Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 8, 2018

As if on cue, just as I had finished watching the first season of Game of Thrones in 4K and was preparing to start to write this review, my email inbox got a “breaking news” alert from Variety which had the following headline:

'Game of Thrones' Prequel Series From Writer Jane Goldman Scores HBO Pilot Order

That may at least be welcome news (if maybe potentially troubling for those wondering if liberties with George R.R. Martin's source material will be taken) for longtime fans of this HBO landmark, which is now nearing the end of its original run. You can almost sense how epochal the show seemed back in its still relatively early cable life from the tone of my colleague Ken Brown’s Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season Blu-ray review. In fact, one of the more daunting assignments I’ve been handed in my own tenure here at Blu-ray.com was taking over reviewing duties of Game of Thrones from Ken several years ago. While Ken reviewed the first Blu-ray release of the first season, fans may know that there’s been an almost astounding, maybe even a baffling, number of editions, versions and/or re-releases of the seminal year of the series:

Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season

Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season

Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season

Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season

Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season

Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season

Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season

Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season

Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season

Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season

Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season

Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season

To the above glut (which doesn't even include editions that have more than one season and which include the first season) we now have HBO's latest strategy to part fans from their hard earned cash. Those who like snark hunts will be able to find an edition of the first season that had a Dolby Atmos sound upgrade in the above list, as does this new set, but for many the chief selling point of this version should be the enhanced video. (Okay, I'll be nice: the previously released standard 1080p Blu-ray set with Dolby Atmos can be found here.)

Those wanting a recap of the first season’s brilliant introduction of these now legendary characters, as well as the wending narrative that was so expertly put into motion will find a wealth of information in Ken’s Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season Blu-ray review.

Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080p Blu-rays.

Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season is presented on 4K UHD courtesy of HBO with a 2160p transfer in 1.78:1. While the season was digitally captured, as the IMDb lists, HDCAM SR was used for workflow, which may account for some of what I'm seeing in this season's 4K presentation. I'll just cut to the chase here, following up initial generalizations with some individual examples, and state that while there is the typical improvement in detail levels seen from a 2K upscale, I was a bit underwhelmed with the presentation. That said, I should state upfront that I saw none of the apparently major issues that the two user reviews posted here as this goes live seemed to experience. I kept wondering why I was feeling just a little less gobsmacked than I had hoped to be with this presentation, and my unscientific answers are twofold: first, a lot of this season (and indeed the entire series) tends to play out in somewhat dark, ill defined, environments and one of the things that struck me is how blacks are sometimes slightly crushed in this presentation, and indeed the entire presentation here looked darker to me than the already pretty dark looking 1080p Blu-ray. Adding to that issue is a general sense that fine detail levels just can't compete with some of the shrouded presentation, especially in some of the more heavily graded sequences. The other main thing that I think may have contributed to my at least somewhat lackluster reaction to this release is the ubiquitous use of CGI. Several of the reviewers here at Blu-ray.com commented almost immediately upon setting up our first 4K units how a lot of CGI FX tended to look more "cartoonish" at times in 4K presentations, and while I wouldn't say that element exactly enters the fray here, there is recurrent softness in some of the FX work that looked pretty stupendous in 1080p, but which the greater resolution of this presentation tends to "put the lie to" (so to speak).

Now, with those qualms out of the way, the positives of this release for me included a definite if subtle uptick in detail levels, as indeed can be gleaned by my less than satisfactory response to some of the CGI. But that same new precision also informs actual human actors, where things like facial pores, wounds, and hair have increased definition, and some of the fine detail on costumes is also very impressive. Perhaps surprisingly, I wouldn't say that Dolby Vision and HDR really add a ton of new highlights, but there are some appealing interstitial tones, especially in both the blue and brown graded material, two tones that are in prevalent supply throughout this season. There are some neat subtleties in some already nuanced hues as well, as in one of the first sequences with Daenerys in the bath, where there's a very appealing peach like color that is a bit "rosier" than on the 1080p Blu-ray. But these are all rather subtle differences, and ones that may simply not be different enough to really warrant a "wow!" from devoted fans.

My personal bottom line here is that there is improvement and/or differentiation here, though not to huge degrees, and so fans may want to consider how much of an upgrade they'll be getting with this release.

Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Mmm. . .mmm. . .good. That's about all you need to know about Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season's Dolby Atmos track. From the first thunderous rush of LFE and clear overhead jingle of metal as the series gets under way, you know you're in for a thrilling audio experience, and there's not an episode in this first season that doesn't provide sometimes awe inspiring sonics. While there are any number of standout set pieces scattered throughout this season, all of which provide a glut of really expertly designed sound effects, it's the attention paid to "smaller" moments that really continually impressed me. Relatively "unimportant" sound effects like wind rustling through forests or the flap of dragon wings continually provide sweeping panning sounds (both horizontally and vertically) and rushes of overhead activity in this Atmos iteration. The series' towering score also sounds fantastic, with clear separation and at times rather wide imaging of orchestral masses. Dialogue is always presented cleanly and clearly and is smartly prioritized throughout the season.

Note: As has been the case with some of the standard 1080p Blu-ray releases of the series HBO has put out, these discs have been (kind of weirdly) authored to default to the Dolby Digital 5.1 track, not the Atmos track, so have your remote handy when you boot your discs.

Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Many but not all of the supplements from the previously reviewed version of the first season have made it to the 4K UHD package (I haven't owned the several re- releases of the first season, none of which have been reviewed here, but my hunch is many if not most of the supplements listed below have been a part of previous Blu-ray releases).

• Audio Commentaries

  Disc One

  "Winter is Coming" with executive producers/writers David Benioff & D.B. Weiss

  "The Kingsroad" with Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister), Mark Addy (Robert Baratheon) and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister)

  "Lord Snow" with Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark), Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) and Isaac Hempstead Wright (Bran Stark)

  Disc Two

  "Cripples, Bastards and Broken Things" with writer Bryan Cogman and Kit Harington (Jon Snow)

  "A Golden Crown" with director Daniel Minahan, Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen) and Harry Lloyd (Viserys Targaryen)

  Disc Three

  "The Pointy End" with co-executive producer/author George R.R. Martin

  Disc Four

  "Fire and Blood" with Benioff, Weiss and director Alan Taylor

The rest of the supplements can all be found on Disc Four:

• Character Profiles (1080p; 30:42) provides overviews of Ned, Robb, Arya, Bran, Sansa and Catelyn Stark; Cersei, Jaime and Tyrion Lannister; Daenerys and Viserys Targaryen; and Jon Snow, Khal Drago, Petyr Baelish and Robert Baratheon.


• Anatomy of an Episode (1080p; 1:00:31) delves into the epochal Episode 6.


• Making of Game of Thrones (1080p; 30:02) provides an excellent (if occasionally spoiler laden) overview of some of the aspects of the production.


• From the Book to the Screen (1080p; 5:15) repeats some information from the above featurette, but does include some snippets with George R.R. Martin.


• Creating the Show Open (1080p; 5:07) is a fun piece focusing on the now iconic opening credits sequence.


• Creating the Dothraki Language (1080p; 5:27) does similar service for an arguably less iconic element of the show.


• The Night's Watch (1080p; 8:07) features Martin again along with others discussing elements surrounding The Wall.


• Histories and Lore (1080p; 1:09:04) offers the often cool looking animated background pieces illustrating various aspects of the show's dense mythology.


• Cast Auditions (1080p; 10:37) features the auditions of Harry Lloyd (Viserys Targaryen), Rory McCann (Sandor Clegane), Jason Momoa (Khal Drogo), Sophie Trner (Sansa Stark), Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) and Miltos Yerolemou (Syrio Forel).

Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The series: unmatched and maybe unmatchable. The sound: absolutely incredible. The supplements: bounteous, if not everything that has been released. The video: an upgrade, yes, but a somewhat limited one in this reviewer's opinion. If they spoke Latin in Westeros, they might be saying Caveat emptor. My hunch is almost everyone considering this release probably already has at least one of the many previous 1080p Blu-ray releases of this first season, and to those folks I'd advise that if you don't have the Dolby Atmos version, this 4K version may well be worth the double dip.