Game of Thrones: S7 (RobertBall/BD+DC)

I thought it would be too "DARK" for me... Knights and Dragons... oh no! BUT my daughter challenged me to watch two episodes and stop if I didn't like it. She and thousands (millions) of others ...were RIGHT. OMG, GOT ! I am about to turn 70. A Baby Boomer! What can I say about Game of Thrones? Phenominal writing! Outstanding Character Development! Unreal detail to costume and sets. Superb Acting! Great Cinematography! It just doesn't get better than this! A story you want to be never-ending, because you enter into it with the characters and are never disappointed by the twists and turns.I can't say enough! If you miss this one you have missed a treasure! I'll be rewatching episodes for the rest of my life!

I am a huge GOT fan, and I didn't think that any season would be as good as the first (since duh...Khal Drogo) but this season was just epic. I loved the reunions of characters, and joining of others that had not met prior to this season. This show is so well put together and the build up was perfect. I also just finished the Conquest and Rebellion which was an animated history of Westeros since the conquest of Aegon Targaryen, and I thought it was put together very well. I loved that they used the actors of GOT to narrate the story behind the conquest of each kingdom. A great addition for people who may have not read the books and may be somewhat confused about the background of the show. So all in all, if your looking for a new series to become addicted to, this is the one. Enjoy!

The continuing saga of Westeros, and finally, what we've all been waiting for, the Winter comes. Cersie is the 1st ever ruling queen, and is making herself one heck of a bed to lie in. Some Greyjoys fall, some Greyjoys rise. Sansa, Arya and Bran Stark are back at Winterfell, Bran being almost not human. Drogon, Viserion and Rhaegal, Danerys' dragons, stun and horrify.Trivia: What happens when Danerys says "Dracarys"?If you purchase Season 7 on BluRay or DVD discs, you have audio and subtitle choices:Audio: English, French, Spanish and Portuguese (Brazilian)Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazilian). Note, if you have subtitles on while listening to a commentary track, the subtitles are still of the show's dialogue, not the commentary dialogue. In the commentary tracks, most of the people commenting have not seen the episode before they gathered for the recording. I like a good commentary, and thought the commentaries for this season varied in interest.Bonus Features galore! I highly recommend bonuses J and K, and also some of the Commentary tracks.DISC 1...episode 1... "Dragonstone"Arya comes out swinging....episode 2.... "Stormborn"It's the days before texting. When you don't find out your stepbrother is King except by accident....Bonus Features:...A... Commentary track on episode 1, "Dragonstone", by Jeremy Podeswa (director), Gwendoline Christie (plays Brienne) and John Bradley (plays Samwise Tarly). Gwendoline, who has a wonderful huge laugh, "After that opener, everyone's going to feel like they got hit by a bicycle."Pretty good commentary....B...1st of 2 Commentary tracks on episode 2, "Stormborn", by Gemma Whelan (plays Yara Greyjoy), Jacob Anderson (plays Greyworm) and Nathalie Emmanuel (plays Missandei)....C...2nd of 2 Commentary tracks on episode 2, by Bryan Cogman (producer/writer), Barrie Gower (prosthetic supervisor), Pilou Asbek (plays Euron Greyjoy) and Rowley Irlam (stunt coordinator).Cogman, on the scene where Qyburn shows Cersei his scorpion: "Essentially, she [Daenerys] arrived with nukes [her dragons]. So, how do you write a war story when one side seems to really have the upper hand?"Irlam: "[It's a ] zipper shot – where two armies meet."Recommended commentary.DISC 2...episode 3... "The Queen's Justice"Favorite quote: Tyrion, "At some point, I want to hear how a Night's Watch recruit became King of the North."Jon Snow: "As long as you tell me how a Lannister became Hand to Daenerys Targaryen."Tyrion: "A long and bloody tale. To be honest, I was drunk for most of it."...episode 4... "The Spoils of War"The Loot Train Battle is magnificent....Bonus Features:...D... Commentary track on episode 3, "The Queen's Justice", by Bernadette Caulfield (executive producer), Deborah Riley (production designer) and Michele Clapton (costume designer). Caulfield mentions Zumaia beach (see the wonderful Bonus Feature J): "It's very special for the particular strata that the beach features. There's only 8 kilometers worth of it. Geologists from all over the world will travel to see it."...E... 1st of 2 Commentary tracks on episode 4, "The Spoils of War", by Matt Shakman (director), Rob McLachlan (director of photography), Sam Conway (special effects supervisor) and Chris Plevin (camera operator). McLachlan explains the preparation done for shooting the Loot Train Battle: "We were there several months in advance and used some of the wonderful apps hou can get on your phone that tells you exactly where the sun is going to be months later. We could choose our shooting directions appropriately, and the big reason that we try to do that and keep it as backlit as we can, is Mother Nature supplies you with a really beautiful light, if you look the right direction at the right time of day."Conway tells how they set a stunt man record. And then there's incredible horsemanship.Recommended commentary....F... 2nd of 2 Commentary tracks on episode 4, by Chris Newman (producer), Joe Bauer (visual effects supervisor) and Steve Kullback (visual effects producer). Listen to this for a full explanation of how they shoot the scenes with Daenerys riding the dragon as it shoots fire. Also, "Every time there's a scene that takes place on a ship in Game of Thrones, it was all happening on the same deck of the same ship that's mocked up in a parking lot in Belfast, Northern Ireland."DISC 3...episode 5... "Eastwatch"Samwell Tarly is a lowly scribe at the Citadel, and it's not quite what he had envisioned. But he is going to save the day.Just when we think the writers have totally forgotten a character, someone comes bouncing back in a big way."Safety is never a permanent state of affairs."...episode 6... "Beyond the Wall"The subtitle could be "Needs Must and Strange Bedfellows". Am I the only one rooting for Tormond Giantsbane in his adoration of Brienne of Tarth?It's an extraordinary twist with Viserian....Bonus Features:...G... 1st of 2 Commentary tracks on episode 5, "Eastwatch", by Dave Hill (writer), Matt Shakman and Rob McLachlan. McLacklan, on the scene of Jon Snow, Daenerys and the dragon at the cliff edge: "We had to have a safety cable on Kit [Harington, who plays Snow], here, because his cloak was blowing so much we were afraid he was gonna be swept off the cliff."Shakman has a terse comment on the scenes of Bran's 'seeing': "This raven, very hard to work with."Recommended commentary track....H... 2nd of 2 Commentary tracks on episode 5, with Liam Cunningham (plays Davos Seaworth) and Iain Glen (plays Jorah Mormont). Glen asks Cunningham, "What are you going to feel like when it's all over?"Cunningham, "I've been trying to prepare myself for the last year.... Off you're going, back to obscurity."Glen: "Bereft."Cunningham: "Yeah. It's all right for anybody listening to this, it's all right for you. When this is over, you'll find something else to fall in love with. Our lives are essentially over. Yes. My bank manager's crapping himself."Good commentary track, though these two old pros do get caught up in just watching the show....I... Commentary track on episode 6, "Beyond the Wall", with Alan Taylor (director), Jonathan Freemen (director of photography) and Sean Savage and David Morgan (camera operators). Taylor, on the rigors of the schedule: "I remember coming back [he hadn't directed an episode of GOT for a few years], I guess I'd gotten soft in my other jobs. We're going out and it was pouring rain and I kept looking around waiting for someone to say, 'OK, let's pack it in.' Nobody said anthing.... Finally, I went up to Toby and said, 'What if it keeps pouring, what do we do?' And he said, 'Oh, we keep shooting.' "Good commentary track.DISC 4...episode 7, season finale... "The Dragon and the Wolf"We say goodbye to another character, and I'm not sure if I'm sorry to see him leave or not. Sensa Stark: "I'm a slow learner. It's true. But I learn."And a whole family dynasty is rewritten.....Bonus Features:...J... "From Imagination to Reality: Inside the Art Department" (Part 1: 24 minutes, Part 2: 22 minutes) A full list of the 40 commentators is added as a note to this review.Deborah Riley, on working on "Game Of Thrones": "Working in the art department is like an extreme sport." In this 2-part Bonus, among many other things, we're taken through decisions made on the creation of Dragonstone (castle on the island), Skull Room (in the basement of King's Landing), Dragon Pit (outside of King's Landing), Highgarden (base of the Tyrells), Map Rooms (at Dragonstone and the new floor at King's Landing) and the Citadel (Westeros' version of the Alexandria Library). All of these locations are new, except for the Dragonstone Map Room which was revamped for Season 7.And WHAT locations! Daenerys' beach landing below Dragonstone castle is Zumaia Beach in Spain. It's rock formations echo dragon's teeth. And the long stairway wending up from the beach to Dragonstone are real, the stair and causeway leading to the island chapel of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe.Also real is the Italica Coliseum, built by the Romans and used for the Dragon Pit. They CGI'd in the tall walls, and covered over the rectangular hole in the middle. But they used the long pit extending to the coliseum entrance as the underground ramp up which the Hound carries the crate with the wight.Highgarden Castle scenes (and what a scene between Jaime and Lady Olenna Tyrell) were filmed at Almodovar Castle, again in Spain. It has turrets galore and sits high on a hill overlooking the valley and a river....K... "Fire and Steel: Creating the Invasion of Westeros" (30 minutes) Commentators include Bryan Cogman, Emilia Clarke (plays Daenerys), Dave Hill (story editor), Peter Dinklage (plays Tyrion), Nikolai Coster Waldail (plays Jaime), Keisha Castle-Hughes (plays Obara Sand), Rowley Irlam, Eric Carney (VFX), Frank Doelger (producer), Joe Bauer and Jerome Flynn (plays Bronn).Joe Bauer says: "In season 6 we had 11 shots that featured Emilia riding the dragon. This year, we have over 80."...L... 1st of 2 Commentary tracks on episode 7, "The Dragon and the Wolf", by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (both producers/writers), Lena Headey (plays Cersei) and Kit Harington....M... 2nd of 2 Commentary tracks on episode 7, with Jeremy Podesta (director) and Greg Middleton (director photography).BONUS DISCIn a separate disc holder is "Game of Thrones: Conquest & Rebellion, An Animated History of the Seven Kingdoms." I found this delightful. Produced in 2017, this starts with the city of Valyria across the sea, "through magic or sheer will, they mastered the greatest creatures in history." That is, they had dragons. In 10 chapters, this 45 minute featurette takes you from Valyeria to Dragonstone and right up to the beginning of the first episode of Season 1. You'll recognize the various narrators, all characters in the TV series. This disc has audio options of English, French and Chinese language. And subtitle options of English SDH, French, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, and two others.With "Game of Thrones", I'm not just a Happy Reader, I'm a Happy Watcher. Now we're all on tenterhooks waiting for the last season.

EXCELLENT NEWS FOR MULTILINGUAL FANS! This special review is for "Game of Thrones: S7 Conquest&Rebellion, Standard Edition, Blu-ray".I want to be very specific about that because there are already a number of different versions that have been released. This is for a version that works with NTSC players in the United States!I have received my 'like-new' copy of this specific edition and noticed that it has the dubbed-in VOCAL tracks in English, French, German, Italian, and Japanese, plus subtitles in all these languges, plus many more! I already had the first six seasons in blu-ray which were region-free and had all those voice tracks and subtitles. I badly wanted to get a Season 7 like that, too, but could not make that determination by looking at any of the product descriptions. The only release I found with English and German vocal tracks was at the amazon.de (GERMAN) site, but those disks are described as being only for the European PAL system, and therefore would not work here in the U. S. (?).The funny thing is that I only made this discovery by examining the accompanying "Conquest and Rebellion" disk that came with Season 7 as an extra feature. There, I saw the extra foreign language vocal tracks listed. I immediately then loaded the first disk of Season 7, saw the familiar menu pages, discovered that I could select different spoken languages, and chose German. Then I started playing it. Sure enough, the vocal track is in German, and, of course, with that playing, I could also select a simultaneous English subtitle at the bottom of the screen.The oddest thing is that when you look at the case, the disks, the printed inserts, etc. of the Season 7 disk set, you will not see ANY description of what languages there are on the vocal track. So, I wanted to share this information. It was VERY important to me.

I love GOT! The plot development and effects are so impressive. Only disappointment is they rushed the story. There are so many holes and questions left unanswered by the compression of an entire season into seven episodes. There are multiple characters with multiple subplot story lines. This leaves the viewer with unsettled suppositions about the many relationships and subtexts. I hope they do a better job with season eight. Still love the show but this feels like the weakest season of all seven.

Excellent series, totally hooked and can't wait for the final season now (2019? noooooo...) picture and sound quality on the blu-ray is superb. So why only 4 stars? Answer - the packaging. The set I got (Blu-ray + Amazon Exclusive Bonus Disc) with the 'Conquest & Rebellion' animated feature just seems rather shabbily put together - the three main discs in a cardboard case inside a plastic sleeve, with the bonus disc and C & R messily attached with blobs of glue along with the back labelling. Season 6 packaging wasn't great either - the first four were spot on, it seems as the show's budget increases year on year the blu- ray packaging steadily gets worse. Sort it out HBO, such a popular money spinning show deserves better!

It's topnotch storytelling again much like in the previous seasons! The production design is amazing and gets better and better as the seasons go by; I can only marvel and be mesmerized by the enormity of production and the countless hours spent by the creative people behind it to bring the story onscreen which, hopefully will be revealed and discussed in depth in the next season's blu-ray special features. The story pacing is just about right and didn't feel rushed like what the other reviewers were saying. Showrunners Benioff and Weiss who happen to be the writers as well didn't disappoint in giving tragic but well-deserved endings to some of the most hateful characters in television history. One can only guess how GRRM will top this and be much more creative in giving the long story arc a befitting conclusion in the much delayed book version (the 6th book is still unfinished to date and the 7th remains in limbo). It is a sad thing the series is drawing to a close. We will surely miss the characters who we come to love in the last seven years!Can't wait for the next Amazon exclusive GoT Season 8 BD set!

Best season yet (and that is saying something in my book!)... amazing action, intrigue and the usual violence and some sex... cannot believe the final season doesn't even hit the screens until 2019, let alone having to wait for the Amazon special release with the bonus disc (which I always do if I can). Probably one of the best TV series ever made...

Not as many episodes as I'd have liked - and seemed a bit stretched out too.But then again - how can you not love it. Excellent production values as always.Now I have a 12 month wait for S8 discs.Loved the opening of disc 1 - unexpected and a clever addition.

What an amazing season once again they nailed it and I can not wait where this goes and that anime come with it was best thing ever but I really hope I do not have to wait for almost another 2 years to get a next season this one was just 8 awesome episodes