International Via Vision Entertainment announces new premium Blu-ray label IMPRINT (4 Viewers)

[Wayne Klein]

I’ve been disappointed by some Imprint releases. Secret of the Incas was unwatchable (literally—I stopped watching). Their packaging is fantastic, but I’ve read that they don’t any work on what they get from the studios, and sometimes their discs come from old masters. In this case, though, I assume the set will look as good as A&E’s ancient set, which looked pretty darn good.

It is true that they use what they are given. That’s why I always check out a review before I purchase. Some are great looking, some not so much while some wouldn’t get a release elsewhere without theirs.

 

[battlebeast]

They have released LENNY on Blu Ray... do you think the transfer would be better or the same as the Twilight Time release?

 

[Wayne Klein]

Route 66 had an actual finale, also. A two parter. Tod got married and Linc went his own way. But sure, it was certainly uncommon. An ITC series typically was made to run in any order after the premiere, which is usually why characters didn't grow. The Prisoner, was very much atypical. Unlike Danger Man, The Saint, The Champions and all that, The Prisoner was presented as a quest show with mysteries. Will No. 6 escape? Why did he resign? Who runs the village? Who is Number 1? These weren't just format questions to fuel random weekly adventures. The implication was that at some point, view would be given answers. But instead of he usual straightforward story they were probably expecting, Fall Out was oblique. Sure, there were answers: Number 6 escapes. He is Number 1. He resigned, we learned earlier, for piece of mind. But he presented those in an episode that was weird at best.


What was incomprehensible was: who are these oddballs chanting in a cave and singing "Dry Bones?" Why does The Village have massive rockets for evacuation? You can't tale "Number 6 is Number 1" at face value, it has to be a metaphor. In 1968, people weren't looking for metaphors. They wanted Blofeld. So yeah, to a great many people, the episode is incomprehensible because it's not meant to be taken like a straight drama. But people didn't want that. Even now, how you interpret the episode is gonna differ from others. Which was the point, but again, that's not what Mr. and Mrs. 1968 was used to.

Yet, that's what makes the show what it is today. It's not a straight drama. Even when it was a more straight espionage adventure, it was still weird, in the best sense. It was always a strange show.


My A&E Blu Rays got damaged a few years ago, but I didn't want to pay a premium to replace or get a Region B set, so this worked out well! Good timing Imprint.

I agree that it is surreal (the finale) but, as others have pointed out, it was always weird.

 

[Wayne Klein]

100% - if you’re watching a show where a giant white balloon enforces discipline and you’re a viewer that’s then completely shocked that it had a finale that wasn’t straightforward, I feel that’s a little on the viewer for not accepting what the show has been saying it was from the start.

In hindsight I think this show would have actually worked better with fewer episodes and everything I’ve read about it over the years suggests that McGoohan also wanted a more limited run but was contractually obligated to deliver more episodes. I think that padding out to 17 episodes has the counterproductive effect of luring viewers into expecting something more episodic and straightforward than what they were actually doing.

Thanks for the tip on ordering from Imprint - I didn’t realize they shipped to the US, I might have mixed them up with another label that doesn’t. The shipping cost was high but they had the remake of The Prisoner available inexpensively and it didn’t add to the shipping cost, so getting both together made it worthwhile. I don’t think the remake is nearly as good as the original but I also know that once I finish the original, I’ll be curious to see it again, so might as well be prepared.

Taken on its own terms, the remake is pretty good. It just isn’t the original.

 

[Alan Tully]

I think the ending to The Prisoner is good

Spoiler

they finally come to the conclusion that he’s not a security risk & let him go

but done in a fun way.

 

[jayembee]

Taken on its own terms, the remake is pretty good. It just isn’t the original.

At the time a lot of people were in the "why to they have to remake a classic show" mentality. But it came out at a time when the issue of unlawful (or, at least, legally questionable) detention -- not to mention extraordinary rendition -- was fresh in people's minds. It could've had a lot to say about that, but it ultimately proved not to be up to the task. But it certainly wasn't as worthless as a lot of folks seemed to think it was.

 

[ScottRE]

I agree that it is surreal (the finale) but, as others have pointed out, it was always weird.

Oh so did I in the passage you quoted. It was amped up to 100 in the finale, but yes, I agreed that there was lots of aspects that made it bizarre.

 

[ScottRE]

I’ve been disappointed by some Imprint releases. Secret of the Incas was unwatchable (literally—I stopped watching). Their packaging is fantastic, but I’ve read that they don’t any work on what they get from the studios, and sometimes their discs come from old masters. In this case, though, I assume the set will look as good as A&E’s ancient set, which looked pretty darn good.

Form my understanding, Imprint doesn't do the mastering work, they're more of a repackaging and reassembly label. When they have great source material to work with - Space: 1999, The Avengers, The Prisoner - then they'll look great. TBH, they will probably avoid a lot of what sank Network if they stick to what they do and not take on restoration.

100% - if you’re watching a show where a giant white balloon enforces discipline and you’re a viewer that’s then completely shocked that it had a finale that wasn’t straightforward, I feel that’s a little on the viewer for not accepting what the show has been saying it was from the start.

Yeah, I get that it wasn't a typical series, but the audience of the day would have probably expected it to be less abstract, no other episode was that nuts. If you look at what are considered the best episodes, you'll probably find them easy to decipher while still being off center. The Chimes of Big Ben, Free For All, A, B & C are all straight line adventures with that special flavor that makes the series what it is. Once Upon a Time, filmed as early as it was, is probably the most bizarre, but still you knew what was happening and why. Fall Out was a fever dream, unlike any other episode. The style was much more stream of consciousness and seemingly random (I stress seemingly). Honestly, I don't have any issues with it, I'm playing Devil's Advocate. The fact that we still debate it is a testament to the decision to make this one.

 

[Wayne Klein]

Form my understanding, Imprint doesn't do the mastering work, they're more of a repackaging and reassembly label. When they have great source material to work with - Space: 1999, The Avengers, The Prisoner - then they'll look great. TBH, they will probably avoid a lot of what sank Network if they stick to what they do and not take on restoration.


Yeah, I get that it wasn't a typical series, but the audience of the day would have probably expected it to be less abstract, no other episode was that nuts. If you look at what are considered the best episodes, you'll probably find them easy to decipher while still being off center. The Chimes of Big Ben, Free For All, A, B & C are all straight line adventures with that special flavor that makes the series what it is. Once Upon a Time, filmed as early as it was, is probably the most bizarre, but still you knew what was happening and why. Fall Out was a fever dream, unlike any other episode. The style was much more stream of consciousness and seemingly random (I stress seemingly). Honestly, I don't have any issues with it, I'm playing Devil's Advocate. The fact that we still debate it is a testament to the decision to make this one.

Agreed.
“Lead star and series creator Patrick McGoohan wrote and directed the episode.[8] As ITC managing director Lew Grade said in the 1984 documentary Six into One: The Prisoner File, McGoohan, despite having promised earlier that he would conceive an ending for the series, came to him admitting that he was unable to come up with an ending.[7] The biggest problem was revealing the identity of Number One, which, as McGoohan and various other crew members admitted, had not been decided on prior to the writing of the final episode's script.”

Even though McGoohan had stated that he wasn’t sure about Number One, I suspect he had decided early on but the issue was HOW to tell the audience who Number One was.

Patrick himself: "There are numbers here, there are no names, so you can't expect it to end like James Bond, so you have to have an allegorical ending. Now (...) what is the most evil thing on earth? Is it jealousy? Is it hate? Is it revenge? Is it the bomb? What is it? When one really searches it's only one thing, it's the evil part of oneself that one is constantly fighting until the moment of our demise. The Jekyll and Hyde if you like, but on a much larger scale."

we will probably never truly know what was intended for the finale when McGoohan and Markstein conceived of the series. He had promised Grade a conclusion but, beyond that, didn’t give him much in the way of details.

 

[Worth]

Every “mystery box” story ends disappointingly. I remember enjoying Lost in its first season, but thinking there’s no way there’s going to be a payoff to any of this.

 

[ScottRE]

Every “mystery box” story ends disappointingly. I remember enjoying Lost in its first season, but thinking there’s no way there’s going to be a payoff to any of this.

Babylon 5 was perfectly done. Mysteries set up and answered over time while setting up new mysteries in the process.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

 

[Ronald Epstein]

 

[PatrickDA]

um...."Kundun" is a Disney film. I hope this means Imprint will have a shot at "Nixon" and other Disney titles (Hollywood Pictures movies).

 

[Bryan^H]

WOW!!! These titles are not cheap but to finally get 'Secretary', and 'Rambling Rose' on BD is great.

 

[battlebeast]

um...."Kundun" is a Disney film. I hope this means Imprint will have a shot at "Nixon" and other Disney titles (Hollywood Pictures movies).

KINO released a great edition of Nixon. Should be cheaper and less shipping.

 

[battlebeast]

WOW!!! These titles are not cheap but to finally get 'Secretary', and 'Rambling Rose' on BD is great.

With conversion from Australian to Canadian/American currency, prices should be better. And cheaper shipping, too. It helps me a little when I’ve purchased from them.

 

[Konstantinos]

KINO released a great edition of Nixon. Should be cheaper and less shipping.

It isn't cheaper as it's OOP and when it appears at ebay, it goes for very high prices.
I'm searching for it for weeks!

 

[ahollis]

It isn't cheaper as it's OOP and when it appears at ebay, it goes for very high prices.
I'm searching for it for weeks!

I believe all the Kino titles of touchstone and Hollywood Pictures are no longer available and now reside with Mill Creek per the announcement middle of last year.

 

[battlebeast]

It isn't cheaper as it's OOP and when it appears at ebay, it goes for very high prices.
I'm searching for it for weeks!

I didn’t know it was OOP.