The home release of Game of Thrones Season 8 landed this December, just in time for the holiday season! HBO was kind enough to send Watchers on the Wall a copy of Game of Thrones: The Complete Collection Limited Edition Collector’s Set for review, so we were able to get a close-up look at the ultra-premium Blu-ray set that includes every season and a host of special features. Does it live up to the hype? Let’s find out!
The Complete Collection exclusively features the Game of Thrones: Reunion Special, a two-part reunion show with cast members from the final season including Kit Harington, Emilia Clarke, Sophie Turner, Sean Bean and many more, and is hosted by Conan O’Brien. The set features additional bonus content including all-new deleted and extended scenes, animated histories and lore pieces, behind-the-scene featurettes, audio commentaries and the documentary Game of Thrones: The Last Watch.
My first impression of this Collector’s Set was the sheer size of it. The box is HUGE for a Blu-ray set, 13 x 13 x 5 inches. I wasn’t expecting that, just going off the photos of The Complete Collection. And hot on the heels of that was the impact of the beauty. It’s apparent a great deal of thought went into the concept of this Collector’s Set, and the work paid off. The overall packaging is beautifully conceived, with illustrations provided by Robert Ball, best known for his work on the well-loved Beautiful Death series for Game of Thrones. The collection is uniquely housed in a wooden shadow box, filled with Great House sigils, settings and the Iron Throne itself. A Hand of the King pin seals it closed as needed for a rich touch. The shadow box lends the feel of a story unfolding, rather than being just another pretty disc holder. This really is a collectible.
Game of Thrones: The Complete Collection Bonus Features Include:
• Game of Thrones: Reunion Special: A reunion show shot live in Belfast with the cast, both past and present, hosted by Conan O’Brien and available exclusively on these complete series collections. The reunion special is assembled in segments focused on Houses Lannister, Stark, & Targaryen and concludes with the key players all onstage for their final reflections on the years they shared in Westeros and Essos.
• Bonus content and retail exclusive videos from previously released individual season box sets, totaling more than 15 hours of extra materials for fans to explore when they’ve finished watching the series.
The Complete Series and Season 8 formats also exclusively feature:
• Game of Thrones: The Last Watch: A documentary featured on DVD in two parts by filmmaker Jeanie Finlay chronicling the making of the final season.
• When Winter Falls: Exclusive 30-minute featurette with showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, along with major stars and behind-the-scenes players, breaking down all that went into the colossal filming of the “Battle of Winterfell” in Season 8, Episode 3.
• Duty is the Death of Love: A compelling look at how the team behind Game of Thrones and its major stars, including Kit Harington, Peter Dinklage and Emilia Clarke, brought the show to its conclusion in the series finale, “The Iron Throne.”
• Audio Commentaries: Audio Commentaries with cast and crew, including the show’s creators, Benioff and Weiss, on the final season.
• Deleted and Extended Scenes: 5 never-before-seen deleted or extended scenes from season 8.
• Histories and Lore: New animated pieces giving the history and background of notable season 8 locations and storylines.
As you can see from the clip above, the Reunion Special is a breezy treat, with footage from the earliest years destined to tug at your heartstrings and have you reminiscing. The cast are clearly good friends, and family at this point, and have truly been on a journey together. I don’t know that it adds a lot of deep insight into the show at this point but it’s just nice to see them together once again, and Conan O’Brien has always been very good at working with the cast of GoT. An edgier moderator might’ve pushed them harder but that’s clearly not what they were going for in this loving look back on ten years together.
The six Histories and Lore in the final edition are all excellent in quality of production, as always, though somewhat lacking in variety, with Conleth Hill (Varys) narrating four out of the six. Swing by our post where we debuted “The Greyjoy Rebellion” for a sneak peek of that clip!
When it comes to the Histories narration and the audio commentaries choices, I understand that the choices often depend on practical availability/scheduling, so that may partially explain the odd choices. I think fans will agree we would have loved to see more people in the mix on the audio commentaries (line-up in this post). The technical commentary provided on “The Long Night” is fascinating and valuable, but a separate commentary from the actors also would’ve been amazing.
There’s a stack of bonus featurettes, fun deleted scenes, and interviews on the discs to shore up any minor weaknesses though, and Thrones Blu-rays have always operated on another level. Nothing else compares.
Rewatching The Complete Series on Blu-ray leaves no doubt that Game of Thrones is a monumental achievement. It doesn’t surprise me one bit that we’re all so passionate about it, from beginning to end.
Game of Thrones Season 8 on DVD/Blu-ray & 4K Ultra HD and Game of Thrones: The Complete Collection are available now in stores and online retailers everywhere.
This is the most brilliant set I’ve seen in cinema history. I’m enjoying mine immensely and couldn’t be more grateful for this masterpiece. Thank you to Mr. Benioff, Mr. Weiss and the entire cast and crew for 8 brilliant seasons and 73 brilliant episodes 🍻
Mr. Benioff and Mr. Weiss did an amazing job with all season especially with season 8. I am thankful to everyone who was involved makeing this magnificent yet magical season. I just watched Duty is the Death of Love on blue ray and this let me love this season and especially the final even more. Just brilliant.
Wow! Preliminary observations:
– I’d want this just for the box! It looks beautiful!
So yeah, I concur:
“My first impression of this Collector’s Set was the sheer size of it. The box is HUGE for a Blu-ray set, 13 x 13 x 5 inches. I wasn’t expecting that, just going off the photos of The Complete Collection. And hot on the heels of that was the impact of the beauty. It’s apparent a great deal of thought went into the concept of this Collector’s Set, and the work paid off. The overall packaging is beautifully conceived, with illustrations provided by Robert Ball, best known for his work on the well-loved Beautiful Death series for Game of Thrones. The collection is uniquely housed in a wooden shadow box, filled with Great House sigils, settings and the Iron Throne itself. A Hand of the King pin seals it closed as needed for a rich touch. The shadow box lends the feel of a story unfolding, rather than being just another pretty disc holder. This really is a collectible…”
– As an unabashed Aryaphile, I almost jumped the gun and was getting ready to bitch and moan when I read that “the Game of Thrones: Reunion Special, a two-part reunion show with cast members from the final season including Kit Harington, Emilia Clarke, Sophie Turner, Sean Bean and many more, and is hosted by Conan O’Brien…” I was about to whinge: “What about Maisie Williams aka Arya Stark of Winterfell aka Lovely Girl aka The Hero of Winterfell aka Arya Super Ninja Assassin Warrior Princess That Was Promised aka NightKingSlayer?
But then when I watched the embedded video snippet, I was delighted to see Conan O’Brien interviewing Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner, interspersed with clips of little Maisie and young Sophie from their GoT auditions, on set in S1, and S7e4 Arya-Sansa reunion.
– As I started watching the video before turning up the audio, I asked myself: “Who’s this teenager that’s talking? Was he an extra or member of the crew?” I did not recognize this clean-shaven young man. Then I realized… that was Kit Harington (apparently being interviewed before or during S1).
– Now I’ve got to re-read the post and see how much $$$ this box is gonna cost…
It is sumptuous
Disc 32 contains Season 7 deleted scenes. At least one of them has not been seen before
I think this Complete Series Collectors Edition (Blu Ray) costs $248.99 on Amazon. Free shipping if that’s any consolation.
Amazon also has a 5 hardcover ASOIAF books collection for $249.00 (actually, about $211.50 after applying a 15% off online discount coupon) for anyone who’s interested.
Wow what a beautiful box. This is something I would love to have. *looking at the price online now*
I see 299 Euro’s which is a bit much for me right now 🙁 That’s more than a year savings for me. I think I will wait till the price drops. Or else I take the second-hand version that is already been put online. 129,- Euro’s. (I wonder why somebody would sell their version of the box within a couple of days for less than half the price.
Simply gorgeous! I must start looking on line for this.🥰
I bought the 4K season 8 set and it looks incredible. If you don’t own a 4K player try to find a friend that does because it is at another level. I am pleased with all the Blu-ray season sets I own, but there is something about season 8 that just cries out for 4K. I waited until the 4K set came out before even watching season 8 and was not disappointed.
Simply gorgeous! I’m going to start saving up.
I’m hoping for Season 8 as a gift this year, but I would be tempted to get the whole set myself one day. I really wanted to hear a review of what “the long night” looks like in 4K or Blue Ray.
The hand of the king/queen pin is a nice touch on the box to keep it closed. The only thing better would have been chains like they have on the books in the citadel library.
803 looks brilliant in 4K. I didn’t/don’t have a problem with the streaming version, but the blacks are definitely better in the 4K blu ray and there’s no color banding/black botches. So clean and crisp as well as the auditory bump. Hope you get to view this beauty in 4K!
Jack Bauer 24,
The Long Night looks incredible in 4k.
kevin1989,
Yeah, Kev, I may need to wait for the price to drop too. As much as I’d want this souvenir, it’s hard to justify the 249 Dollars (which I guess is roughly equivalent to 299 Euros???)
Plus, I’m guessing most of the bonus featurettes, e.g., commentaries, interviews, deleted scenes and Conan O’Brien cast reunion, will wind up on YouTube before long.
About the “second hand version” you saw that was already put online for 129 Euros, you ask: “I wonder why somebody would sell their version of the box within a couple of days for less than half the price.”
Caution/Caveat Emptor: It might be a pirated copy, stolen merchandise, or a total scam.
Jack Bauer 24,
It’s weird, it’s like they filmed that episode strictly for the 4K market.
HELP! I have some very important question regarding the “Game of Thrones: Reunion Special”:
Is it ONLY available on this special collector’s boxset called “Game of Thrones: The Complete Collection” and NOT included in the regular boxset called The Complete Series?
Or perhaps the “Game of Thrones: Reunion Special” is included ONLY in the AMERICAN (USA) editions of both collector’s and regular’s boxsets and NOT in the ones released in other countries?
I am asking because, unfortunately, I can only afford the regular edition (The Complete Series), not the collector’s (The Complete Collection), and as far as I have been able to find out, the regular edition that is selling in my country (Mexico) is not including the Reunion Special, and I am extremely interested in watching that special feature.
Could anyone one could conffirm this please? Thanks in advance.
Given that I already own S1-S7 on blu ray and just ordered S8 of an Xmas present I just cannot justify shelling out for this. I do love watching the histories and enjoyed the audit commentaries in earlier seasons as there are usually a few hidden gems contained within but you’d have to be a super fan to shell out again for this content in my view. Especially as most will end up on-line at some point.
That box is beautiful, but I bought the Complete Series Blu-ray instead…comes with everything except the pretty packaging. The smaller the better anyway; I practically have a Blockbuster’s worth of VHS tapes and DVDs. Thank goodness everything’s gone digital. It’s a Christmas gift for my mom (would be for my brother too, but while she was lukewarm on the final season, he detested it and didn’t want to start from the beginning, so…xD) I’m sadly with him despite my love of the first seven seasons, but I did want to watch all the bonus stuff, and it seemed like a fair gift considering how much she always gets me. We’d never bought any individual seasons because not only did it make sense to wait until it was done, but we could watch whenever we wanted on HBOGo, which included some extra material. I found the commentaries and whatnot on YouTube. Now I’m reeeeally hoping this proves to be worth the price, with enough exciting new stuff. Months back I gave in and bought S8 on iTunes for THOSE exclusive bonus features, which were…interesting but nothing that great or worth re-watching. There was another half-hour or so “Long Night” featurette there; I now don’t think I need any more technical info on it! I want to hear from the actors. And I have to wonder how much from past seasons’ releases could’ve gotten by me…8/ -sigh-
Funny that the box designers chose to side the Wolves with the dragon…
Ten Bears,
Well it was on a official seller who also sell second hand. But I saw that she or he bought it as a gift for a friend but he already got one. And I expect this too be the simple version, and that he or she put it in the wrong version.
And this site is the biggest seller in the Netherlands compare it too amazon. The sellers need to give all their information to the site, their banknumber where the money needs to get send (is checked if it’s official one with a name and social security number). Then the seller can put on their product they want to sell as second hand, the seller send the package to “bol.com” the site, they get their money from the site but only a portion of what they want to sell it for. Bol.com can verify if the product is the right one. Then if somebody wants to buy they buy it directly from Bol.com. (And if somebody has given a pirated version, they get a fine and the police will be enlightened).
Does anyone know what exclusive content is only in the Complete Collection that you would not already have if you own all 8 seasons?
$cott,
Apparently, the Reunion Special is the extra feature that is included ONLY in the collector´s boxset, but I am still awaiting reply on that, since the description in the site seems a little confusing and none who has bought the regular boxset has confirmation or denial.
Cinthia GS,
$cott,
I’m in Canada and I have the regular season 8 boxset so I don’t know if I can offer any insight but the reunion special wasn’t included as part of my regular season 8 box set. As I understand it, I think it’s a special feature only offered with the collector’s edition.
Adrianacandle,
I really hope the collectors edition is still available next year when I have saved for it. I really want that edition, the box looks just so amazing. But most of the time these editions are only sold the first half year and then only the normal version.
Do somebody else known this how long the special edition will be in the stores?
kevin1989,
Me too. You (and me) may be able to get a copy from eBay after HBO stops selling it but the risk of that is, because it’s a collector’s edition, sellers may jack up the price (I’m in a similar situation — there’s no way I can afford the price right now and the very top of my GoT wishlist is the costume book!).
Adrianacandle,
Maybe through bol.com (something like Amazon but sell second hand also, so the customer is safe here). I would really like this box.
kevin1989,
That’s a good idea! And I had completely forgotten Amazon offers a place for people to sell their copies to others!
So I know I am a dinosaur; I only have a regular DVD player, not a Blu ray. I understand that the Blu Ray disc must be played on that machine. Which means I am going to have to spend lots of money buying the machine. Makes me think I should just get the 1-8 DVD collection, but I’d love to see all the different features. Hoping a lot of this ends up on youtube eventually…
Adrianacandle,
And you are certain it’s safe, if it’s not you get your money back.
ash,
If you are a gamer, just buy a ps4 (or wait till ps5 comes out). Or low budget a ps3, but then you can’t watch the 4k version only the 1080p version.
Do you have a surround set with the DVD or only the DVD player? If you have surround I could understand that you are not eager to change medium, the new player needs to be set to the old boxes and that’s difficult to find the right one.
If you only have a dvd player, you could just buy a blu-ray player a cheap one (look online which are good for cheap price), go with samsung if you have a samsung tv (or combine it with the same brand as your tv if it’s lg samsung or other brand that connects it all easily). With a seperate blu-ray player you could also easily connect it too a seperate 5.1 audio set with a hdmi cable to your tv, and the bluray player to your tv. it connects it all.
And if you do this just sell your DVD player, or donate it to your local nursing home, they would be happy with it, to show DVDs to the old folk.
What you never should buy is a tv with a DVD embedded in it. It’s a waste of money, better buy separate. I have everything separate even my blu-ray player (which is a ps4 for me) with my 5.1 surround set, it’s better because if one thing brake, you don’t have to buy a new expensive set, but only the thing that is broken.
Adrianacandle, thank you so much for the confirmation. I wil have to save a little more for the collector’s boxset then. Happy holidays! 🙂
Happy holidays to you too! I hope I’ve helped! I only have the Canadian boxset but I don’t see an indication that it’s different from the US boxset 🙂 It looks like you, Kevin, and I will all be in piggy-bank club, working on saving for the collector’s set! 😉
Right! That’s really nice buyer-protection! 🙂
Btw, Alt Shift X is planning on coming out with a video on the Pink Letter! Thought of you when I read the Patreon announcement 🙂
In all of my adult life (I came of age in the 00s), I’ve never owned my own blu-ray or even my own TV. When Macbooks started coming out without the DVD reader, all I could use was this tiny USB standalone DVD reader. I’ve always relied on streaming, YouTube, and services like Plex (when I need cable or blue-ray for one or two shows, like HBO, I use my dad’s — there’s a good reason he calls me a parasite ;D). Whenever special features are available only via blu-ray, it’s not the most convenient as I know I’ll either have to buy a blu-ray player myself (yikes to my purse) or I’ll have to make a special trip to Father Dearest’s 😉 (yikes to Dad)
In short, I relate to your dilemma, ash! 🙂
Happy Holidays to Sue, Petra, Luka, Vanessa, Oz of Thrones, David, Samantha, JoeMagician, Geoffrey, Akash, Patrick, Hear Marko Roar, Bex, Axechucker, Dame Patsy, Paige, WinterPhil, everyone else on the WoW staff, and all of the old posters and the new posters beyond counting…
🎼 ”I’m dreaming of a Wight Christmas.” 🎶
🤶🏻🧟♀️🧟♂️ 🧟♀️🧟♂️💀👻🧟♀️🧟♂️🧟♀️🧟♂️🎅
Adrianacandle,
Thank you, I will watch it, but I will probably save it. I first want to end season 8. And christmas days are coming. So I will be very busy.
After that other shows I will watch till the episode that is out. After that probably first gaming with theory videos in between of the books.
Good idea! 🙂 I’ll let you know when it’s out in any case so you have it available when you’re able to get to it!
Ten Bears,
aye! happy holidays to all my Sandorista comrades!
#Sandorista
Its a combination gift for hanukah and my birthday but I dont care – unpacked the GOT costume and art books!!!!!!! They look as good as I woul expect and more!