Cool News
GAME OF THRONES!! TRUE BLOOD!! TWILIGHT ZONE!! TINKER TAILOR!! Cheapest Blu TOM Ever!! STARMAN!! BATMAN!! SARAH JANE!! LOONEY!! LIARS!! FERB!! PAINS!! GHOST!! FREAK!! BITES!! BENSON!! ROGERS!! TRANSFORMERS! HercVault!!
Herc’s Popular Pricing Pantry
Most of the “Columbo” seasons have plummeted to all-time lows of $14.99 or less!! (63% Off!!)
New This Week
Edgy, violent, moving, agreeably complex, darkly funny, fast-paced, nudity-embracing and possessed of an army of compelling characters, HBO’s “Game of Thrones” 
Let me go a step further. So far I’m enjoying it more than Peter Jackson’s excellent “Lord of the Ring” movies.
Adapted from the “A Song of Fire And Ice” novels by George R.R. Martin by “25th Hour” novelist David Benioff (who screenwriting efforts include “Troy,” “Stay,” “The Kite Runner and “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”) and “Lucky Wander Boy” novelist D.B. Weiss (who has written unproduced screenplays for “Halo,” “Ender’s Game,” a “They Live” remake and an “I Am Legend” prequel).
Those writing the latter half of the first 10-episode season include Martin himself (no stranger to TV; his background includes the 1986 revival of “The Twilight Zone” and a long stint scripting CBS’ “Beauty and the Beast”) and Jane Espenson (whose eclectic resume includes “Deep Space Nine,” “Gilmore Girls,” “Battlestar Galactica” and four TV series created by “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” mastermind Joss Whedon).
While the books are widely compared to “Lord of the Rings,” HBO’s “Thrones” reminds me more of “Dune,” with its feuding “houses” and sweeping political bent augmenting the strange vistas. Like the “Rings” movies, “Thrones” boasts eye-widening visual design and effects -- starting with the beautiful animated map of Westeros that forms the series’ opening titles.
It may remind also of HBO’s “The Wire” with a staggering (and swelling) number of characters that challenge viewers to pay attention to dialogue that connects everything. And it reminds a bit of “Mad Men,” with its repeated reminders that things were done differently Back Then.
The pilot launches all manner of intriguing plots, among them:
* A deserting guard at the northern edge of the fictional kingdom Westeros (the chunk they aptly dub Winterfell) claims to have survived a slaughter perpetrated by a race unseen for thousands of years.
* The longtime King’s Hand (longtime monarch Robert Baratheon’s chief of staff) has unexpectedly met his end, an end possibly precipitated by the family of Robert’s hot queen Cercei (Lena Headey), the lusty and duplicitous House Lannister.
* It’s suspected the king (Mark Addy, a long way from “Still Standing”) is traveling north to ask Ned Stark (Sean Bean), the king’s old friend and lord of Winterfell, to relocate south to serve as the king’s new Hand.
* The disdainful and very blonde Prince Viserys Targaryen III (Harry Lloyd), whose family long ago conquered Westeros, hatches an unsavory plan to retake Robert’s empire after 17 years in exile.
* House Stark stumbles upon a litter of orphaned direwolves, much cuter than their name implies.
Season two launches April 1.
… Thrones is unsentimental and often brutal. It's also shaping up to be the most immersive grownup adventure TV has produced since Lost. …
… the real magical wizardry here lies in the rich storytelling, embroiling a bounty of memorable characters young and old in a fatalistic free-for-all of dynastic mayhem. …
… Game of Thrones has had a lot of advance hype for being full of sex and violence, and I don’t want to deny the pleasure those things can bring us in entertainment. But the sex ’n’ violence is also better grounded in plot and motivation than in other recent TV efforts such as The Borgias and Spartacus — that’s where working with quality source material helps a lot. …
… In a sense the series, which will span 10 episodes, ought to come with a warning like, “If you can’t count cards, please return to reruns of ‘Sex and the City.’ ” …
… a great and thundering series of political and psychological intrigue bristling with vivid characters, cross-hatched with tantalizing plotlines and seasoned with a splash of fantasy. … quickly finds that rare alchemy of action, motivation and explanation, proving, once again, that the epic mythology remains the Holy Grail of almost any medium.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
… Save your TV time for HBO's far superior fantasy "Game of Thrones" …
… trying to do for the fantasy genre what the classic HBO dramas did for cops, cowboys and wiseguys. And for the most part, it works - stunningly well. …
… This tale of knights, kings and spectral threats is, in general, well acted by an able cast, and once the medieval-flavored story of courtly maneuvering and moral ambiguity gets into gear midway through the season, much of what works about the novels begins to work in the show. …
… manages to meet its soaring expectations. Indeed, “Game of Thrones’’ is worth every single line of effusive blog geekery and promotional buzz it has elicited in the past year. You may not be a fantasy lover. You may have found “The Lord of the Rings’’ as enthralling as the front of a box of Lucky Charms. But there is something even for you in this epic. …
… It's hard to imagine a better screen transfer than this HBO series …
… the hype was right and the wait was worth it. … It's difficult to single out the most accomplished parts of "Thrones." The ambition is immense, the fantasy world exceptionally well-conceived, the writing and acting elevating the entire series beyond contemporaries like "The Borgias" and "Camelot," and the visual appeal continues to surprise with each episode. …
… Perhaps not in Westeros, but in this realm backstabbing can make for inordinately rewarding drama. And as much as sci-fi and fantasy fans love to grouse and nitpick, HBO, by enlivening the spring with 10 hours of genuinely epic television, has given them almost no cause for discontent. …
TV-on-Disc Calendar
Last Week
Angry Beavers 3.x Vol. 1
The Brief: The Complete Collection
French Fields: The Complete Collection
Here Come The Brides 2.x
Here's Lucy 5.x
Justice League: Doom
Justice League: Doom (Blu-ray)
Land Girls 3.x
Law & Order 10.x
The Manions Of America: The Complete Miniseries
Midsomer Murders Vol. 19
Mission: Impossible '89
Mission: Impossible ‘88/'89
My Little Pony: Ponyville Chronicle
Todd and the Book of Pure Evil
Top Gear 17.x
Top Gear 17.x (Blu-ray)
This Week
Adventure Time: It Came From the Nightosphere
Agatha Christie's Poirot 3.x (Blu-ray)
Cimarron City: The Complete Series
Combat Hospital 1.x
Tennessee Tuxedo: The Complete Collection
Transformers Prime 1.x (Blu-ray)
Next Week
Bobby's World 1.x-7.x
Breakout Kings 1.x
Call Me Fitz 2.x
The Chipette Diaries
Come Fly With Me 1.x
Come Fly With Me 1.x (Blu-ray)
Doctor Who: Tomb of the Cybermen
18 Kids And Counting 3.x
Ghost Hunters International 2.x Vol. 1
Hercules 3.x
The Killing 1.x
The Looney Tunes Show 1.x Vol. 3
Neverland: The Complete Miniseries
Neverland: The Complete Miniseries (Blu-ray)
Out: The Complete Miniseries
Picker Sisters 1.x
Snapped 3.x
Superjail 2.x
That '70s Show 1.x (Blu-ray)
The Tribe 1.x Vol. 1
Wallace & Gromit's World Of Invention
Wallace & Gromit's World Of Invention (Blu-ray)
Xena 3.x
March 20
The Adventures Of Tintin 2.x
Arthur's Travel Adventures
Batman: The Brave and the Bold 2.x Vol. 2
Hey Arnold 2.x Vol. 1
Jane By Design Vol. 1
Kojak 3.x
Mister Rogers & Me
My Living Doll Vol. 1
People Are Funny 1.x
The Scarecrow and Mrs. King 3.x
That '70s Show 1.x (Blu-ray)
March 27
BBC Natural History Collection Vol. 1
BBC Natural History Collection Vol. 1 (Blu-ray)
The Bravest: The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
CatDog 1.x Vol. 2
Combat Hospital 1.x
DeGrassi 11.x Vol. 1
Eureka 4.5
I, Claudius: The Complete Miniseries
Mystery Science Theater 3000 XXIII
Singled Handed Vol. 2
South Park 15.x
South Park 15.x (Blu-ray)
April 3
Benson 2.x
Bob: The Complete Series
Brothers 1.x
The Commander Vol. 2
Danny Phantom 2.x Vol. 1
Dark Shadows Collections
Designing Women 6.x
Eagleheart 1.x
Mayday 3.x/4.x
My Boys 4.x
Regular Show 1.x/2.x
Roseanne 3.x ($13.49)
Roseanne 4.x ($13.49)
Starman 1.x
That '70s Show 3.x ($13.49)
That '70s Show 4.x ($13.49)
3rd Rock From The Sun 3.x ($13.49)
3rd Rock From The Sun 4.x ($13.49)
Torchwood: Miracle Day
Torchwood: Miracle Day (Blu-ray)
April 10
Adam 12 7.x
Car 54 Where Are You 2.x
Dark Shadows: The Complete Series
Doctor Who: Carnival Of Monsters
Doctor Who: The Daemons
The Gene Autry Show 3.x/4.x
I'm Dickens...He's Fenster
Laverne & Shirley 5.x
Laverne & Shirley Five Season Pack
Logan's Run: The Complete Series
Night Gallery 3.x
One Tree Hill 9.x
April 17
Agatha Christie's Poirot 4.x
Agatha Christie's Poirot 4.x (Blu-ray)
American Dad Vol. 7
Ben 10 Vol. 5
Bob's Burgers 1.x
Conan The Adventurer 2.x Vol. 2
Eight Is Enough 1.x
Ernie Kovacs: The ABC Specials
Frozen Planet: The Complete Series
Frozen Planet: The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
Ice Road Truckers 5.x
Last of the Summer Wine: Vintage 1992
Man Vs. Wild: Top 25 Man Moments
Meet The Browns 5.x
19 Kids And Counting 4.x
The Super Hero Squad Show: The Infinity Gauntlet 2.x Vol. 3
Top Shot 3.x
Treme 2.x
Treme 2.x (Blu-ray)
April 24
Ben 10: Four Episodes
Iron Man Anime: The Complete Series
McMillan & Wife Double Feature
The Wild Thornberrys 2.x Vol. 2
X-Men Anime: The Complete Series
May 1
Covert Affairs 2.x
The Dick Van Dyke Show: Carl Reiner's Favorites
Dirty Sexy Money 1.x ($13.99)
Dirty Sexy Money 2.x ($13.99)
Felicity 2.x ($13.99)
G.I. Joe A Real American Hero: The Complete First Series
Happiness Is Peanuts: Team Snoopy
The Invisible Man: The Complete Series
The Invisible Man: The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
Kojak 4.x
Love Is On The Air
Samantha Who? 1.x ($13.99)
Samantha Who? 2.x ($13.99)
Suits 1.x
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: The Complete Miniseries (Blu-ray)
Tom and Jerry: Around the World
Transformers Japanese Collection: Super-God Masterforce
The Virginian 6.x
Wagon Train 5.x
Who Do You Think You Are? 2.x
May 8
The Big C 2.x
Chuck 5.x
Chuck 5.x (Blu-ray)
Doctor Who: The Happiness Patrol
Doctor Who: Nightmare of Eden
Drop Dead Diva 3.x
Franklin: The DVD Collection
Fantasy Island 2.x
Happiness Is Peanuts: Team Snoopy
Tom & Jerry: Around The World
Twilight Zone: More Fan Favorites
Vega$ 3.x Vol. 1
May 15
Aaahh!!! Real Monsters 2.x
Dog Bites Man: The Complete Series
Flashpoint 4.x
Flashpoint: 4-Season Pack
Freak Show: The Complete Series
Hazel 3.x
Hell On Wheels
Hell On Wheels (Blu-ray)
Riverboat: The Complete Series
Scooby-Doo! 13 Spooky Tales Around the World
The Universe 6.x
The Universe 6.x (Blu-ray)
Victorious 2.x
The War: The Complete Miniseries (Blu-ray)
May 22
Ghost Hunters International 2.x Vol. 2
My Babysitter's A Vampire 1.x
Route 66: The Complete Series
SWAT 2.x
May 29
DeGrassi 11.x Vol. 1
The Garfield Show Vol. 6
Maverick 1.x
Rookie Blue 2.x
Rookie Blue 2.x (Blu-ray)
Royal Pains 3.x Vol. 2
True Blood 1.x (Blu-ray)
True Blood 2.x (Blu-ray)
True Blood 3.x (Blu-ray)
True Blood 4.x
True Blood 4.x (Blu-ray)
Wing Commander Academy: The Complete Series
June 5
Falling Skies 1.x (Blu-ray)
New Tricks 7.x
Phineas and Ferb: The Perry Files
Pretty Little Liars 2.x
Thundercats 1.x Vol. 2
The Twilight Zone: Fan Favorites (Blu-ray)
June 12
Decoded 2.x
Gene Simmons Family Jewels 6.x Vol. 1
Gene Simmons Family Jewels 6.x Vol. 2
The Sarah Jane Adventures 5.x
June 19
Batman: The Very Best Of
July 3
Midsomer Murders Vol. 20
Midsomer Murders Vol. 20 (Blu-ray)
August 28
$5.67 Per Blu Movie!! This Week Only!!
Hundreds of Blu-rays Under $10!!
-
+ Expand All
-
Mar 06, 2012 6:59:20 AM CST
Give us Adventure Time full seasons! On Blu Ray! Or I'll jack someone up!
by darthvadersbadside
-
I know absolutely nothing about it, so was wondering if there are any fans of it out there. Is it worth a try? What's it similar to, either in style or quality?
-
that is the only way i'll be on board for purchasing...it's such an awesome show
-
As did I. LOVED it!!!!! Best show on TV and the runner up is not even close.
-
They've got 2 cooler variant slipcases to choose from for the same price!
-
I'm sure it's in an article somewhere on this website, but in case anyone was in any doubt about its demise... well, it's rightly over (unless someone else picks it up). It was a nice idea but needed fewer family discussions and more dinosaurs!
-
Crusade was a spin off of Babylon 5. If you've seen B5, then you probably have an idea of the style of show this is. If you could stand the cheesy dialogue, B5 was excellent. I never disliked Crusade, but it wasn't as good as it could have been. Like the final season of Babylon 5, Crusade was under the control of the TNT network, and pressure from cable executives killed caused problems for the show. It was canceled pretty quickly, and as I remember it, the overall major plot of the show was never resolved. I think it's a good buy at the current price. Just don't expect to be blown away. If you do watch Crusade, you may feel as I do that it's a real shame, because there was certainly potential.
-
This show better be good, girls and boys. I don't want to find out I just paid 47 and the best thing was the letter opener.
-
can't beat 7$! a great show...and I had such a crush on 90's Garofalo...
-
I was just looking for it on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca and I can't find it.
-
Actually I didn't really like Babylon 5. It just wasn't for me. So I suppose I wouldn't really care for Crusade. Thought I'd ask. You never know.
-
Mar 06, 2012 9:19:44 PM CST
I think The Fugitive got cancelled due to music rights
by nasty in the pasty
They totally fucked up the initial DVD releases by replacing the original music tracks with generic synth music, and were supposed to rectify that mistake by restoring the original tracks for the boxed set, but only a few trickled out before they recalled the entire set under mysterious circumstances. I bet they'll release it again at some point...with the shitty, modern-day synth music.
-
No no no... ME Claudius!
No no no no NO! ME... Claudius! -
... I am not one to fling around praise for just anything. This series of books is the best thing I have read in this genre for many decades and the HBO series has done a fantastic job of converting it into a TV series so far. I doubt you will be disappointed.
-
What the hell are you smoking Herc? I AM this shows targeted demographic and it bored me to tears. Never read the books and went in completely cold, but I could not get past the second episode. I kept waiting for Dinklage to start doing the Safety Dance.
May give it another go, but I'm not optimistic. -
It's so good, even better than I remember.. And knowing what happens, you can see all the little foreshadowing going on. Like in the first episode, it's mentioned that Hands of the King never last long.
-
I was a bit underwhelmed until the last few minutes of the episode. All the previews and sneak peeks gave most of the first hour away. But then [youknowwho] saw [youknowwho] doing [youknowwhat] to [youknowwho] and then [yknow] happened. That caught me by surprise (I hadn't read up to page 71 yet). Now I look forward to Epi 2 next week. But first a little Luther (2), a little Treme, a little Northern Exposure, and a little Homicide. Having no cable is nice when you know you can just cherrypick.
-
...had 'technical glitches' on the discs that made players unable to play them (flashbacks to the VHS versions) and so they were recalled, with a reissue pending. I hope this is true (and not more copyright issues) and the fixed version will be out again soon.
Readers Talkback
User Login
Top Talkbacks
- THE EXORCIST Is Being Remade... -- 226 total posts 225 posts
- UPDATE!! What The Hell Happened With G.I. JOE: RETALIATION?! -- 215 total posts 215 posts
- Quint has seen the brand new Jaws restoration and demands that Universal do a wide theatrical rerelease this summer! -- 172 total posts 172 posts
- THE DARK KNIGHT RISES TV Spot Has New Footage And Dialogue! UPDATED To Add Second Spot! -- 328 total posts 168 posts
- Remember when I said I’d kill The Behind the Scenes Pic of the Day last? I lied. -- 161 total posts 161 posts
- The day we've all been waiting for has arrived...IN THE ARMY NOW II is in the works! -- 81 total posts 81 posts
- A New Clip From PROMETHEUS!! Charlize And Fassbender Talking About...Something (?)... -- 80 total posts 80 posts
- AIN'T IT COOL with Harry Knowles: Episode VIII: John Landis, Carroll Spinney (Oscar the Grouch and Big Bird), MONSTERPALOOZA, And More!! -- 78 total posts 78 posts
- Gary Oldman Joins The ROBOCOP Remake! -- 150 total posts 74 posts
- G.I. JOE: RETALIATION Delayed Nine Months...Thanks To A Force More Sinister Than Cobra!! -- 280 total posts 66 posts