Game Of Thrones The Complete Fourth Season Collector’s Edition Steelbook Blu-ray Review

Like the Steelbook editions of The Complete First Season, The Complete Second Season, and the new The Complete Third Season (my review of which you can read here), the Game Of Thrones The Complete Fourth Season Collector’s Edition Steelbook Blu-ray is, obviously, not worth buying if you already own the previous Blu-ray edition. Even though it does have a cool Knights Watch magnet. But if you don’t own this season on Blu-ray, well, then you’re in luck, because this collection does a mostly great job of presenting these ten episodes.

For starters, the Game Of Thrones The Complete Fourth Season Collector’s Edition Steelbook Blu-ray is worth getting for the episodes alone. Not only do they look and sound great here, but if you have a good stereo, you have the added bonus of being able to watch these episodes with Dolby Atmos.

Accompanying all but one of the ten episodes on the Game Of Thrones The Complete Fourth Season Collector’s Edition Steelbook Blu-ray are eleven commentaries, including two each for the ninth and tenth episodes; the third, for some reason, gets nothing. Along with author George R.R. Martin — who wrote the original novels as well as some episodes — these commentaries also feature such stars as Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), Kit Harrington (Jon Snow), Maise Williams (Arya Stark), and Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark), along with a bunch of the writers, directors, producers, and other people from the crew. Though some of this commentaries are more entertaining than others. While all are informative, the ones that have the actors are also a bit lighthearted, while the three that are just crew people sometimes devolve into Film School 101. That said, these do work better than some TV show commentaries because everyone is in the same room at the same time, and can thus interact.

Along with the commentaries, all of the episodes on the Game Of Thrones The Complete Fourth Season Collector’s Edition Steelbook Blu-ray come with an in-episode guide that brings up notes about the fictional history, characters, and locations in whatever scene you’re watching. But while they are helpful and informative, this is best used after you’ve watched the episode, since the text takes up a lot of the screen.

The Game Of Thrones The Complete Fourth Season Collector’s Edition Steelbook Blu-ray also has all of the same extras as the previous version. Which, of course, means it has the same problems.

To begin, the Game Of Thrones The Complete Fourth Season Collector’s Edition Steelbook Blu-ray has a helpful recap of the previous season called “The Politics Of Power: A Look Back At Season 3.” Even cooler, it’s located on the first disc, which is where you’d want such a thing.

I mention the placement of “Politics…” because, annoyingly, the same compliment cannot be paid to where some of the other extras on the Game Of Thrones The Complete Fourth Season Collector’s Edition Steelbook Blu-ray are located. For example, the first disc also has a self-explanatory featurette titled “New Characters & Locations,” along with “Bastards Of Westeros” in which Martin and members of the cast and crew talk about how kids born out of wedlock play an important role in the show. And though both of these featurettes are informative, you shouldn’t actually watch them until you’ve seen every episode; hence, they should be on the last disc.

Then there’s the two deleted scenes, which are located on the last disc of the Game Of Thrones The Complete Fourth Season Collector’s Edition Steelbook Blu-ray, rather than in the sections for the episodes from which they were cut. It’s also annoying that there’s nothing to indicate why they were cut, either. Though it hardly matters, since neither scene is all that interesting.

Things get much better when you get to the fourth and final disc of Game Of Thrones The Complete Fourth Season Collector’s Edition Steelbook Blu-ray. For it is here that you get “The Fallen: A Roundtable,” in which all of the actors whose characters died this season together to discuss their time on the show. But while you might think this would be rather depressing thing to watch, it’s actually rather fun and funny because everyone seems appreciative of their time on the show, as well as for this opportunity commiserate. “The Fallen: A Roundtable” isn’t the only funny bit in this collection, though. There’s also the “Season Four Blooper Reel,” which has the cast screwing both up and around for two minutes.

Lastly, the Game Of Thrones The Complete Fourth Season Collector’s Edition Steelbook Blu-ray has a forty minute long featurette titled “Behind The Battle For The Wall” shows how they shot that scene, while “Histories And Lore” is an interactive guide that uses short animated videos to talk about the dragons, The Wall and The Night’s Watch, and other aspects of this world.

Oh, and that magnet, there’s actually an indentation into the steelbook’s cover that perfectly matches it, though I don’t know why you’d keep it there instead of on your fridge where everyone can see you’ve taken the Black, so don’t take my last Coke.

Despite all of my misgivings about the the Game Of Thrones The Complete Fourth Season Collector’s Edition Steelbook Blu-ray, though, it is a great way to watch this excellent show. The episodes look and sound great, and this has all the extras you’d want. Which, as I’ve said, doesn’t make it worth the double dip, but if you’ve been holding out, this is the edition to grab.

SCORE: 8.5/10

 

HBO have also released the Game Of Thrones The Complete Third Season Collector’s Edition Steelbook Blu-ray; you can read my review of it by clicking here.