Kaka

Only after about thirty minutes did the talking stop and something started to happen. What caught my attention is that Ringo Lam (unlike, for example, Frank Darabont in The Shawshank Redemption) focuses more on the prison's routines and rules rather than on the characters and their relationships, this is the main and crucial point of the story. Although the story itself is quite simple, the skillful, typically sharp Hong Kong direction, raw setting, and extremely rough action scenes stand out even more. They are scarce during must of the film, but towards the end, it's a real blast.

A fairly entertaining romp that alternates usually mediocre comedy moments with rather clumsy action passages, aided by the odd use of miniatures and atypical camera shots, apparently in an attempt to be interesting at all costs. There are moments when it fulls it off, others when not much so. But the positive element of a likeable lead pair is still present, dominated mostly by Rachel McAdams and the absolutely awesome interludes with Denzel Washington. The dialogue interactions are fine, but the viewer just has to accept that it's actually terrible bullshit from A to Z.

Even though the last season is the weakest of the lot, this is still the best series ever.

A top-notch episode working primarily with the chapter beyond the Narrow Sea this time, which is compelling in its intensity and naturalism. At the same time, you can feel that things are getting darker and big twists are coming.

More relationship-building, plus some iconic gestures. My concern is that the next episodes will be painful for the audience, since with so much sentimentality, logically some characters will have to clear the field. The preparations for the battle, and the layout as a whole remind me a lot of Peter Jackson’s Helm’s Deep.

Jaime Lannister is the highlight of this episode, his character is so colourful, layered and unpredictable. The scenes in the north behind the wall are a question mark, and remain the most ambiguous. In contrast, in the south everything is becoming clear. Another excellent duo with great chemistry between Arya and Tywin Lannister. Charles Dance is terrific.

In reverse and one of the best episodes so far. Lots of intrigue and string-pulling in Kings Landing, with more and more characters getting involved, and above all, finally, less filler in the North, with one key scene pushing the whole Northern passage a mile forward, and unrivalled scenes of Daenerys and dragons. Truly epic.

The penultimate episode is full of emotion, an interesting barbarian resuscitation ritual and a gripping finale, probably the most pivotal scene of the entire season and at the same time probably a ruthless indication of where the Game will actually go and how the characters will be dealt with.

The unsurpassed Battle of Winterfell, probably the best shot historical battle ever – yes, it’s even better than that one in Braveheart, which may be a little clearer for the viewer in terms of editing, but this one brings it down a little lower in terms of pure experience. The actual turmoil is anything but uncluttered, and if anything can reflect it best, it was here. I might compare it to Stone's battle of Gaugamel in Alexander. It was properly brutal and bloody, but that one didn’t have literal mounds of dead bodies and horses beating against each other. Very dirty, suggestive and dramatic. Some moments are even reminiscent of the best of Saving Private Ryan and the landing in Normandy with the handheld camera behind the main character. And the episode’s ending is again flawless, a total emotional catharsis not only for the main characters but also for the viewer.

An impressive finale with the king of the undead vs the dragons. Otherwise a more or less balanced episode, exclusively Nordic, where the capture of the breathtaking natural scenery is surpassed perhaps only by the final battle, and it’s worth mentioning the unusually large number of humorous inserts, unlike in previous episodes, which somewhat lighten the dense and dark atmosphere, but they are not entirely detrimental.