The Prisoner ... on Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Parker Clack]

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.

 

[SilverWook]

Originally Posted by Nelson Au

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!

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

 

[Nelson Au]

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.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

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.

 

[Nelson Au]

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.

 

[Jack P]

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."

 

[Ronald Epstein]

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).

 

[RickER]

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."

 

[SilverWook]

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.

 

[Stephen Bowie]

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!

 

[JoshuaB.]

I admit that some of the episodes before the two-part finale aren't as good as the early episodes, but there's still a bit of playfulness: "The Girl Who was Death" is delightfully cheeky, an intentionally silly episode that gives a breather before the heady final episodes. "Living in Harmony" is fantastic, not only for the Westernized version of the show's opening credits (without actual credits until the episode title), but the fact that it's a British interpretation of an American genre (I love many film Westerns, but I've never found any TV Westerns to hold my interest, with the exception of Maverick). "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling" is a good try, but it's a dud without McGoohan's presence and mind transference seems a bit too silly a sci-fi concept for The Prisoner (granted there are roaring, "living" balloons, but still...). I think "Once Upon a Time" is a great stage-like episode, with amazing performances from McGoohan and McKern, as they play off each other with rapid-fire delivery.

Series finales are difficult because writers want to go out with a bang, the cast wants something memorable for their characters and viewers want satisfaction after investing potentially numerous years watching a series. "Fall Out" is unusual and challenging, but I don't think it discredits the rest of the series. It's absurd, but thoughtful, allowing the viewer to interpret the ending and it's provocative--look at some the reactions here in this thread--some might feel emotionally cheated, but if you consider the finale after repeated viewings, you might find it intellectually rewarding.

 

[Jim*F]

Well said, JoshuaB.

Based on the numerous Prisoner books I've read, the ending we see in "Fall Out" is the ending Patrick McGoohan wanted. However, once the decision was made to end the series with just 17 episodes, McGoohan basically wrote the entire script in about 48 hours, so it didn't go through as many edits and re-writes as the other episodes.


I have watched the series numerous times over the years, and I always find Fall Out the perfect ending to this incredible series. And it gets better every time I watch it.

 

[SilverWook]

"The Girl Who was Death" had me wondering where it was going up until the final scene. The fact there are children living in the Village raises all sorts of unsettling questions though.

The first time I saw "Living in Harmony", I was wondering if it was an actual Prisoner episode at all until the climax. Is it true CBS was too nervous to air this episode in the U.S. back in the day?

 

[TonyD]

Originally Posted by RickER

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."

And who's on first.

So how about some of you guys who find the last episode to be brilliant or even just very good, can you say why, and offer an interpretation of that last episode.

I just thought it was ridiculous.
Going to mention plot points from the last show so don't read if you haven't seen yet.


All the dancing and singing, then Just driving right away from the village in that caged apartment,
bringing Number 2 back to life.

It was more like a Benny Hill episode at the end.

Sure I saw who was under that hood and His door at his "real" house opened by itself.
so did we need an entire show of all that slapstick with the real door and the 2 seconds of the face under the hood just barely squeezed in.

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

There's a lot of material out there on this, but if you realize that the "Once Upon a Time" episode was actually to be the planned end of Season 1, and "Fall Out" was almost added as a coda when the series was cancelled, it was inevitable that McGoohan had to take a wild and allegorical approach to capping the series. I agree with the interpretation that the series was always an allegory about the character (or McGoohan) wrestling with questions of ego and identity through the device of a "prisoner" in the "village."

If you pursue it, there are very detailed interpretations out there, but sometimes the best art engages the observer's collaboration in unexpected ways. I remember first seeing "A Clockwork Orange" in the theatre opening day and half the audience stormed out in disgust and the other sat there in stunned awe at its brilliance. Put me in the latter camp ... on that film and this series. If I don't want to think, there's plenty of shows to fill that vacuum.

Comments from imdb ...
us.imdb.com/title/tt0679178/usercomments

Interview with McGoohan
www.cultv.co.uk/mcgoohan.htm

Theory by a guy who thinks way too much.
prisoner.gigacorp.net/fallout.html

 

[John Choi]

Prisoner blu-ray is $34.99 with discount code N4V24RVDNH on DeepDiscount.

from:

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=3744

 

[GlennH]

Even better, it's actually $34.98 (one cent less)

Also, if you go through bing.com 4% cashback.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

I see that Amazon has pulled this set.

I bought it through their marketplace and am just reaching the end of disc one, however I must say that the audio is not as good as the reviews seem to indicate. The 5.1 track has a constant phasing running through it, it's moderately subtle, but not near as clean as reported. I'm also seeing a lot of brief jumps in the video, although I'm watching at 1080i which may or may not be the cause.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

I just bought the set a little over a week ago from Amazon.com (for under $40 shipped, less than they were charging for the DVD set.) So far I've only had a chance to watch two episodes, and I don't see any problems. I'll have to go through the rest of the set quickly so I can exchange it if necessary. I hope there's nothing wrong, because so far the set is gorgeous, it is almost like seeing the show again for the first time. This is only my second TV release on Blu-Ray (the first was the 1995 BBC production of Pride and Prejudice) and I've just been blown away by the quality of both.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

After a bit more research, the problem noted at Amazon is with disc 5 (a regular DVD) not playing on many players.

I am seeing the show for the first time.