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Movies & TV

13th Apr 2019

Game of Thrones season eight has “the most impressive action you’ll ever see”

Paul Moore

Game of Thrones biggest battle TV history

“It’s going to go down in history.”

The world has never been happier to welcome winter.

Oh yes, the long wait without new episodes of Game of Thrones is almost over because the war for Westeros is about to begin.

Ever since we saw the terrifying power of the Night King at Hardhome, the entire complexion of Game of Thrones was flipped on its head and after that epic finale to season seven, the dead are set to march through The North.

All of a sudden, the war for the Iron Throne seems minuscule when compared to the threat beyond The Wall.

As Jon Snow said, “There’s only one war that matters – The Great War, and it is here”.

As the narrative stakes get bigger, it’s only fitting that the action set-pieces follow suit and in that sense, Game of Thrones has consistently upped the ante with every season.

Cast your mind back to season one and the ‘big’ action moment which was a sword fight between Ned Stark and Jaime Lannister. How things have changed.

In terms of season eight, the Battle of Winterfell is set to smash records because not only will it be the longest episode in the show’s history at 82 minutes, it’s set to be the biggest battle in the history of TV and film.

In terms of production and scale, the cast and crew spent 55 consecutive nights filming the battle sequence, with the episode directed by Miguel Sapochnik.

That length of time more than doubles the amount of time it took to film their previous large-scale action scenes – Blackwater, Battle of the Bastards, Beyond the Wall, et al.

Clip via GameofThrones

As we saw in the trailer, two men that will be getting their swords, spears, and shields dirty against the army of the dead are Grey Worm (Jacob Anderson) and Gendry (Joe Dempsie).

JOE had the chance to talk with the two actors at the season eight premiere in Belfast and if you love action, brace yourself because the upcoming sequences are about to make history and the leader of the Unsullied was right in the thick of it.

“It was occasionally miserable but as a general rule, it was incredible. I’ve never done anything like that and I might never do anything like that again,” said Jacob Anderson.

“Some of the set-pieces are the most impressive stuff you’ll ever see, or have been seen. The thing is, it was all real. There was real, tactile things that you can interact with.

“There was a day when a lot of people were given weapons to run around with and it was genuinely scary. People were running past you and knocking you with shields and swords,” he added.

After spending all that time rowing, Gendry returned last season and he showed us all that he’s pretty handy in a fight – we’ll always love that scene when he lodges the war hammer into the skull of a Lannister soldier, and he also battled the undead beyond The Wall – but Joe Dempsie said that the scale of the upcoming battle is unlike anything that has ever been seen.

In fact, there were moments when he couldn’t even spot a camera – such was the sheer number of extras.

“There were times when I’d look around and not even see a camera, or evidence that stuff was being filmed,” he recalled.

“It’s that big. There were nights that were difficult but there were so many nights when you could turn to the actor beside you and say – without hyperbole – that we’re making TV history and we’re in it.”

After the Night King destroyed a section of The Wall at Eastwatch-By-The-Sea, it’s clear that the Night’s Watch are in serious jeopardy.

Bad news then for their 999th Lord Commander, Dolorous Edd.

When Jon Snow left Castle Black, he jokingly told Edd not to knock The Wall down and when JOE met actor Ben Crompton at the season premiere, we had to ask him about that line.

“He told me that and I kept up my end of the bargain, on the other end, shoddy!” joked Jon Snow’s close friend.

On a more serious note, when it comes to a satisfying finale, the Mancunian said that the cast and crew did feel pressure to stick the landing. However, he assured fans that the next six episodes will “go down in TV history”.

“It was amazing to film because you know it’s the last one and you’re not going to get to do it again,” Crompton noted.

“There was a kind of strange atmosphere on set, almost like an end of school vibe – you know, a little bit giddy and sad.

“We also knew what we were making was spectacular. It’s going to be one of the most talked about TV events and it’s going to go down in TV history.”

While Dolorous Edd has some extremely important issues to deal with at Castle Black, Jon Snow does have someone else that he can rely on for some sage advice; Ser Davos Seaworth.

After being defeated at the Battle of Blackwater, Ser Davos’ military reputation was redeemed when he helped Jon Snow take back The North during the Battle of the Bastards.

However, as we saw in the trailer, Liam Cunningham’s beloved character will be in Winterfell when the army of the dead arrive.

So, how does the upcoming battle compare to the others?

“Somebody asked me to describe the last season in a word and I’d say it’s epic. HBO were very aware that they really had to get behind this season and they did,” said Cunningham.

“When they get behind something, they really get behind it! They basically said ‘what do you want?’ for the last season and the showrunners are responsible enough that HBO allowed it to be huge.

From seasons one to six, it took six months to shoot 10 episodes. This season, it took us a year to shoot six episodes.

“Obviously, that’s a huge amount of money, logistics, and production,” he added.

Winter is definitely here.

Sky Atlantic will be showing Game of Thrones Season 8 at 2am on 15 April with a repeat at 9pm on the same day. You can also view it on Now TV.

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