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Prisoner: Set 1, The
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
"I am not a number! I am a free man!"
A nameless spy resigns from his secret agent position in the British government, but because of the knowledge he possesses, he is kidnapped and held in the world's loveliest prison, The Village, where everyone is identified by number. The strong-willed agent, now known as Number 6, is determined to escape from this prison, and refuses to provide any information about his resignation to his captors, especially the constantly-rotating Number 2. Yes, this is the cult British series with the floating giant balloon/retriever and the extremely surreal final episode you've probably heard someone talk about at some time or another, and if you knew that, then you probably a fan and already own these sets.
The first 2-disc set of "The Prisoner", not presented in the original airing order (but rationale for the episode placement is provided on each case), has the following episodes:
Audio: Both discs have perfectly serviceable mono tracks. Some of the dialogue sounded a little muffled, but for all I know, it's always been that way. The effects and music come through well and don't suffer from the tinny, flat sound so typical in all-too-many mono tracks. I didn't notice any hiss or distortion either.
Supplements: The alternate version of "The Chimes of Big Ben" on disc 1 could safely be considered a supplement, but in the interest of...something, I'll just consider whatever's under the "Special Features" menu on each disc as 'supplements' for this review. There are trailers (but I think A&E is tossing around the word 'trailer' a little loosely here) and stills for the episodes on each disc. An oddity on disc 1 is the alternate footage, which didn't interest me at all, but might get Prisoner enthusiasts in a tizzy. The footage consists of text-free versions of the series' intro and outro, along with foreign versions of the file cabinet sequence. The trivia games were a nice addition, and it's nice to see a trivia game that actually centers around 'trivia', not simple questions about character names or plot points so often seen on other discs. Each disc also contains an interactive map of "Your Village".
Conclusion: I picked up "The Prisoner" purely because of the hype I've heard surrounding the series over the past few years. More often than not, net.hype turns out to be entirely unsubstantiated ("The Matrix" springs to mind immediately), but "The Prisoner" impressed me enough that I definitely plan on snagging the remaining sets next Spring. Forty bucks for three episodes (not counting the alternate "The Chimes of Big Ben") seems excessive, but the set can be easily found online for under $30, shipped. At a lower price, I'd have given both sets a Collectors' Series rating, but as it is, Highly Recommended is the best I can do...
A nameless spy resigns from his secret agent position in the British government, but because of the knowledge he possesses, he is kidnapped and held in the world's loveliest prison, The Village, where everyone is identified by number. The strong-willed agent, now known as Number 6, is determined to escape from this prison, and refuses to provide any information about his resignation to his captors, especially the constantly-rotating Number 2. Yes, this is the cult British series with the floating giant balloon/retriever and the extremely surreal final episode you've probably heard someone talk about at some time or another, and if you knew that, then you probably a fan and already own these sets.
The first 2-disc set of "The Prisoner", not presented in the original airing order (but rationale for the episode placement is provided on each case), has the following episodes:
- Arrival: As the title indicates, this is the usual introductory episode.
- Alternate version of The Chimes of Big Ben: A slightly different version of the episode in the second set, Number 6 and the lovely Number 8 concoct a plan to escape to London.
- Free For Fall: Number 2 likes being Number 2, but is it really democratic if the only person running for Number 2 is Number 2? Of course not! So, Number 2 asks Number 6 to run for Number 2, which he does, in the hopes of infiltrating the system...
- Dance Of The Dead: Number 6 stumbles upon a corpse with a radio, and he uses the floater to try to make contact with the outside world. His immediate concern, though, is being put on trial for possession of a radio, which is strictly prohibited in "the rules".
Audio: Both discs have perfectly serviceable mono tracks. Some of the dialogue sounded a little muffled, but for all I know, it's always been that way. The effects and music come through well and don't suffer from the tinny, flat sound so typical in all-too-many mono tracks. I didn't notice any hiss or distortion either.
Supplements: The alternate version of "The Chimes of Big Ben" on disc 1 could safely be considered a supplement, but in the interest of...something, I'll just consider whatever's under the "Special Features" menu on each disc as 'supplements' for this review. There are trailers (but I think A&E is tossing around the word 'trailer' a little loosely here) and stills for the episodes on each disc. An oddity on disc 1 is the alternate footage, which didn't interest me at all, but might get Prisoner enthusiasts in a tizzy. The footage consists of text-free versions of the series' intro and outro, along with foreign versions of the file cabinet sequence. The trivia games were a nice addition, and it's nice to see a trivia game that actually centers around 'trivia', not simple questions about character names or plot points so often seen on other discs. Each disc also contains an interactive map of "Your Village".
Conclusion: I picked up "The Prisoner" purely because of the hype I've heard surrounding the series over the past few years. More often than not, net.hype turns out to be entirely unsubstantiated ("The Matrix" springs to mind immediately), but "The Prisoner" impressed me enough that I definitely plan on snagging the remaining sets next Spring. Forty bucks for three episodes (not counting the alternate "The Chimes of Big Ben") seems excessive, but the set can be easily found online for under $30, shipped. At a lower price, I'd have given both sets a Collectors' Series rating, but as it is, Highly Recommended is the best I can do...
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