The Prisoner ... on Blu-ray

 I got it in the mail today. Did an A-B comparison. Wow, looks great, lots of color and detail. Your gonna love it Nelson!

 Congratulations Rick!

Does anybody know if they fixed the "mistakes" that people complained about when the remastered standard DVD set came out a year or so back in the U.K.?

I have the same issue with my LG BD390 -  the bonus disc won't play. Bummer. I suppose I could watch the extras on the PC (or my son's PS3), but that's obviously not the option we want for the money we spent. I'm not going to lose any sleep over it, since McGoohan wasn't involved with the doc, and I've seen it before. I'm just thrilled to have it on BD.  Be seeing you ... in spectacular clarity.

 Played the bonus disc with no problem on my Sony 350. Watched 2 discs so far. Looks great. I watched dance of the Dead last night. I had forgotten that one. I can see why McGoohan had it sit on the shelf for so long. Strange episode.

Never saw THE PRISONER before.  Heard so much about it and
was delighted to receive the Blu-ray set as a gift last week from
good friends.

Started watching disc one and got through the first five episodes
on that disc.

What a fantastic TV series.  I mean, the writing on this show is
really first-rate.  Really holds up well today just because it's
presented so intelligently.

Did notice a flaw in the menu on Disc One....

The images marking the episodes are wrong for Episodes 
#4 and #5 (one of which is Schizoid Man).  They just switched
the photos that represent the actual episode.

I will get back to all of you in the next few weeks after
completing the series. The show looks really good in Hi-Def.  
Very colorful. 

Can't begin to tell you how much I am enjoying this show.
Sorry it took me 40 years to discover this show.

 Ron, i wont spoil it. But get ready for the last episode. One might wonder if LSD was being taken while that episode was being written. You will know what i mean when you see it.
 
I discovered the show 25 years ago on PBS, and have owned it on tape, LD, DVD (twice), and now Blu. Let me say the colors have never popped like this before! And of course, the detail. Almost to much detail! You can see painted back drops,  are painted backdrops!  LOL
It doesnt take away from the show.


Enjoy!

If interested, I remember watching this interview with Patrick McGoohan back in the late 70's or early 80's. Can't recall exactly. This was when it was making a splash on PBS. You should wait till you finish the series before watching this interview

http://www.youtube.com/user/CosmoBit#p/f/4/f6gPztzkNMQ

This is a series of intros and outros of each episode that is by the local film critic that was produced by our local PBS station, KTEH. This link is for Arrival.

http://www.youtube.com/user/CosmoBit#p/u/3/LSI0HU6io7I

And I had forgotten, the link above to the KTEH video intros talk about a new episode order that places each in a more proper chronological order then broadcast order. This link has this order:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Prisoner_episodes

Edited by Nelson Au - 11/2/09 at 5:17pm

There are so many suggestions around the web as to the
best order to watch the show.  Ignoring them all and just
watching them as they appear on the Blu-ray set.

Thus far I have completed 7 episodes in two days.  My
goal is to finish the set in another 9 days.

The Blu-ray does indeed bring out things it shouldn't.
One episode I recently watched you can see string
pulling "Rover" across the lawn.

...but the video on this set is just superb!  And, as
I stated already, I am really loving this show.  I can't
believe how well written these shows are.  

Parker told me Patrick McGoohan wrote and directed
each of these episodes which I find fascinating.  He
really made a show that was truly before its time.  

Looking forward to my next episode.

Ron:

I mispoke when I said that McGoohan wrote and directed all the episodes. He was co-creator and wrote and directed many of the episodes. In other words it was his show but he didn't write and direct all of them.

I am really sitting on the fence whether or not to get the Blu version of this series as for me the SD release is fantastic.

 After you watch all the episodes, just watch the 5th disc, bonus DVD. It has the lowdown on the show. Much of it i had read before. But it was interesting seeing interviews with cast and crew. Interesting seeing how they felt about McGoohan. It was made before his death, but he didnt participate.

I'd add that there are some - myself included - who think the last episode is brilliant.

My set arrived on Tuesday, but I've been limiting myself to one episode a night. The picture quality is extraordinary--it's the best I've ever seen the series! The bonus material disc won't play in my Samsung BD player, but will play in my Panasonic DVD player, so at least I can watch the feature-length documentary! Having seen this quality, I'd love to see The Avengers, The Saint and Space:1999 receive BD releases!

Yes, the filmed episodes of The Avengers should look great in HD, but what would be even better is reprocessing the pre-Diana Rigg telerecorded episodes to restore them to their original video look. 

Plus there has already been a restoration of Space: 1999 in the UK that looks a lot better than the current R1 set.  I hope that it was done in HD as well, so that it could be released on Blu-ray.

 I just discovered that the fantastic Gerry Anderson series Thunderbirds was released on Blu Ray in the UK late last year and was cropped to 16:9!

In researching that, there was someone who said Space: 1999 was also cropped. I hope not!

For people new to The Prisoner watching the episodes in "Blu-ray order" (which is UK broadcast order), if you liked what you saw, I recommend you watch the series again in "A&E standard DVD set order," which I think presents a smoother and clearer progression of the comments/attitudes of the characters:

Arrival
Free for All
Dance of the Dead
Checkmate
The Chimes of Big Ben

The General

A, B & C (A&E puts this before The General, but I think it make much more sense after)

The Schizoid Man

Many Happy Returns

It's Your Funeral

A Change of Mind

Hammer into Anvil

Do Not Forsake Me...

Living in Harmony

The Girl Who Was Death

Once Upon a Time

Fall Out


Ultimately, the only absolutes in the episode order in terms of story are that Arrival must be shown first and Once Upon a Time / Fall Out must be shown last -- anyone who disputes this is simply unmutual!

I've been putting off buying a Blu ray player and now, A Christmas Carol and The Prisoner!!
Woe is me. 

One major flaw with this series that I am not
certain the Blu-ray format makes more transparent
is the AWFUL and I mean AWFUL use of doubles
in this series.

I just watched A CHANGE OF MIND today in which
#6 has his mind transferred to the body of an agent
in the village.  There are scenes of what should be
the older agent driving around in the sports car along
the London streets.  However, it's obviously Patrick
McGoohan in the long shots, that is, until we get to
the closeup shots where it is the older agent.

You also see bad uses of doubles in any sequence
where McGoohan is doing his acrobatic routine. 

There was also an episode, I believe, IT'S YOUR

FUNERAL, where at the end #2 is being chased by
the angry villagers.  You can clearly see a double is
used for the sequence where an older #2 is needed
to do exhaustive physical activity like running from
a mob.

The problem is, it's done so blatantly bad that you
wonder if there was any care to conceal these doubles
at all.

That's my only complaint, though.  I am thoroughly
enjoying the show.  Have only a few left to watch.
Should be done in a few days.

Wonderful picture quality.

 I could make the same complaint with classic Trek on Blu, Ron. It is that bad, but who would of known we would be watching this stuff on 100" screens with "film like" resolutions! Not to mention watching these shows over, and over for 40 years, you notice things.

 Remember that 40 years ago, people were watching this series off rabbit ears. There wasn't the intense sharpness on a 20 inch probably black and white TV that was on a cart with wheels. So you didn't have to be a complete stickler as if McGoohan was working on a major feature film where he knows the image will be 30 feet high. Time constraints also factor into such things. So you forgive such things as part of the art of making TV.

I agree with Rick about TOS. In almost every fight scene where Kirk is being thrown around you can tell it isn't Shatner. In the lower res video tape copies you knew it wasn't him but it wasn't so obvious.

It has been cropped, but according to this fan site, there are two sets of HD masters, and the cropped one's are only for broadcast use.
http://space1999.net/catacombs/main/pguide/upimhd.html

 Thanks for that link Bill. Good to now they kept 1999 OAR for one of the masters.

Got my Prisoner set and will decide which order to watch since I already know the series. I have not seen it in a while. I'm leaning towards the McGowan order, rather then 6of1's suggested order. That places Dance of the Dead second and then Free for All and Checkmate. Then follow the 6of1 order.

WTF?  I mean.....WTF?

You probably guessed that I just finished
watching the entire PRISONER series.

Did a marathon today of the final 4 episodes.

I'm scratchin' my head.  What the hell happened
to this series?!

I mean, it started as one of the best shows I
had ever seen and ended as a complete, utter
farce.  The final two shows were perhaps the
most unsatisfying television I have seen in a
long, long time.

This show was innovative and sensational.
What caused it to spiral out of control and end
in the manner that it did?

I know the English have a different sense of
humor than ours, but I just don't get it.  

I'm about to start watching the supplements.
Perhaps they will make some sense of all of
this, but I have a feeling (as someone pointed
out) the writers were just taking LSD.

I am very disappointed.  Very let down.  This
show deserved better.

 

Don't feel disappointed! Watch the last 2 episodes again, or just think about it and it will make sense. 

Also, listen to the way Number 2 answers Number 6 in the titles. I don't want to say too much.

McGoohan tells a great story about the reaction in England after the last episode aired. He had to go into hiding for fear of riots! He didn't want to explain it. He wanted you to figure it out.

I have to be honest, I think that kind of approach to storytelling "He wanted you to figure it out" is a gigantic cop-out of the first order.     If people are sucked into something, they *should* be given some answers at some point as a reward for their patience and if they don't get that in the end, why should they have bothered in the first place.

If I am forced to find an explanation, I take the view that Number Six, John Drake and "Mr. Jones" from "Ice Station Zebra" are all one and the same, and thus the events of "Ice Station Zebra" is what led John Drake of "Danger Man" to resign and thus end up in the events of "The Prisoner."

Watched the hour documentary (that would not play on my
Panasonic BD player) and discovered a few things....

Not a lot of people had kind things to say about McGoohan.
It also appeared that his ego got in the way of many things
including the sacking of directors.  

As I had thought -- very obvious from the final 4 episodes --
that there was a huge change in writing and outlook of the
series. It also seems that as far as the final two episodes are
concerned, it was sort of a "let's wing it" kind of attitude coming
from McGoohan who had no idea how to end it.  Some say
by making it as obscure as it was, it would be a "figure it out
on your own" ending.

It's almost like David Chase did the ending of The Prisoner.

No wonder fans of the series were seriously pissed off.  I
know that I felt cheated.  Great series up to the final 4-5 episodes
(that includes the one McGoohan wasn't even in except for the
ending). 

 LOL

Told you so Ron. But i didnt want to ruin it for you.

You need to watch it again, its not as bad as you might initially think. Lots of clues in that acid trip. Have you ever noticed the number on the front door to his flat, his REAL flat in London?
I cant remember if its in the last episode, or a deleted scene, but after he returns home, his door opens by itself.
Just like it did in the village.

"Who is #1?"
"You are # 6."

I've never felt cheated by the finale, just perplexed for a long time. But there was never going to be an ending that made everybody happy. The true identity of Number One would be predictable if it was just a high ranking government guy, or some nefarious fellow out of a Bond film.

The McGoohan approved DC comics sequel painted a picture of Number 6 forever changed by all the drugs and brainwashing he went through. And it offers an explanation for the surreal events of the final episode.

Yikes.  If I remember correctly (and it's been many years since I read The Prisoner Companion, so correct me if I'm wrong here), the last two episodes represent pretty much the ending that McGoohan wanted, not some kind of loss of creative inspiration.  The first five and the last two episodes comprise the seven that McGoohan originally wanted to make; it's the ones in the middle (which are generally the most conventional) that McGoohan added under protest.

In other words, if you can't handle ambiguity, then The Prisoner (all of it) is definitely not the show for you!