:07); Creating the Dothraki Language (5:27); The Night’s Watch (8:07); Histories and Lore (1:09:04) and Cast Auditions (10:37).

Season Two:
Audio Commentaries

• Executive Producers/Writers David Benioff & D.B. Weiss (‘The North Remembers’, ‘A Man Without Honor’)
• Actors Alfie Allen & Gemma Whelan (‘The Night Lands’)
• Writer Bryan Cogman & Director Alek Sakharov (‘What is Dead May Never Die’)
• Actors Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams & Isaac Hempstead (‘What is Dead May Never Die’)
• Actors Carice Van Houten & Liam Cunningham (‘Garden of Bones’)
• Actors Kit Harington, Rose Leslie & Co-Executive Producer/Writer Vanessa Taylor (‘The Old Gods and the New’)
• Actors Nikolaj Coster-Waldau & Michelle Fairley (‘The Prince of Winterfell’)
• Co-Executive Producer/Author George R.R. Martin (‘Blackwater’)
• Actors Peter Dinklage and Lena Headey & Director Neil Marshall (‘Blackwater’)
• Visual Effects Team Members Rainer Gombos & Steve Killback (‘Valar Morghulis’)
• Actor Emilia Clarke and Co-Executive Producer/Director Alan Taylor

Featurettes: Histories & Lore (1:04:44), Creating the Battle of Blackwater Bay (31:16), Game of Thrones: Inner Circle (24:01), The Religions of Westeros (7:34) and Character Profiles (15:42).

4 Deleted Scenes (6:09)

Season Three:
Audio Commentaries

• Actors Jack Gleeson and Natalie Dormer, Writer Vanessa Taylor & Director Daniel Minahan (‘Dark Wings, Dark Words’)
• Executive Producers/Writers/Directors David Benioff & D.B. Weiss (‘Walk of Punishment’)
• Production Designer Gemma Jackson & Costume Designer Michele Clapton (‘Walk of Punishment’)
• Actors Lena Headey and Dianna Rigg & Director Alex Graves (‘And Now His Watch is Ended’)
• Actors Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Gwendoline Christie & Writer Bryan Cogman (‘Kissed by Fire’)
• Actors Kit Harington and Rose Leslie & Director Alik Sakharov (‘The Climb’)
• Actors Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams & Isaac Hempstead Writer (‘The Climb’)
• Co-Executive Producer/Author George R.R. Martin & Director Michelle MacLaren (‘The Bear and the Maiden Fair’)
• Actor John Bradley and Hannah Murray & Director Michelle MacLaren (‘Second Sons’)
• Actors Richard Madden and Michelle Fairley & Director David Nutter (‘The Rains of Castamere’)
• Weapons Master Tommy Dunne, Stunt Coordinator Paul Herbert, Assistant Stunt Coordinator David Forman & Sword Master C.C. Shiff (‘The Rains of Castamere’)
• Actors Emilia Clarke & Iain Glen & Iwan Rheon (‘Mhysa’)

Featurettes: A Gathering Storm (14:02), New Characters (9:41), Histories & Lore (1:02:45), Inside the Wildlings (6:21) and The Politics of Marriage (8:39).

5 Deleted/Extended Scenes (14:28)

Season Four:
Audio Commentaries

• Executive Producers/Writers/Directors David Benioff and D.B. Weiss & Actor Pedro Pascal (‘Two Swords’)
• Actors Jack Gleeson and Natalie Dormer, Co-Executive Producer/Author George R.R. Martin & Director Alex Graves (‘The Lion and the Rose’)
• Director Michelle MacLaren and Director of Photography Robert McLauchlan (‘Oathkeeper’)
• Actors Sophie Turner & Maisie Williams (‘First of His Name’)
• Director Alik Sakharov & Writer/Co-Producer Bryan Cogman (‘The Laws of Gods and Men’)
• Actors Aiden Gillen and Kate Dickie, Executive Producer Bernadette Caulfield & Producer Chris Newman (‘Mockingbird’)
• Production Designer Deborah Riley, Costume Designer Michele Clapton & Director of Photography Anette Haellmick (‘The Mountain and the Viper’)
• Actors Kit Harington, Rose Leslie & John Bradley (‘The Watchers on the Wall’)
• VFX Producer Steve Kullback & VFX Supervisor Joe Bauer (‘The Watchers on the Wall’)
• Actors Rory McCann and Gwendoline Christie & Director Alex Graves (‘The Children’)
• Actors Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey & Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (‘The Children’)

Featurettes: The Politics of Power: Season 3 (25:02), Bastards of Westeros (7:16), New Characters & Locations (7:39), Behind the Battle for the Wall (37:11), The Fallen: A Roundtable (29:37) and Histories & Lore (52:43).

2 Deleted Scenes (3:05) and Outtakes (2:02).

Season Five:
Audio Commentaries

• Actor Ciaran Hinds, Director Michael Stovis & Director of Photography David Franco (‘The Wars to Come’)
• Actors Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Gwendoline Christie & Daniel Portman (‘The House of Black and White’)
• Production Designer Deborah Riley, Costume Designer Michele Clapton & Director of Photography Anette Haellmick (‘High Sparrow’)
• Actors Natalie Dormer and Dean-Charles Chapman, Writer Dave Hill & Director Mark Mylod (‘Sons of the Harpy’)
• Actors Iwan Rheon and Michael McElhatton, Director Jeremy Podeswa & Director of Photography Greg Middleton (‘Kill the Boy’)
• Actors Maisie Williams and Tom Wlaschiha & Writer/Co-Producer Bryan Cogman (‘Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken’)
• Actors Kit Harington and Kristofer Hivju, Stunt Coordinator Rowley Irlam & Director Miguel Sapochnik (‘Hardhome’)
• Visual Effects Producer Steve Kullback, Visual Effects Supervisor Joe Bauer & Producer Chris Newman (‘Hardhome’)
• Actors Peter Dinklage and Iain Glen & Director David Nutter (‘The Dance of Dragons’)
• Executive Producer Bernadette Caulfield, Director of Photography Robert McLachlan & Camera Operators Ben Wilson and David Worley (‘The Dance of Dragons’)
• Actor Lena Headey, Executive Producers/Writers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss & Director David Nutter (‘Mother’s Mercy’)

Featurettes: A Day in the Life (26:01), New Characters/New Locations (7:41), Anatomy of an Episode: “Mother’s Mercy” (29:33), The Real History Behind Game of Thrones (40:14), Histories and Lore (51:28) and The Dance of Dragons (20:27).

4 Deleted Scenes (7:59)

Season Six:Audio Commentaries

• Actor Daniel Portman, Director Jeremy Bodeswa and Director of Photography Greg Middleton (‘The Red Woman’)
• Actors Liam Cunningham, Michael McElhatton, Iwan Rheon and Ben Crompton & Writer Dave Hill (‘Home’)
• Actor Dean-Charles Chapman, Production Designer Deborah Riley & Director Daniel Sackheim (‘Oathbreaker’)
• Actors Nathalie Emmanuel, Iain Glen & Jacob Anderson (‘Book of the Stranger’)
• Actors Gemma Whelan, Pilou Asbaek, Ellie Kendrick & Kristian Nairn (‘The Door’)
• Executive Producer Bernadette Caulfield, Prosthetics Supervisor Barrie Gower, Camera Operators Chris Plevin and Ben Wilson {‘The Door’)
• Actors John Bradley and Hannah Murray, Director John Bender & Director of Photography Jonathan Freeman (‘Blood of My Blood’)
• Actors Natalie Dormer and Ian McShane & Supervising Producer/Writer Bryan Cogman (‘The Broken Man’
• Actors Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Essie Davis & Director Mark Mylod (‘No One’)
• Actors Kit Harington and Sophie Turner & Director Miguel Sapochnik (‘Battle of the Bastards’)
• Director of Photography Fabian Wagner, Visual Effects Supervisors Steve Kullback & Joe Bauer (‘Battle of the Bastards’)
• Actors Peter Dinklage and Lena Headey & Executive Producers/Writers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (‘The Winds of Winter’)
• Producer Chris Newman, Camera Operator Sean Savage & Special Effects Supervisor Sam Conway (‘The Winds of Winter’)

Featurettes: Recreating the Dothraki World (20:15), The Battle of the Bastards: An In-Depth Look (30:01), 18 Hours at the Paint Hall (28:17) and Histories and Lore (1:20:47).

3 Deleted Scenes (11:08)

Season Seven:
Audio Commentaries

• Actors Gwendoline Christie and John Bradley & Director Jeremy Podeswa (‘Dragonstone’)
• Actors Nathalie Emmanuel, Gemma Whelan & Jacob Anderson (‘Stormborn’)
• Actor Pilou Asbæk, Co-Executive Producer/Writer Bryan Cogman, Prosthetics Designer Barrie Gower & Stunt Coordinator Rowley Irlan (‘Stormborn’)
• Executive Producer Bernadette Caulfield, Costume Designer Michele Clapton & Production Designer Deborah Riley (‘The Queen’s Justice’)
• Director Matt Shakman, Director of Photography Robert McLachlan, Special Effects Supervisor Sam Conway & Camera Operator Chris Plevin (‘The Spoils of War’)
• Producer Chris Newman & Visual Effects Producers Steve Kullback and Joe Bauer (‘The Spoils of War’)
• Director Matt Shakman, Writer Dave Hill & Director of Photography Robert McLachlan (‘Eastwatch’)
• Actors Iain Glen & Liam Cunningham (‘Eastwatch’)
• Director Alan Taylor, Director of Photography Jonathan Freeman, Camera Operators Sean Savage & David Morgan (‘Beyond the Wall’)
• Actors Kit Harington and Lena Headey & Executive Producers/Writers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (‘The Dragon and the Wolf’)
• Director Jeremy Podeswa & Director of Photography Greg Middleton (‘The Dragon and the Wolf’)

Featurettes: Histories and Lore (29:35), From Imagination to Reality: Inside the Art Department (45:25) and Fire & Steel: Creating the Invasion of Westeros (30:02).

Season Eight:
Audio Commentaries

• Co-Producer/Writer Dave Hill & Production Designer Deborah Riley (‘Winterfell’)
• Co-Executive Producer/Writer Bryan Cogman & Actor Daniel Portman (‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’)
• Director Miguel Sapochnik, Director of Photography Fabian Wagner & Camera Operator Sean Savage (‘The Long Night’)
• Executive Producer Bernadette Caulfield, Visual Effects Producer Steve Kullback & Visual Effects Supervisor Joe Bauer (‘The Long Night’)
• Stunt Coordinator Rowley Irlam & Actor Richard Dormer (‘The Long Night’)
• Actors Nathalie Emmanuel, Pilou Asbæk and Jacob Anderson & Director of Photography David Franco (‘The Last of the Stars’)
• Director Miguel Sapochnik, Director of Photography Fabian Wagner & Actor Conleth Hill (‘The Bells’)
• Producer Chris Newman, Special Effects Supervisor Sam Conway & Visual Effects Supervisor Joe Bauer (‘The Bells’)
• Executive Producers/Writers/Directors David Benioff and D.B. Weiss & Actor Emilia Clarke (‘The Iron Throne’)
• Director of Photography Jonathan Freeman and Camera Operator Ben Wilson (‘The Iron Throne’)

Featurettes: When Winter Falls (29:13), Duty is the Death of Love (31:36), Histories and Lore (26:51) and Game of Thrones: The Last Watch (1:53:00).

5 Deleted Scenes (8:28)

BONUS DISC 1:
Game of Thrones: Reunion Special Parts 1 & 2 (57:01/42:21) — Hosted by Conan O’Brien, this was a ceremony-like event filled with the members of the cast and crew. Throughout the event, cast members from the various houses come on stage to discuss the series, characters and look back on some highlights. I assume there’s some union rules as to why this was split into two parts, but all told this was 1:39:22 in length.

Anatomy of Scenes:

• Season 4: Planning a Royal Wedding (22:50)
• Season 5: The Massacre at Hardhome (28:03)
• Season 6: Inside the Eight for Meereen (23:59)
• Season 7: Ice, Fire and Dragons: Creating the Frozen Lake (27:23)

BONUS DISC 2:
Behind-the-Scenes:

• Season 1: Houses of the Seven Kingdoms (15:27)
• Season 2: Westeros at War with George R.R. Martin (18:44)
• Season 4: Silk, Leather & Chain Mail: The Costumes of Season 4 (19:14)
• Season 5: The Final Step (25:54)

Inside the Visual Effects (TRT 2:45:18) for seven out of the eight seasons.

3 Deleted Scenes (TRT 5:08) from season seven.

BONUS DISC 3:
Conquest & Rebellion: An Animated History of the Seven Kingdoms (44:47) – This animated feature takes viewers through the histories behind the kingdoms and the characters, voiced by some of their respective live action versions.

VIDEO – 5/5

AUDIO – 5/5

OVERALL – 4.75/5

Overall, Game of Thrones gave us some great storylines and performances from a well-rounded, talented ensemble cast. While the first few seasons were excellent or nearly, the final season to wrap it all up was certainly disappointing through I can’t trash it too much as I never became so engrossed with the series that it affected me to the core. In any case, this complete series set comes with fantastic video and audio transfers and a plethora of bonus features to wade through, making this a nice pick-up if you didn’t already own the individual releases.