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I need my spectacle. Is there any TV show that comes close Game of Thrones in regards to production values?
- Thread starter Memento
- Start date
I'm here for the Black Sails love. It's one of the best television shows in recent memory, up there with Breaking Bad.
Not at all. There are shows that approach it in terms of cast and moving parts, and there are brief shots on stuff like Altered Carbon or even The Expanse that make you go "wow this is TV now huh", but there simply isn't anything on the scale of Hardhome or the Battle of the Bastards.
No one is trying to spend $15 million on a single episode of television if they don't have to.
No one is trying to spend $15 million on a single episode of television if they don't have to.
That's the only way to do it though. And one major set piece battle in two seasons is a good number I believe.
After the sour taste of GoT I want to go back and watch it. It's what GoT should have been.
To be honest, I didn't mind the lack of large scale battles. It's the political game that really captivates.
gonna just repost this from a thread from a different thread about game of thrones from a while back:
Black Sails is like, what if Game of Thrones was good.
It's the level of quality I expected when HBO announced their adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire, owing to their lineage of producing excellent historical fiction shows (Deadwood, Rome, Carnivale etc.), the potential that D&D absolutely failed to deliver on in any way. I never expected to see something reach that high again in my lifetime.
- Large-scale battles that are won through faction leaders developing coherent strategies and executing their tactics well in the field, as opposed to characters that - the audience is told - are supposedly intelligent and capable commanders who, displaying nothing but sheer incompetence in battle, are almost invariably saved by reinforcements at the last minute. I'm rewatching Season 1 currently, and Flint's strategy to get the Andromache to stop turning is already more interesting than any battle on Game of Thrones, and it's probably the simplest move he ever pulls. It's so much more fun to watch political conflicts between characters and factions when they're not being dumbed down at every turn to suit the narrative.
- Spectacle in general
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjIwtyaxOcQ
- Genuinely surprising plot twists that don't always rely solely on the Game of Thrones style of shocking the audience by killing characters, usually through manufactured drama and having characters make inexplicably dumb and uncharacteristic decisions. Twists that serve to recontextualize whole seasons of character interactions and motivations. Just pitch-perfect storytelling all around, really
[major season 2 spoilers]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3X1C2ZhteI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bFeWdByC9Y
- In addition to maintaining a cohesive set of themes throughout its frequently dark and serious narrative, the show also never forgets to be super entertaining and funny
- Surprisingly great representation of LGBT characters and POC - three of the most powerful/pivotal characters are black women.
https://www.inverse.com/article/109...sails-is-quietly-tv-s-most-revolutionary-show
https://www.dailydot.com/parsec/black-sails-best-show-2017/
- A generally solid cast with no weak links as bad as Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke
- god-tier score by Bear McCreary that eclipses anything from GoT and it's not even close
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nQkqnDEanE&index=4&list=PLTD-7wUN5nd7pEnooSJnTtZgG5NATTZ0p
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1KmZI97DXk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBRPjEPjxWs
- perhaps most importantly, Ray Stevenson (AKA Titus Pullo) is in it and he plays Blackbeard
Netflix really should have tapped these guys to do The Witcher starring Zach McGowan and Luke Arnold, or better yet, give them (and Bear McCreary) a Star Wars
Great stuff here.
And seriously, how did they not get Zach McGowan for Geralt? It's like the role was made for him.
Yeah I was scanning through all the shows HBO had, to binge before my month ran out. And Rome got my interest. But it's from way back in the early 2000's huh? And it's only 2 seasons? The fact that I know about it (from it being mentioned randomly here and there)....man it must be good.
I'ma knock that out.
Agreed. I found they did a good job with most battles, like the Battle of Thapsus or Actium, where they showed the aftermath or just a small suggestion of the battle. My only disappointment was the Battle of Pharsalus, which was the one Caesar and Pompeii fought. They showed a small montage of soldiers fighting and if felt a little bit cheap.
I've only seen the first season, on disc. How does the second hold up?
i thought it was absolute garbage compared to the 1st
maybe it just wasn't for me or something, but i found it thoroughly uninteresting
Depends on the person. First season was better for sure, but I fucking loved season 2. If you don't like a lot of fuckery though it can be offputting, but there's some really amazing pieces throughout that season.
The production values aren't in the same vein as GoT, but they put a lot of effort behind the costumes and sets. The WWI scenes in season two are also pretty incredible imo. The first two seasons are some of the best television I've ever watched.
Some miniseries maybe?
I honestly don't know how much you can you improve the production design of Band of Brothers other than making 6 Saving Private Ryan films.
I honestly don't know how much you can you improve the production design of Band of Brothers other than making 6 Saving Private Ryan films.
Wait a couple of years. There are a ton coming down the pipe with similar or greater budget to GoT. Whatever you think about the show, it has changed the landscape.
Currently/in the recent past it's hard to compare it to anything else. There are a few other things from HBO and Starz that have pretty good budgets, but still nothing close to GoT.
If I could recommend a pure spectacle show -- if you like action check out the scott/stonebridge iteration of "Strike-Back".
I'd also give a recommendation to both Black Sails and Band of Brothers.
Currently/in the recent past it's hard to compare it to anything else. There are a few other things from HBO and Starz that have pretty good budgets, but still nothing close to GoT.
If I could recommend a pure spectacle show -- if you like action check out the scott/stonebridge iteration of "Strike-Back".
I'd also give a recommendation to both Black Sails and Band of Brothers.
Discovery is entirely serialized, unlike classic episodic Trek.
Season 1 was fun but kinda dumb.
Season 2 is a lot like season 8 of GoT. Lots of spectacle with absolutely awful storytelling and ridiculous melodrama that takes itself too seriously.
Production values are insanely good for TV Trek, though. Like a sanitized, prettified Battlestar Galactica.
As others have said, you are gonna have to wait for a little bit for more blockbuster TV.
However, if you need something to watch, might I recommend Mad Men? It's certainly a bit more filmic in terms of aesthetics than most other TV stuff though it is nothing like Game of Thrones in terms of content, budget and spectacle.
EDIT: Saw someone mention Band of Brothers, that's actually a really good recommendation, don't know how it slipped my mind. It's like if Saving Private Ryan was good and longer. The D-Day CGI looks horrendous but overall, it should still provide a fair bit of war spectacle.
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Was going to say this. Discovery from a production value angle looks like a movie most of the time. Can't think of another show that consistently looks as good as it does outside of HBO. It's also pretty damn entertaining IMO and I'm not even really a big Star Trek fan. You'll definitely find a lot of spectacle there.
Battlestar Galactica has the scale, if not the budget. The space combat holds up well and some of the set pieces are truly spectacular in the vein of Thrones (eg the exodus from New Caprica).
Star Trek Discovery is currently the best looking show I've ever seen outside of Thrones.
Star Trek Discovery is currently the best looking show I've ever seen outside of Thrones.
Surprised to see so much Black Sails love. I've watched like 4 or 5 episodes of it and was kind of bored. Does it take a while to ramp up?
gonna just repost this from a different thread about game of thrones from a while back:
Black Sails is like, what if Game of Thrones was good.
It's the level of quality I expected when HBO announced their adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire, owing to their lineage of producing excellent historical fiction shows (Deadwood, Rome, Carnivale etc.), the potential that D&D absolutely failed to deliver on in any way. I never expected to see something reach that high again in my lifetime.
- Large-scale battles that are won through faction leaders developing coherent strategies and executing their tactics well in the field, as opposed to characters that - the audience is told - are supposedly intelligent and capable commanders who, displaying nothing but sheer incompetence in battle, are almost invariably saved by reinforcements at the last minute. I'm rewatching Season 1 currently, and Flint's strategy to get the Andromache to stop turning is already more interesting than any battle on Game of Thrones, and it's probably the simplest move he ever pulls. It's so much more fun to watch political conflicts between characters and factions when they're not being dumbed down at every turn to suit the narrative.
- Spectacle in general
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjIwtyaxOcQ
- Genuinely surprising plot twists that don't always rely solely on the Game of Thrones style of shocking the audience by killing characters, usually through manufactured drama and having characters make inexplicably dumb and uncharacteristic decisions. Twists that serve to recontextualize whole seasons of character interactions and motivations. Just pitch-perfect storytelling all around, really
[major season 2 spoilers]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3X1C2ZhteI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bFeWdByC9Y
- In addition to maintaining a cohesive set of themes throughout its frequently dark and serious narrative, the show also never forgets to be super entertaining and funny
- Surprisingly great representation of LGBT characters and POC - three of the most powerful/pivotal characters are black women.
https://www.inverse.com/article/109...sails-is-quietly-tv-s-most-revolutionary-show
https://www.dailydot.com/parsec/black-sails-best-show-2017/
- A generally solid cast with no weak links as bad as Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke
- god-tier score by Bear McCreary that eclipses anything from GoT and it's not even close
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nQkqnDEanE&index=4&list=PLTD-7wUN5nd7pEnooSJnTtZgG5NATTZ0p
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1KmZI97DXk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBRPjEPjxWs
- perhaps most importantly, Ray Stevenson (AKA Titus Pullo) is in it and he plays Blackbeard
Netflix really should have tapped these guys to do The Witcher starring Zach McGowan and Luke Arnold, or better yet, give them (and Bear McCreary) a Star Wars
I guess I have to start watching Black Sails
Let me ask, since this is what's on everyone's mind, does it have a good/satisfying conclusion?
Yeah, that's the biggest disappointment by far imo (totally forgot the name of the battle). Lol, I legit though something was wrong with the episode/link so I refreshed the page just to doublecheck..
Yeah but that world building though. That was a heck of a ride. The shows real problem was you had a mostly unlikable protagonist.
I'm still watching an episode occasionally. I have it on Blu-Ray. The mind games continue, there's a lot of great writing, and the sense of not knowing what is real is very well sustained.
Yeah, after season 1 they spend more time in other locations and nearly every episode of season 2 ends on some exciting or powerful note. It's really fantastic.
BSG got an Emmy for Special Effects while running against Rome. Against this:
I say to this day BSG has the best space battles anywhere. It's incredible how they hold up, particularly the ones from season 2 and 3. Before and after the quality is a bit inferior.
easily one of the most satisfying endings i've ever seen on television, and like ASOIAF or even something like The Wire, the many layers of foreshadowing and detail make it even better on a rewatch
Thx. Will try it out. I usually enjoy most things. I'm easy to please if I have time.
I found it absolutely did. Deliver's the narrative arcs perfectly. The increase of spectacle doesn't sacrifice it's character development. Everyone who starts the show should go in with low expectations for the first season. It's one of the shows which start's fairly weak but has a dramatic increase in quality in subsequent seasons.
Terrible tactics,infighting and hubris results in disastrous results as it should.
Viking is a show with pretty great production values, large scale battles and starts off fairly interesting but currently the show's directionless.
It's one of those shows that has a just okay first season and then improves dramatically in just about every way from season 2 on. I would definitely say it concludes well too. And at only 4 seasons, it doesn't overstay its welcome.
its not a spectacle like discovery, but Maniac on netflix literally felt like i was watching a movie most of the time
but thats more of a mini-series even though its 10 episodes, so basically just a single season then its done
its directed by Cary Fukunaga who also directed S1 of true detective which also looks amazing
This. That was a satisfying fucking ending. No major loose ends left hanging.
Terrible but good spectacle and cinematography etc... the story is super dumb and unnecessarily aimless and they force in twists and try to fake out viewers with every scene.
How you manage to make robot cowboys fighting shogun swordsmen fighting paramilitary with submarine guns into a boring messy frustrating show takes...something.
Love GOT or hate it. It showed that high production scfi/fantasy has a place on tv. It pushed all these subscription services to go after their own GOT.
HBO with Westworld and contraband(upcoming from Jj abrams)
Netflix with altered carbon and the Witcher, last kingdom.
Disney with the Star Wars shows.
Amazon with the expanse and LOTR.
showtime with halo.
You can thank game of thrones for a lot of that.
HBO with Westworld and contraband(upcoming from Jj abrams)
Netflix with altered carbon and the Witcher, last kingdom.
Disney with the Star Wars shows.
Amazon with the expanse and LOTR.
showtime with halo.
You can thank game of thrones for a lot of that.