The Prisoner ... on Blu-ray - Page 2

I'm still patiently waiting for my set and a few other things from A & E.  I was told last week they were "on the way"...but I have no idea *when* that is.  Really looking forward to catching this version plus the mini-series on AMC in November.

I was referring to a review copy.  And yeah, release date isn't for a while...but it is 17 episodes plus extras...it's going to take me a bit of time to get through. 

I'm impatient that way.  :D

So the Network set is six discs, while the A&E set is only five.  What's being left out?

I guess the real question is will the US version simply be a standards-conversion of the PAL-UK one (and therefore, play 4% too fast), or will they have done an NTSC master straight from the original elements, too.

Is PAL speedup even a problem in HD?

DVD Beaver's description of the series confuses me. I've never heard of impending cancellation forcing the show to come to an end. Wasn't the show intended by McGoohan as a limited series from the beginning?

Its my understanding that they were going to do 6 or 7, but someone wanted a full season worth. After a half season McGoohan saw the concept couldnt stretch the whole year, so they wrapped it up. Its a bit more in depth than that, but in a nutshell, thats how it worked. I never heard it was close to being cancelled. I am almost 100% sure it never would have gone beyond one season, as McGoohan wouldnt of wanted to. But not because of ratings.

I'm wondering the same thing. Will the A&E version be from the same transfers as the UK version? That's the biggest question in my book. From all reports, the UK DVD version was far superior than the A&E DVD version. I haven't seen the UK version, but I bought the A&E set. Like others here have stated, I loved watching "The Prisoner" on DVD, but the picture quality was lousy. Hopefully the North American Blu-ray set is the same as the UK BD set.

It all comes back to Tim Tucker's original question: Why does the A&E set have only five discs while the UK set has six discs? Is it because the sets were produced independently from another and are therefore different in extra content as well as picture/sound quality? That could be the case because it has been done before with other releases.

It can be, yes. The UK are on a different HD standard than we are. The UK system is using the same framerate (25fps) as the analog PAL format and the US went with a 30fps rate (the same as NTSC), so these incompatibilities still exist.

Some R2 BluRays are encoded at 30fps anyway if there's a perception that a significant portion of people in NTSC countries would buy/import the titles (some, but not all, BBC titles are this way), but since there's already a US release of this planned, I have some doubts that Network would bother encoding their discs to a non-native framerate that will have to be 'standards-converted' in UK viewers' players.

All I'm saying is, don't get your hopes set too high until there's more info.

I'm doubtful the extras from the UK set will be on the A&E set, but I'm really happy the HD transfers are stunning--The Prisoner doesn't look over 40 years old!

The UK is on a different broadcast HD standard; 1080i50, so that there aren't issues with converting to (or simulcasting in) SD.

As far as Blu-ray is concerned, though, UK film-originated discs are 1080p24 apart from (AIUI) very very few exceptions.

I can't think of a reason why A&E wouldn't use the 1080p24 transfers from Network.

Anyone pick this up yet?  How is it?  I have Amazon Prime and it will be waiting for me on my porch when I get home from work tonight, I can't wait!

Quote:
I posted my review last night.  It's a beautiful set.  The only thing missing is comment from McGoohan.  Sure, I would have preferred an insert with episodes names and disc contents, but that's really really really petty. 

There is a user review in the product database. I've tagged this thread to the db so that you can follow the links at top of the right-hand column.

My preorder from Amazon shipped on Monday, but I'm dying to see No. 6 in HD!

Agreed, it's a beautiful set.  The only minor thing was that all the cool docs were on a DVD.  I would've liked them in high def on a Blu-ray but I wonder if the DVD-ROM aspect made them use a DVD.  

McGoohan's comment was no comment according to the title card before the 94 minute documentary ;). 

Cheers.

Has anyone had trouble playing the extras disc in this set? My LG BD390 Blu-Ray Player reads the disc as a data disc rather than a DVD. My Panasonic DMR-ES15 DVD recorder reads it as a DVD, and shows the start menu, but when I choose any items on the menu, I get a "cannot play" message.

Edited by maltydog - 10/30/09 at 4:57pm

Considering he was the driving force behind the show, I consider "no comment" to mean he needed to comment.  :D


No problem on the PS3.

McGoohan didn't talk about the show for 40 years, I never expected him to talk about it on the Blu-ray. There are more than enough stories about his actions when the show was in production to know what was going on. He didn't need to ramble on about his genius like Tarantino. The work does speak for itself. Although he probably should have apologized for what he did to Leo McKern.

Didnt he more or less, really break him in the second to last episode? I remember, that i used to know. LOL

Hey guys-

I've not been to the TV section in a long time, I'm usually in the Hi Def area, so I missed this thread. 

I've been debating getting this set. I already have the previous region 1 set. It sounds like the quality from some of your comments is it's as good as the Star Trek releases. 

The price at Amazon certainly sounds very tempting!

 Let me be the voice of reason, Nelson...do it. Go ahead, pull the trigger!

I have mine on order, but since i like to save a buck or two, i have it via Amazon snail mail, so i might see it in another week. But i have read several reviews. Looks good, lots of extras too!

 Voice of reason?!

I do have it in the cart. Now I just have to pull the trigger. Rick, you're a baaaaad man! I'm tipping over the edge. And so close to Star Trek S3 coming out too.

 It's better than the Star Treks.  It's astonishingly beautiful - this show has never looked like this before.  It's a home run all the way.

 Did you do it Nelson?

Between this show and Star Trek, it makes you want more 60s filmed shows to turn up on Blu-ray!

I would also be ALL over Space:1999 if it ever came to Blu!

Okay, I caved. "Be seeing you" in about a week! This will be interesting as I don't know The Prisoner as well as I know Trek. So watching it on Blu Ray will be like seeing it the first time.

Space: 1999 would be cool to see on BD. I prefer the first year. There are about 5 episodes that I think are stand-outs, Earthbound, The Last Sunset, The Infernal Machine and The Full Circle and Testament of Arkadia, The plots get murky sometimes. The second year I've not seen in a long time. But one episode I liked where Keonig and Helena get transported to Medieval Earth by accident.