Game of Thrones: Season 3 [DVD] [2011] [2014]

Season 3 of Game of Thrones seals the series place among the pantheon of US television. It is a continuation of the excellence from the first two seasons with the layers of plot, character, and intrigue adding even more richness to what was already something special. The DVD box set is the ten episodes with a small number of extras included.Perhaps what makes season 3 so impressive is that very little actually happens. It feels so much more real despite the fantasy setting that there are not huge set-pieces, and time is given to character above all else. The characters are fascinating. In season 2 it was Tyrion Lannister to the fore. In season 3 it would be hard to consider him having top billing because his character has fallen back into the pack having lost the position of Hand of the King. Indeed, Tyrion does not appear in every episode, none of the characters are present in all ten.The force at the capital, King's Landing is now Lannister patriach Tywin. Played by Charles Dance he is an imposing figure. He is not especially large or intimidating but he is forceful, determined, and most importantly successful. Dance brings such stature to the role simply by his personal presence. When he demands things to be done he never needs to raise his voice, he just demands things to be done and they happen. He is the power in season 3. At a meeting of the Small Council, King Joffrey complains that he has to visit Tywin rather than the other way around. The scene concludes with Tyrion incredulous that Tywin has sent the king to bed. Tywin does it simply by dominating personality and that is largely because Charles Dance exudes the impression of his being in charge.Leadership qualities seem to be the theme of this season, they are tested sorely. Tywin is tested by new arrival Lady Olenna Tyrell. Played by the legendary Diana Rigg, Olenna seems to be Tywin's match. She is a wise and intelligent older lady with a knack for getting what she wants. The pace of her speech is brilliant, the beats are much faster than with any other character on show. It is a clever trick to show her as faster witted than those around her. Even when in the company of Tywin she outpaces him, intellectually she tests his ability to win. The schemes Olenna comes up with are excellent, she is ambitious and clearly aiming to move from being the incumbent second family of Westeros into taking top spot. As de facto head of her household it is a real pleasure to see Olenna and Tywin match wits and to see the limitations of what they can achieve exposed by the other. The scene in which Dance and Rigg cross intellectual swords is magnificent television highlighting two of the great actors of their generations.Olenna's efforts are backed up by a sense of humour not present in many others. She is laugh out loud funny, taking over from Tyrion as the show's humour. Her one-liners and deprecating sensibilities work so well when accompanied by the ultra professional Lady Margaery Tyrell played by Natalie Dormer. Margaery is one of the few characters who seems to have a rock solid understanding of the environment she operates in. She says all the right things even when provoked by the ever unpleasant Cercei Lannister. Somehow amidst the chaos and intrigue of Game of Thrones, Margaery seems calm at all times. Her knowledge of self is explicitly referenced when she refers to her own pig nose. So brilliant for the writing team to identify Natalie Dormer's main physical weakness and use it so perfectly to portray the character's appreciation of her own place in life.Not quite all of the casting works so perfectly. Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark seems a bit of a stretch purely because Sansa is described by others as being so very beautiful. The wardrobe and make-up work for Sansa is excellent giving her a rich deep red hue but beautiful Sophie Turner is not. She turns in a perfectly fine performance but as she grows into a woman from the girl we saw in earlier series the description of her from others becomes less believable.Sansa does appear in the funniest scene of the entire season when stood next to Tyrion. Seeing the dwarf humiliated by his nephew Joffrey to exacerbate the height disparity between Sansa and Tyrion is hilarious. It is also so uncomfortable. Tyrion remains the best depiction of a dwarf ever seen on screen and arguably the best depiction of a person with disabilities, seeing him humbled is a reminder that he is really just another person with his own limitations who can be taken down by others.The scheming and intrigue at King's Landing is always helped by the presence of the oozing Lord Verys played by Conleth Hill. Alongside seeming nemesis Petry Baelish the two represented the scheming danger of the capital in the previous season. Here they get less screen time which is a shame for Baelish in particular who is an excellent character. Verys though does have one incredible scene where he explains the origin of his eunuch status and what he has done all these years to seek revenge.The Verys backstory is chilling and adds layers to his previous actions. It seems to pale when compared to the backstory for the Kingslayer, Jaime Lannister played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. The backstory is almost a revelation, casting Jaime in a completely different light and perhaps flipping him from funny bad guy to unrecognised hero. Jaime is fascinating to watch because he is such a presence behind his floppy hair and bushy beard. The banter between him and Brienne of Tarth is consistenty genious. The performance by Coster-Waldau is particularly impressive because he has such a perfectly suited voice, he has a well fitting accent that seems just a little bit Americanised to give him ever such a slight touch of the matinee hero. In reality it turns out Coster-Waldau has a really scratchy speaking voice in English so it is amazing to hear him so excellently as Jaime.The sword fight between Jaime and Brienne is outstanding choreography. It is one of the few fight sequences on display and is done so well because it defies expectations. It really does look as though Jaime is using his fast brain to outwit the more powerful Brienne, levering himself into a position to escape.What makes Jaime so much more this season is his revelation about the decision making and leadership he had to show and the personal consequences he has suffered for it. The burden of those decisions weighs on several of the characters including the rival claimants to the throne who are all tested. Claimaint Stannis Baratheon is tested because he lost the battle towards the end of season 2. Whether he is able to come back from that defeat is questioned all through season 3. He seems to be a puppet under the control of Melisandre, a belief held by his loyal number two Davos Seaworth. The Stannis style of leadership is hard and direct, it is not subtle or intelligent which makes him vulnerable to Melisandre. Ultimately it is clear that she is the leader rather than he.The relationship between Stannis and Davos remains one of the most intriguing, Davos continues to demonstrate loyalty beyond anyone else despite the personal peril it puts him in at the hands of Stannis. It is also fascinating to see a bit of Stannis backstory with his family brought into the show for the first time. The hold Melisandre has over all things Baratheon is breathtaking when Stannis addresses his wife about his relationship with the red witch and she tells him how happy she is about it.Melisandre's leadership stretches beyond Stannis. She makes a trip into the heart of Westeros to intersect with the Brotherhood Without Banners. They are a merry bunch of highwaymen in the Robin Hood style. As an unknown force in season 2 it was not clear the Brotherhood actually existed but when they do turn up they're a band of adventurers with a look and set of skills that could easily make them the core focus of an entire story by themselves. Most amusing of the Brotherhood is Thoros of Myr played by Paul Kaye who has something so reminiscent about Mick Fleetwood in Running Man about him. The Brotherhood is perhaps most interesting because of who they actually are rather than what they seem to be at first.Perhaps the best line in the entire season crops up at the end of Melisandre and the Brotherhood's interaction when Arya Stark questions why anyone could like Melisandre and in response is told she couldn't understand because she's a girl. There is something about Carice van Houten that makes her so alluring.Arya herself grows a little during the season, finding herself combined with The Hound. the two are as unlikely a pair as Brienne and Jaime. There are so many great looks in this show but perhaps best of all is The Hound. Rory McCann is a huge guy, the armour he wears and the make-up/wig work is absolutely first rate.Beyond the wall leadership is of a completely different form. King Beyond The Wall Mance Rayder offers a glimpse of something different. Mance Rayder's leadership is based on a deeper, more fundamental philosophy - for there to be a 'we' there must be a 'them'. Absolutely fascinting as the White Walkers are the driving force behind Mance's leadership. The scene in which Jon Snow offers fealty to the imposing barbarian he thinks is Mance Rayder is really very subtle because it strips away the viewers preconceptions at exactly the same time as Snow's. Leadership is not always about force.Outside of the main plot line remains Daenerys Targaryen. The leadership challenge she faces is very different, she fought herself up from nothing to take on Qarth in season 2. In season 3 she is leading from the front, her character growing into a major threat. Her morality is a bit too pure to be easy to engage with but her interactions with the slavers of Astapol is excellent. Her interaction with slaver Kraznys mo Nakloz is spectacular. He is so very insulting, it is really quite impressive. Dan Hildebrand is well cast. He looks like a Berber in this show and could credibly pass for one of the North African slavers. The venom with which he spits his insult is beautiful. It helps that his words are translated by the dazzling Nathalie Emmanuel as the character Missandei. As in season 2, Daenerys is accompanied by a vastly more beautiful woman who happened to be played by an actor from Hollyoaks. Interesting that when Missandei leaves the service of Kraznys to join Daenerys she is dressed in much less attractive attire, perhaps a nod to the idea that the viewer is supposed to be looking at Daenerys.Leadership elsewhere is less successful. The leader beyond the wall is up against a terror greater than any other. It is a shame not to actually see the battle at the Fist of the First Men. Understandably character trumps action but for such a pivotal fight to just gain passing mention feels a bit of a missed opportunity. The story arc for the Night Watch is good but would have been better had it been seen more fully.More effective is the arc for Robb Stark, King in the North. The episode commonly known as the Red Wedding is absolutely shocking. It might well be the very best episode US television has produced. The performance by Michelle Fairley is specactular, the rawness of her emotion absolutely visceral when she takes what little action she can. It is an incredible part of the arc which is foreshadowed through the season as Robb's leadership fails him. It fails him largely because of his terrible choice of wife. His choice with the Karstarks is wrong. A good man Robb might be but he is not suited for Kingship. Tywin Lannister utters the words which reveal what is going on with the Starks - those who put the family first will win. Stark does not and Red Wedding is the result.Red Wedding is a real jolt, it seems to change the direction of the show. There are some clues of course but only seen in retrospect, not the least is that anyone with any knowledge of British history and geography would have known Lord Bolton's true allegiance while those who did not should have guessed from his accent.Red Wedding is not the only shocker. The fate of Theon Greyjoy is hard to watch. Leaving him in season 2 having been dumped in Winterfell, the mystery of why he is being tortured and by whom is only revealed right at the end of season 3. Game of Thrones spares very little for the viewer in seeing quite how savagely Theon is treated. Tough watching.With such a huge array of people it could easily be difficult to follow the action but it flows so well. This is a testament to the writing and directing. The pacing is so right, things go slowly rather and focus on character rather than action. Dialogue is king. The sets are lavish and utterly believable. The music is pretty good with one exception with the poor choice of a jarring modern rendition of a folk song following the ending to episode 3.The settings are again superb. The scene with the wall climb is particularly visually impressive. New for this season is Morocco which is instantly recognisable and the perfect place to film scenes set culturally in North Africa.For such a high quality show the DVD extras are a letdown. There is hardly anything at all on the DVD set. The only notable extra is a short discussion of the importance of marriage as a political tool. Nothing new of course to anyone even vaguely aware of Monarchist systems. However, it is pretty helpful in that it solidifies why Walder Frey took the actions he did - not just revenge but perhaps more importantly to protect himself from the risks resulting from the failure of his use of marriage as a tool. There is an extra about the folk beyond the wall but is not especially enlightening except to highlight the more nuanced backgrounds of those people to incorporate a wider range of accents including Nordic which helps a bit to rectify a problem with accent blending between the North and Beyond the Wall from previous seasons.The packaging is also a letdown. Compared to the two previous seasons the box is ugly. It comes with a tacky piece of material, is an uninteresting off-white colour, and has a boring shadow of a dragon as the motif. It does not look right sat next to the other two seasons on a shelf.The accessories aside, Game of Thrones season 3 is magnficent if slightly too short at ten episodes. The show is perhaps the best thing US television has ever produced with now three excellent seasons behind it. The range and depth of characters is breathtaking, the interest in seeing what happens to them built over a period of time and with so many possibilities still left. It is the rare series a viewer might wish could last forever.

Need to bring this up off the bat. Series three for me contained more scenes of gore, torture and psychological catastrophes than any of the series before it, it also contained the usual amount of nudity and swear words... so how is this the season that's rated a 15 when the previous seasons were 18s? Its mad! I digress.Definitely the strongest season so far with more twists and turns, betrayals and life changing events. Introducing a few new characters, namely the evil Ramsey Snow of house Bolton (If you thought Joffrey was bad wait until you get a load of this lunatic). As previously quiet and obedient houses and bannermen begin to make a mark for themselves on westeros.Stannis licks his wounds after his defeat in season two, becoming ever more obsessed with his new God and the Red Woman Melisandre, desperately trying to recuperate and get back in the game as a contender for the throne. Making life hard for his ever suffering but loyal second in command Davos as he attempts to reason with his Zealot obsessed king. Davos is such a likeable character and his loyalty to Stannis is both heart warming and heart breaking as we watch Davos desperately play off and counter the many savage suggestions of the religious Melisandre, with great chemistry between all three characters you can feel the tension in the room with every scene as the two confidants battle for their kings mind which is forever unbalanced and as likely to take either side depending on his mood.Daenerys begins her liberation of slavers bay quickly gaining momentum and power throughout the series in the way only the dragon born can, quickly becoming the most powerful character in the show, gathering more and more allies to her cause, she becomes seemingly unstoppable, yet remains one of the viewers favourite candidates for the throne as she shows again and again compassion and fairness for the people she comes into contact with, really becoming the light in this dark world. Followed by her loyal and love struck aid Jorah he also has new challenges to face as he finds himself in competition with the new allies flocking to her side, including the humiliated Commander of the Kings Guard from season one Ser Barristen Selmy and the handsome Daario Naharis of the Second Sons mercenaries.Robb Stark once again faces betrayal as he attends his grandfathers funeral in River Run, introducing us at last to the Tullys including the humorous Blackfish and the Mr Bean of Westeros; Edmure Tully. Watching Robb struggle to handle the political aspect is quite sad as we watch the young wolf, who has never lost a battle decline purely due to his lack of political leadership and his restricting honour, both marching him towards a fate like his fathers. The similarities between Ned and Robb become more apparent as he makes foolish decisions all in vain attempts to do the right thing or make up for mistakes made, all culminating in one of the most memorable and terrible scenes of the entire show.Theon Greyjoy, probably has the worst time of it in this season, after his betrayal of Robb in season two he finds himself captured by an unknown assailant and very very violently tortured both Physically and psychologically as well as mutilated, forever distorting and changing the character into somebody entirely new. Despite his betrayals and actions in season two you really begin to feel for the character again very early on, even forgiving his actions as he confesses how he really feels about himself and is made the play thing of the sadistic Ramsey Snow. Some fantastic acting done by both actors in all of their scenes really making for a horrible experience for viewers, i fear this may be the last season we ever see Theon Greyjoy...Tyrion continues to play the game in kings landing, battling with his sister for their fathers approval who has now taken his place as Hand of the King. Tyrion now has a harder time keeping his head above water, struck from all his power by his father, Tyrion is left vulnerable to the cruelty of Joffrey who continues to enjoy torturing his subjects. Watching him keep his composure under such odds and witnessing the cruelty of his father first hand, Tyrion remains a solid favourite of the fans, who after his heroes exploits in season two deserves a lot more than he gets in this season.Jon Snow follows his new Wildling lifestyle while ever secretly looking for an opportunity to escape back to his fellow men of the nights watch, Jon Snow begins to realise the real threat to Westeros and begins to understand that the only way to win the real war is unity... something nobody else wants. Breaking his nights watch vows and literally skating on real thin ice Jon begins to craft himself as the hero Westeros needs.Jaime Lannister continues life as captive, with the ever honourable and faithful Brienne charged with transporting him the two run into all sorts of adventures on their way to Kings Landing, including run ins with not so honourable Stark Soliders, farmers and then the sadistic soldiers of house Bolton and their leader Lock. Survival looks bleak for the pair and as Jaime attempts his usual charm and smarmy talk to get out of a situation it backfires changing his life forever, if he survives.Overall, definitely the best season so far, completely shifting the power around the country and countless heartbreaking revelations and moments, this is the defining season that will make and break lifelong fans, if you though the execution of Ned Stark was the pinnacle of Game of Thrones, that seems like childs play after this season.

Love

Looked almost brand new! Loved the packaging. No scratches on the discs. A nice addition to my seasons collection and at a much lower price than it would have been in store!

Las ediciones BLUE-RAY UK de las temporadas I y II estaban en polaco. Esta edición, de la tercera temporada, aunque en la web indica que es la edición UK y el estuche tanto en audio como en subtítulos se detallan los idiomas habituales en la versión inglesa (incluido el polaco), en realidad no lo están. Por ejemplo no está en polaco ni el audio ni los subtítulos y en cambio está en magyar.

It's just what I wanted... Except it doesn't play for American CD players or computers

I enjoyed watching the whole story. All at once.THIS WAS GREAT STORY LINEThe Seller that sold me the" DVD SET BEWARE"I brought it and didn't work in my DVD player.I returnDVD in time and received any half of what I paid for it. WHY? BEWARE OF SELLER.

Not enough information about DVD not playing on regular player. Had to purchase player to watch