- by Jeff Beck
Game of Thrones: The Complete Sixth Season Comes to Digital HD August 1st and Blu-ray/DVD November 1
In a surprise announcement today, HBO has unveiled that the latest season of their mega-hit fantasy television series "Game of Thrones" will be arriving much earlier than anticipated. The Complete Sixth Season is scheduled to debut on Digital HD on August 1st with a Blu-ray/DVD release to follow on November 15th, and as usual, there has been no skimping on the special features.
The complete listing is as follows:
Digital HD Download
Bran’s Journey – A nine-minute feature delving into the shocking and revelatory journey Bran Stark took in Season 6.
The Dothraki World – Behind-the-Scenes featurette bringing viewers up to speed on the Dothraki culture, not seen since Season 1.
Inside Game of Thrones: Prosthetics – Behind-the-Scenes featurette detailing what goes into the show’s prosthetics creation.
The Game Revealed – Five-part series covering the creation of Season 6’s most epic set pieces and scenes.
Blu-ray™ with Digital Copy – includes all DVD features plus:
In-Episode Guide – Dig deeper into the show with this in-feature resource that provides background information about on-screen characters, locations, and relevant histories.
Histories and Lore – Learn about the mythology of Westeros and Essos as told from the varying perspectives of the characters themselves in 18 history pieces.
The Old Way: narrated by Euron Greyjoy (Pilou Asbæk)
The Kingsmoot: narrated by Euron Greyjoy (Pilou Asbæk)
The Sunset Sea: narrated by Euron Greyjoy (Pilou Asbæk)
War of the Ninepenny Kings: narrated by Brother Ray (Ian McShane)
The Great Tourney at Harrenhal: narrated by Meera Reed (Ellie Kendrick)
Robert’s Rebellion: narrated by Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau)
Vaes Dothrak: narrated by Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen)
The Dothraki: narrated by Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen)
Northern Allegiances to House Stark: narrated by Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner)
Children of the Forest vs. the First Men: narrated by the Three-Eyed Raven (Max von Sydow)
Brotherhood Without Banners: narrated by Thoros of Myr (Paul Kaye)
Oldtown: narrated by Grand Maester Pycelle (Julian Glover) and Qyburn (Anton Lesser)
House Dayne: narrated by Young Ned Stark (Robert Aramayo)
The Little Birds: narrated by Lord Varys (Conleth Hill)
Knights of the Vale: narrated by Petyr ‘Littlefinger’ Baelish (Aidan Gillen)
House Tarly: narrated by Randyll Tarly (James Faulkner)
Riverrun: narrated by Brynden ‘the Blackfish’ Tully (Clive Russell)
Great Sept of Baelor: narrated by the High Sparrow (Jonathan Pryce)
DVD:
The Battle of the Bastards: An In-Depth Look – Behind-the-scenes piece examining the production challenges of creating this epic event, including explorations of VFX, stunts, and interviews with key cast and crew.
Recreating the Dothraki World – Behind-the-scenes piece looking at the creation of Vaes Dothrak and its importance to Dany’s evolution.
18 Hours at the Paint Hall –Follow all three shooting units as they converge in this behind-the-scenes snapshot of a day in the life of the largest show on television
Audio Commentaries – The most commentaries ever recorded for Game of Thrones, featuring:
Episode 601: Director Jeremy Podeswa, Director of Photography Greg Middleton, and Daniel Portman (Podrick Payne)
Episode 602: Writer Dave Hill, Michael McElhatton (Roose Bolton), Iwan Rheon (Ramsay Bolton), Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth), and Ben Crompton (Dolorous Edd)
Episode 603: Director Daniel Sackheim, Production Designer Deborah Riley, and Dean-Charles Chapman (Tommen Baratheon)
Episode 604: Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei), Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont), and Jacob Anderson (Grey Worm)
Episode 605 (2 commentaries): Gemma Whelan (Yara Greyjoy), Pilou Asbæk (Euron Greyjoy), Ellie Kendrick (Meera Reed), and Kristian Nairn (Hodor); Prosthetics Supervisor Barrie Gower, Camera Operators Chris Plevin and Ben Wilson, and Executive Producer Bernadette Caulfield
Episode 606: Director Jack Bender, Director of Photography Jonathan Freeman, John Bradley (Samwell Tarly), and Hannah Murray (Gilly)
Episode 607: Producer/Writer Bryan Cogman, Ian McShane (Septon Ray), and Natalie Dormer (Margaery Tyrell)
Episode 608: Director Mark Mylod, Essie Davis (Lady Crane), and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister)
Episode 609 (2 commentaries): Director Miguel Sapochnik, Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark), and Kit Harington (Jon Snow); Director of Photography Fabian Wagner, Visual Effects Producer Steve Kullback, and Visual Effects Supervisor Joe Bauer
Episode 610 (2 commentaries): Executive Producers/Writers David Benioff & D.B. Weiss, Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister), and Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister); Special Effects Supervisor Sam Conway, Camera Operator Sean Savage, and Producer Chris Newman
Deleted Scenes – Four deleted scenes.
I don't know about you, but just seeing this list makes me anticipate the release even more than before, especially with us getting an in-depth behind the scenes look at the epic "Battle of the Bastards" (in addition to a commentary that will have director Miguel Sapochnik discussing the episode). There's no question that this most recent season was truly exception, particularly when it came to the stunning finale (which I'm sure showrunners Benioff and Weiss will have a lot to say about in their commentary for the episode). In fact, it was so impressive, that it would come as no surprise at all if ended up being just as successful at the Emmys as the fifth season was, culminating with another major win for Outstanding Drama Series.
With an abundance of commentaries (13!) and a multitude of additional featurettes, guides, and deleted scenes, it looks like it'll be a good haul for any fan of the show, but let's face it, even if you were just getting it for the show itself, it would still be worth picking up. Those dates again are August 1st for Digital HD and November 15th for Blu-ray/DVD. The home release certainly can't get here fast enough.
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