Sunday night’s episode of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” was one of the most ambitious and action packed in television history. The hit series has always served as TV’s best answer to the blockbuster spectacle of cinema, but “Battle of the Bastards” raised the bar several notches.
(Photo: HBO screen grab)
Director Miguel Sapochnik, who also helmed last season’s phenomenal “Hardhome,” described the episode as “the most logistically complicated thing I’ve ever been involved in.”
That much is apparent from the sheer complexity and scope of the battle sequences, but what isn’t as obvious are the subtle tactics Sapochnik employed to put viewers on the edge of their seats.
Comparing “Battle of the Bastards” to famous field battles in film history, Sapochnik noticed one consistent issue.
“You experience this moment as an objective observer in all its glory with no sense of danger from the inevitable impact of hundreds of these huge stampeding animals,” he told Entertainment Weekly.
“I was interested in what it must feel like to be on the ground when that shit happens. Absolute terror? A moment of clarity? What goes through your head when you are right in the thick of it?
“After ‘Hardhome,’ there was a lot of happy campers in the ‘Game of Thrones’ offices. But there was also a sense that we somehow had to make ‘BOB’ bigger and better. I personally felt the pressure in that respect and so I tried to quash it as quickly as possible by using as my mantra this response: ‘Let’s just make it the best we can.’”
“That doesn’t mean making it better or avoiding how others have done it because, let’s face it, battles have been done every which way. It just means understanding the story and trying to service it the best way you can for the money and time you have. Most of all, it means choosing a point of view.”
“Game of Thrones” will air its season finale next Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.