Game of Thrones: The Complete Fourth Season Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		5.0

Game of Thrones: The Complete Fourth Season Blu-ray Movie Review

"They can never be tamed. Not even by their mother."

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown February 9, 2015

Game of Thrones loves nothing more than to remind its fans they're watching Game of Thrones. Blood. Betrayal. Death. Murder most foul. No matter how many times the series shocks me, no matter how deeply a twist resonates, no matter how often I'm left stunned, heartbroken or profoundly unsettled, showrunners David Benioff & D.B. Weiss and author/co-executive producer George R.R. Martin manage to lull me into a false sense of security. Every. Single. Time. After the infamous Red Wedding, I swore I'd never again forget I was watching Game of Thrones. That I'd never forget how cruel and unpredictable the Seven Kingdoms can be. Wouldn't you know it, though, two episodes into Season Four, there I was again: wide-eyed, my jaw unhinged, my mind scrambling to convene order. Alright, a clear, weary thought stammered. Next time will be different. Next time I'll be ready. Besides, I have an entire season to brace for the worst. Alas, Martin, Benioff and Weiss were wise to my expectations. Those dirty, crafty Snows. Every season has been a slowburn build towards one or two water-cooler earthquakes. But Season Four? Season Four is a different beast entirely. Game-changers arrive in almost every episode -- some small, some big, some massive -- and several are real killers. No one is safe in Game of Thrones, by the Old Gods or the New, and the series' fourth season is hellbent on making that abundantly, painfully, tragically clear.

The series' fourth season of stars Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister), Aidan Gillen (Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish), Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont), Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Maisie Williams (Arya Stark), Isaac Hempstead Wright (Bran Stark), Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark), Jack Gleeson (Joffrey Baratheon), Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy), Rory McCann (Sandor "The Hound" Clegane), Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister), Jerome Flynn (Bronn), Conleth Hill (Varys), John Bradley (Samwell Tarly), Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth), James Cosmo (Commander Mormont), Stephen Dillane (Stannis Baratheon), Carice van Houten (Melisandre), Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth), Sibel Kekilli (Shae), Rose Leslie (Ygritte), Natalie Dormer (Margaery Tyrell), Ciarán Hinds (Mance Rayder), Diana Rigg (Lady Olenna Tyrell), Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Jojen Reed), Ellie Kendrick (Meera Reed), Michael McElhatton (Roose Bolton), Iwan Rheon (Ramsay Snow) and Pedro Pascal (Oberyn Martell).

Allegiances and loyalties shift dramatically in Season Four, as the reverberations of The Red Wedding are still being felt throughout Westeros. As the Lannisters gain even more power, the remaining Starks are hanging on by a thread, and new power players emerge from the shadows. Volatile doesn't even begin to describe the political landscape of the Seven Kingdoms, and Houses vie for control of any scraps that tumble off the Lannister table. And it's in the resulting conflicts that Game of Thrones continues to hold its sway over audiences. With its viewership on the rise -- a rarity in modern television shared only by other wildly popular cult phenoms like The Walking Dead -- there's something to death lurking around every corner that brings people back, week in and week out, eager to discover what happens to their favorite characters. Who will live? Who will die? It's contrary to the rules that have dominated television dramas for decades. Familiar faces and beloved heroes were killed off every now and then, sure. Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead didn't invent the murdered mainstay. But never have two shows taken such pride and received such audience acclaim for offing fan-favorite characters and sending such devastating shockwaves through pop culture and greater fandom.

What is it that we love about not knowing what fates await our beloved Lannisters, Starks, Baratheons, Greyjoys, Tyrells and Targaryens? Like all great television, Game of Thrones -- and more specifically the showrunners' willingness to do anything and everything, no matter how much we plead for mercy -- reflects the world around us. In an internet-savvy era, with information a literal keyboard tap away, there's little room for the TV tropes of old. The good guys will win. The bad guys will get theirs. Justice will prevail. Secondary characters may die, but A-list actors? Only if they didn't want to re-up their contract. If 24-Hour News has scared us into... ahem, taught the 21st century anything, it's that the good guys don't always win. The bad guys aren't always brought to justice. And the insecurity and unease that comes with those realizations -- realizations that were always there, just buried beneath decades of denial and chronic American optimism -- can be dealt with vicariously, through fiction. We don't want fairy tales and cheap escapism. Well, not those of us who gather beneath the banners of the Seven Kingdoms. (Sorry, Once Upon a Time diehards.) We want fantasy spattered with realism. Characters whose survival isn't a certainty. Shock. Awe. Surprise. Twists. We want those emotional gut punches. We welcome them. Demand them. Wait patiently, with baited breath, as Game of Thrones delivers them in spectacular style. And we're more than happy to invest our time and money for the privilege.

Breathing a word of what happens in Game of Thrones' masterfully paced, incredibly suspenseful, terribly intense fourth season feels like it would ruin all the fun, all the nail biting, all the uncomfortable shifts in your seat, all the raised hair on your neck and arms, all the chills racing up your back, all the laughs that burst out of your gut, all the cheers, the tears and gasps. So no spoiler warnings necessary. What I will say, though, is that Benioff, Weiss and the rest of the cast and crew are at the top of their collective game. The writing? Somehow sharper, smarter and more engrossing than before. The pacing and plotting, the finest the series has offered. The performances, outstanding; across the board. The casting, dead on. The changes to the source novels, clever and judicious. (I'd argue most of the alterations that are made improve upon the books, but that's a whole other debate.) The locations and production design, beautiful and evocative. The visual effects, better than ever and highly effective. The music, stirring and hypnotic. And the finale? One of the most powerful season finales of the show thus far, and one that will leave you begging for Season Five, which can't come soon enough.

Game of Thrones: The Complete Fourth Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Like the Blu-ray releases of previous seasons, The Complete Fourth Season features another precise and proficient 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation. The rich, sun-drenched hues of King's Landing and the bleak, icy despair of The Wall and the snowy lands of the Free Folk fare beautifully despite their differences, with perfectly saturated skintones, vibrant southern vistas, frigid northern snowscapes, dank castle interiors, visceral primaries and sinister blacks. Shadows are muted now and again and noise occasionally spikes, but each is attributable to the source photography, nothing more. Clarity is excellent too, with crisp edge definition, carefully resolved fine textures and excellent delineation. Even when darkness falls and scenes are lit by torchlight, the level of detail is impressive. (Oberyn's visit with Tyrion in the dungeons being a terrific example.) Better still, there isn't any macroblocking, banding, aliasing or ringing to report, and distractions are nowhere to be found, making it that much easier to sink into each episode.

Game of Thrones: The Complete Fourth Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As with previous seasons, HBO delivers its fourth absorbing Game of Thrones DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track and it doesn't disappoint for a second. Dialogue is intelligible, convincingly grounded in the mix and perfectly prioritized at all times, and effects hit hard and ring true. The LFE channel, meanwhile, mounts a frightening assault on the senses, restraining itself with kingly patience but attacking with full might of the low-end force at its command. The rear speakers follow suit, with pinpoint directionality, slick channel pans and an immersive soundfield that's as carefully crafted as it is wholly engrossing. Ramin Djawadi's score remains magnificently balanced throughout too, and decidedly proficient dynamics capture every nuance of the soundscape, regardless of how hushed or aggressive a scene might become. In short, The Complete Fourth Season's AV presentation is flawless. Fans will once again be thoroughly pleased.

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

• Audio Commentaries (Discs 1-4): Eleven audio commentaries are available, including "Two Swords" with showrunners David Benioff & D.B. Weiss and actor Pedro Pascal (Oberyn Martell); "The Lion and the Rose" with author/co- executive producer George R.R. Martin, director Alex Graves, and actors Jack Gleeson (Joffrey Baratheon) and Natalie Dormer (Margaery Tyrell); "Oathkeeper" with director Michelle MacLaren and director of photography Robert McLachlan; "First of His Name" with actors Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) and Maisie Williams (Arya Stark); "The Laws of Gods and Men" with director Alik Sakharov and writer/co-producer Bryan Cogman; "Mockingbird" with executive producer Bernadette Caulfield, producer Chris Newman, and actors Aidan Gillen (Littlefinger) and Kate Dickie (Lysa Arryn); "The Mountain and the Viper" with production designer Deborah Riley, costume designer Michele Clapton and director of photography Anette Haellmigk; "The Watchers on the Wall" with actors Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Rose Leslie (Ygritte) and John Bradley (Samwell Tarly); a second "Watchers on the Wall" track with VFX producer Steve Kullback and VFX supervisor Joe Bauer; "The Children" with director Alex Graves and actors Rory McCann (The Hound) and Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth); and a second track for "The Children" with actors Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister) and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister).
• In-Episode Guide (Discs 1-4, HD): Each episode features an onscreen experience that allows fans to explore the characters, locations and histories of Season Four. The "Characters" and "Location" options deliver simple pop-up text and factoids, nothing special. But the "Histories" button is more worthwhile, temporarily branching off to striking animated videos that detail the legends of Westeros and Essos, as told by the characters themselves. These varying perspectives offer insight into key houses, religions and important events relevant to the third season.
• The Politics of Power: A Look Back at Season 3 (Disc 1, HD, 25 minutes): Revisit the jaw-dropping, throat- slashing, wedding-crashing shock and awe of Season Three in this lengthy overview, and catch up on all the deaths, political maneuvers, betrayals and power shifts that define Season Four.
• New Characters and Locations (Disc 1, HD, 8 minutes): A short but sweet introduction to the new faces, cultures and locales of the fourth season. Those who struggle to keep up with the series' roster and hotspots will find this particularly helpful.
• Bastards of Westeros (Disc 1, HD, 7 minutes): Showrunners David Benioff & D.B. Weiss and author George R.R. Martin discuss the role bastards like Jon Snow and Ramsay Snow play in the Seven Kingdoms.
• Histories & Lore (Disc 4, HD): The fourth season's animated "Histories" shorts (also available as part of the In- Episode Guides) provide a quick but informative rundown on a variety of subjects. Segments include:
  
  
  • House Martel (narrated by Oberyn Martell )
  • House Baelish (Littlefinger)
  • Dragons (Grand Maester Pycelle)
  • Poisons (Oberyn Martell)
  • The Bastards of Westeros (Ellaria Sand)
  • The Iron Bank of Braavos (Tycho Nestoris)
  • Robert's Rebellion: Dornish Perspective (Oberyn Martell)
  • Sellswords & Hedge Knights (Bronn)
  • The Wall (Samwell Tarly)
  • The Nations of the North (Tormund Giantsbane)
  • The Kingsguard Part 1 (Jaime Lannister)
  • The Kingsguard Part 2 (Bronn)
  • The Maester's Chain (Qyburn)
  • The Death of Kings (Varys)
  • Valyrian Steel (Jorah Mormont)
  • Justice of the Seven Kingdoms (Bronn)
• Behind the Battle for the Wall (Disc 4, HD, 37 minutes): An extensive dissection of the fourth season's ninth episode, "The Watchers on the Wall," and all the challenges it entailed. From its development to its performances to its action choreography, character beats, giants and mammoths, VFX, and the episode's singular focus, this outstanding overview of the production covers a lot of ground and to great effect. If only every episode offered a similar behind-the-scenes documentary.
• The Fallen: A Roundtable (Disc 4, HD, 30 minutes): One of the best extras in the set in this half-hour roundtable hosted by co-producer/writer Bryan Cogman. Featuring seven key cast members whose characters met their demise in Season Four, this lively, entertaining chat is a blast from start to finish. Lots of laughs, lots of fantastic anecdotes, lots of insight into the creation of the actors' unforgettable heroes, rogues and villains.
• Deleted Scenes (Disc 4, HD, 3 minutes): Only two deleted scenes are included this season: "Bronn and Shae," which provides an interesting glimpse into the birth of a decision with tragic consequences, and "Dany and Missandei," a brief, inconsequential beat that amounts to very little.
• Blooper Reel (Disc 4, HD, 2 minutes): Silliness and shenanigans on set.

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

Final words? It's Game of Thrones. If you aren't already watching, start. If you're already watching, you're already buying The Complete Fourth Season. And if you're already buying The Complete Fourth Season, you're already itching for the premiere of the fifth this April. Thankfully (though not at all surprisingly), fans won't have anything to complain about when picking up the series' latest Blu-ray release. With another striking video presentation, another sensational DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, and another feature-rich supplemental package, you won't be given any reason whatsoever to regret your latest Game of Thrones purchase.