The Prisoner ... on Blu-ray

The Prisoner DVD news: Announcement for The Prisoner - Complete Series (Blu-ray) | TVShowsOnDVD.com

I was busy trying to figure out how to trade in my individual The Prisoner sets on Amazon's new beta test trade-in program for the megaset version (to save shelf space). Now, I see it's getting the Blu-ray treatment.

Normally, I would say it doesn't make sense to re-release a classic series that was originally in SD on Blu-ray, but after going through my Star Trek TOS Season One on Blu-ray, and seeing how glorious it looks, well, the bastards got me. It will just be a great excuse to spend some more time in the Village.

This is definitely a series I will upgrade for, if just for the excuse to watch it again. But if they digitally re-do the 'rover,' all bets are off.

Anyone else have thoughts about Number Six turning Blu?


(The clock has officially started ticking on how long it takes someone to tell me this should be in the HD software section.)

Re: The Prisoner ... on Blu-ray

I'm cautiously excited that The Prisoner is coming to Blu-ray--I too was struck at how gorgeous Star Trek S1 looked on Blu-ray, so IF A&E goes back and cleans up the picture for HD, it's a definite sale for me. I've had a love/hate relationship with A&E: happy they released a lot of cult/obscure 60s/70s British TV on DVD, but unhappy with a lot of the AV quality. Hopefully A&E realizes that fans will be far more discriminating with a Blu-ray set (the Prisoner DVD set had serious AV issues) and reward us with a definitive release.

Re: The Prisoner ... on Blu-ray

The Prisoner was rereleased on DVD in the U.K. a while ago and the prints look amazing, but I heard they screwed up a number of things on the set. It will be interesting to see if they are corrected on the U.S. release.

Re: The Prisoner ... on Blu-ray

Could be great on Blu-Ray. The Prisoner had a lot of colorful, detailed visuals that could be well served by the high def format. However, if the studio doesn't invest the time and effort to restoring the films (as Paramount did with its lengthy Star Trek TOS project), we may not see the best results. So, I am cautiously anxious to see how this will be handled. Reviews of the set will be essential before buying.

Re: The Prisoner ... on Blu-ray

I have the recent Network UK DVD set, and it is wonderful. While the set is SD, all episodes were remastered for HD (and even in SD, they look so much sharper, brighter and cleaner than the current A&E release).

I remember reading that some of the video problems (like an obvious scratch on the master that couldn't be removed easily) were fixed by removing the offending frame and then duplicating the frame before it, which would lead to an extremely brief stutter. I've watched all 17 episodes, and never noticed it, if that means anything!

The other "problem" I remember that I definitely noticed, but is easily fixed, is that new audio mixes were made for each episode. They stink! The audio is way too loud in places, and there are one or two instances where a line of dialogue was dropped. Luckily, the original mono mixes are an option, and they sound fine.

I wonder if A&E has acquired the Network masters, is making their own HD masters, or is going cheap and doing no further remastering and simply using the current SD masters.

If they are doing their own HD remastering or using Network's, it's a shame there won't be an SD re-release, as non Blu-Ray Prisoner fans would be amazed at how great the episodes look.

Re: The Prisoner ... on Blu-ray

This is another situation where we can thank (or curse) a new, theatrical film version of a classic series scheduled for release as the principal motivation for getting an upgraded version of the original series out.

I suppose I'll check out the Ian McKellan (Number Two) and Jim Cavaziel (Number Six?) movie version, but there's just no way it can capture the perfect paranoia zeitgeist that Patrick McGoohan tapped into during the cold war 40 years ago.

Re: The Prisoner ... on Blu-ray

I agree, Hollywoodaholic. The original series is genius.

Luckily, we won't even have to pay to see the remake. It is a six-part TV co-production between ITV (in the UK) and AMC (in the US). Last I heard, AMC is airing the series this November, with ITV to follow in early 2010.

Re: The Prisoner ... on Blu-ray

Huh. Didn't know that, Jim, thanks for the update. I just remember seeing some clips online.

Re: The Prisoner ... on Blu-ray

forgetting tapping into the time. It's the fact that McGoohan goes from playing Dangerman into this role. the viewers are also curious why he quit the spy game. Cavaziel has no history - outside of being Jesus.

I doubt A&E made their own HD transfer since the license the series for dvd. this should by the English transfer

Re: The Prisoner ... on Blu-ray

Didn't McGoohan originally deny that Number Six was his previous incarnation as Drake in Secret Agent or Dangerman? I seem to remember that speculation getting shot down when there was publicity around the orignal airing in the U.S. on PBS in 1968 (but we live in a revisionist world, and I can see him admitting it now, or saying it was so). At least viewers at the time, like me, did not need any backstory or context to get what the Village was all about, or enjoy the series on a stand alone level.

Re: The Prisoner ... on Blu-ray

Can't remember where I read it now, but I thought that McGoohan couldn't say Number 6 and Drake were the same person because he didn't create/own the rights to the John Drake character. It sounded as if he regarded them as the same man, but couldn't come right out and say it.

I'm very curious about the remake - largely because of the presence of McKellen and Jericho's Lennie James. Sure, it likely will not best the original, but it should be interesting to see another take on the material.

Re: The Prisoner ... on Blu-ray

That makes sense. I can see how that might explain his comments (or lack of comments) at the time.

Re: The Prisoner ... on Blu-ray

That's sort of right.

Digital restoration tools work by sampling a series of frames, and working out the various movement vectors of the objects in them. While it's true that you use information from one frame to fix another, the program works out the difference between the various frames, and samples the bit you want to replace from an adjacent frame (or frames), compensating for any movement. If this doesn't work, the operator can cut-and-paste things from another frame (or frames) manually. The end result should be seamless, although you can sometimes tell if you have a keen eye, and step through the frames one by one!

Re: The Prisoner ... on Blu-ray

The current DVD set has been fine for many years for me--it was a step up from the broadcasts I recorded to tape in the mid-90s. I'm not looking to replace all my movies and TV shows on DVD to Blu-ray, but there are some programs I'd like to upgrade (I would love a Blu-ray treatment of Twin Peaks!).

I agree with Sam that the series' bold use of colour would really work on Blu-ray and I always thought the series was much better looking than most British TV shows from the 60s/70s. And as for the upcoming AMC mini-series, well, I don't have high expectations, but nabbing Ian McKellan as No. 2 is impressive. We shall have to see.

Re: The Prisoner ... on Blu-ray

This announcement has gotton me to rethink whether we might see classic series on Blu- Anything from the sixties on film, if remastered should look great. I Never bought the prisoner, it was'nt a series I'd thought I'd rewatch alot, although I definately will hunt it down to rent. Now if those rumored Space 1999 1st Season Hi Def's came out....

Here's the link to UK's Network Prisoner remaster comparison:

http://www.networkdvd.co.uk/prisoner/priscomparison.htm

I surely hope that A&E does use this master for the blu-ray release as I do not feel that the original A&E release looked anywhere near  what it should have.

Cover art for The Prisoner on Blu-ray, and a possible release date. But why the price hike?

www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Prisoner-The-Complete-Series/12480

But, will the Network HD master play at the proper speed or suffer from 4% speedup (even in the USA)? I'm presuming they did their HD remaster primarily for the UK market, which is PAL. The Prisoner was shot on cinema/American-speed film, meaning a 4% speedup when converted to the PAL format.

I guess whether or not any master sent to the US is sped-up or not will depend on whether Network simply standards-convert their PAL duplication master, or whether they had the foresight to make an NTSC master from the original film conversion (rather than doing a standards conversion).

I would be amazed if this were anything other than 24fps. I'm not aware of any UK Blu-rays mastered at 25p where the film source was 24p - that's not to say there aren't any, but it's not a phenomenon I've come across so far.

This may be a controversial question, I don't know. I recall the vibe around "The Prisoner" but at only 17 episodes it wouldn't seem like they could get any kind of closer to the show. 

I like the spy genre having the Avengers, Dangerman, Saint, and others so I am a prime candidate for this show but without spoiling anything, How satisfying is it after the 17th episode? Are the episodes self-contained enough that you don't need final closer, or does it just leave you hanging?

Since Number 6's name was never revealed, I think the viewer can speculate whatever they want about him being John Drake. I don't think you need to know about Secret Agent Man in order to enjoy The Prisoner. If you chose to believe Number 6 is John Drake because they were both spies and/or government agents and were played by the same actor what is the harm ?

If memory serves, Patrick McGoohan wanted to do fewer episodes (maybe 13?), but he needed to make more to sell the show to American television.  He had a vision for how he wanted the show to end, and he was able to pull it off.

As for the episodes themselves, of course there is the overarching story of Number 6's attempts to escape, etc., but for the most part the individual episode plots stand alone.

I always found the finale to be frustratingly fitting for a series that was very unusual. If you're looking for definitive closure to the series, you may be disappointed--it's completely open to interpretation and has been endlessly debated by fans, scholars, etc. for decades.

Yes, for the most part they stand alone. I happen to think the finale was quite good. I know that's a matter of controversy and many people will have different opinions. I'd say if you like really smart, intellectual entertainment, you will not be disappointed.

Thanks all that was enough of a nudge for me to add it to my wish list.

It was a much more satisfying finale than The Sopranos, and completely consistent with the wildly entertaining mindf*** this series was and continues to be.

Heads Up, this just hit $50 for pre-order at Amazon.

Thanks for the heads up. I got more than that trading in my 5 sets of the SD version of the show at a Movie Stop, so this is a done deal and I've already pre-ordered. That's a 49% discount. I even looked on Amazon UK and it was only about a 15% discount to 42GB (probably near $74USD).

I'll be curious to see if Amazon raises the pre-order price as it gets closer to the October 27 release date, as sometimes happens. And I will be real curious to see if this looks as good as the TOS Star Trek in blu-ray came out. The original element was 35mm, so it should be a noticeable upgrade from the SD version.

I'm so ecstatic that A&E has partnered with Network in the UK to obtain their remastered versions of the episodes for the blu-ray set stateside.  I've also had the opportunity to watch the feature length "Don't Knock Yourself Out" documentary and it's really well done. 

 

This news about a new version of Arrival has got me all excited as well!

 

Only about a month away and I've locked in my Amazon pre-order for only $50.00.  Now I can get rid of that huge bulky "A&E mega-set" that takes up so much shelf space (I have one of the originals that utilized the wider amaray cases).  This will be my third time buying the series (the first was when I was in high school, on VHS, from Columbia House).

 

Can't wait!

Here's the review on DVD Beaver of the UK released box set of The Prisoner on blu-ray (the packaging is so much cooler than the U.S. version coming soon), but the discs will be the same and try not to froth at the mouth at these screen capture shots.

www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews47/the_prisoner_blu-ray.htm

 

The question, "Is this series worth replacing in blu-ray?" appears answered quite emphatically ... OMG Yes.