The Prisoner - Complete Series Megaset (40th Anniversary Edition)

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DVD details

Actor: Patrick McGoohan
Brand: A&E
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, NTSC, Original recording remastered
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 884 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-07-25
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: A&E Home Video

DVD Reviews of The Prisoner - Complete Series Megaset (40th Anniversary Edition)

DVD Review: Best Series Ever
Summary: 5 Stars

What can I say about "The Prisoner"? It was the best when originally aired on CBS in 1968 and it is still intriguing, without being dated. The technology is primitive, but in its heyday the technology was science fiction.
I loved this series so much, this was my birthday present to me this year (41 years later). I will spend many suspenseful, pleasant hours with No. 6 and his cohorts.

DVD Review: Great Video and Audio Quality".
Summary: 5 Stars

Simply Put, This Set Of The Prisoner Dvd's Is Excellent. I Have A 42" Panasonic HD Plasma and They Look Beautiful On It. If You Are A Purist Prisoner Fan, You Cant Go Wrong; With This Collection.

DVD Review: Patrick McGoohan's Unconventional Classic!
Summary: 5 Stars

Unique, wildly unconventional, often frustrating, but never dull, Patrick McGoohan's brilliant 17-episode original series, "The Prisoner" has stirred controversy for over 40 years. Was it a nightmarish vision of dehumanization? A bitter treatise on the loss of personal freedom to 'the System'? A satire of an era when vocal radicals were undermining the Establishment? Or something else, entirely? One of the pleasures of the series is creating your own theory (which McGoohan, himself, encouraged), and this collection provides everything you need to become an expert on the world of 'The Village'...

It is a program with an intriguing backstory; after 86 spisodes playing 'John Drake' in the very popular British series, "Danger Man" (renamed "Secret Agent" in America), between 1961-1967, McGoohan abruptly quit. When the studio demanded compensation, he offered a new series, about a secret agent who leaves the service for personal reasons, is promptly kidnapped, imprisoned in an idyllic, but sterile community, renamed 'Number 6', and relentlessly interrogated by the unknown jailers. Each week he'd attempt to escape, only to be recaptured, until he'd finally learn the secret behind 'The Village'. The studio, intrigued by the concept (recognizing the parallels to McGoohan's own situation), asked for 26 episodes (McGoohan wanted to make only seven), and a compromise of 17 episodes was reached. Then the American distributor, CBS, became involved; they disliked the concept (believing it to be little more than a live-action 'Road Runner' cartoon, with McGoohan's character the coyote, devising elaborate schemes to escape that always failed), and dumped the new show into the little-viewed summer 'hiatus' between seasons, where failed pilots and unsuccessful series could earn back production costs by advertising revenue.

But a strange thing happened; ratings soared, as word-of-mouth about the unconventional series spread, and CBS found itself with a hit! They quickly approached McGoohan, begging him to extend the series, and offering a prime spot in the fall TV schedule. The actor simply smiled, said, "Thanks, but no thanks!", and concluded "The Prisoner" with the surreal 17th episode.

And the legend was born...

Loaded with extras, including trivia quizzes, a 'Video Companion' to the series, production stills, and even a map of 'The Village', "The Prisoner - Complete Series Megaset (40th Anniversary Edition)" is the most comprehensive edition of the groundbreaking series you will ever find...I highly recommend it, and invite you to join Number 6 in the Village...and develop your own theories!

DVD Review: Be Seeing You
Summary: 4 Stars

Great collection of the Prisoner series.I used to watch the series on T.V. with my mom,who was entranced with Patrick McGewhan.I am now in the process of watching them again with her!It seems the series got more weird as it went on.It still is quite a unique show.The fighting scenes are the typical unrealistic ones,as they were at the time.(Knock out people with one punch),(he was an olympic boxer, we came to find out in episode 4, I think).Kind of earie how Big Brother is becoming more real today,like in the series.At least we aren't being brainwashed yet!The series kind of mimics real life ,as the people have accepted being prisoner and go along with the government,just like the trend is today.We all have Social Security numbers,which we are known by in the Government.However,we can still be called by our names.It is refreshing to see this series again,as it was innovative at it's time,and still is,although we have more modern things.Really enjoy reliving the old times.Be seeing you!

DVD Review: Modern British summer series of the 60's
Summary: 5 Stars

great summer series ...way ahead of it's time. Patrick Mcgoohan was a great actor(also Secret Agent Man)...He will be missed.

Description of The Prisoner - Complete Series Megaset (40th Anniversary Edition)

Patrick McGoohan's classic 17-episode British TV series, THE PRISONER, has been mesmerizing American viewers since its CBS debut in the summer of 1968. Now, just in time for its 40th anniversary A&E presents this definitive collector's edition of the cult classic series. Fully restored and digitally remastered, THE PRISONER is presented in the fan-preferred episode order, offering a chronological interpretation of perhaps the most unusual and challenging television series ever filmed. After resigning from a top-secret position, a man is abducted from his London home and taken to a mysterious place known only as The Village. Residents of The Village, known only by numbers, are held captive on account of their valuable knowledge. The Prisoner--Number Six--must protect his mind in order to preserve his humanity while he struggles to discover the identity of Number One and achieve freedom by escaping from the repressive grasp of his captors. Set includes all 17 complete color episodes: Arrival / Free For All / Dance of the Dead / Checkmate / The Chimes of Big Ben / A, B, and C / The General / The Schizoid Man / Many Happy Returns / It's Your Funeral / A Change of Mind / Hammer Into Anvil / Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling / Living In Harmony / The Girl Who Was Death / Once Upon a Time / Fall Out DVD Features: Ultra-rare original footage of the 1966 location shooting, accompanied by commentary with Bernie Williams; Bonus Program: THE PRISONER VIDEO COMPANION; Rare, Alternate Version of the Episode "The Chimes of Big Ben"; Rarely Seen "Foreign File Cabinet" Footage; Rarely Seen "Textless" Intro & Outro; Original Broadcast Trailers; Original Series Promotional Trailer; Gallery of Original Production and Promotional Materials; Production Stills Galleries; Interactive Map of the Village; Prisoner Trivia; Interactive Menus; Scene Selection NEW LIMITED EDITION COLLECTOR'S BOOKLET: 60 Fully Illustrated Pages; Hidden Mysteries Surrounding THE PRISONER; Complete Series Guide of All 17 Episodes; Detailed Color Fold-out Map of The Village

If a top-level spy decided he didn't want to be a spy anymore, could he just walk into HQ and hand in his resignation? With all that classified knowledge in his head, would he be allowed to become a civilian again, free to go about his life? The answer, according to the stylish, brilliantly conceived 1960s British TV series The Prisoner, is a resounding no. In fact, instead of receiving a gold watch for his years of faithful service, our hero (played by Patrick McGoohan) is followed home to his London flat and knocked unconscious. When he awakens, he finds himself in a picturesque village where everyone is known by a number. Where is it? Why was he brought here? And, most important, how does he leave?

As we learn in Episode 1, Number 6 can't leave. The Village's "citizens" might dress colorfully and stroll around its manicured gardens while a band plays bouncy Strauss marches, but the place is actually a prison. Surveillance is near total, and if all else fails, there's always the large, mysterious white ball that subdues potential escapees by temporarily smothering them. Who runs the Village? An ever-changing Number 2, who wants to know why Number 6 resigned. If he'd only cooperate, he's told, life can be made very pleasant. "I've resigned," he fumes. "I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered. My life is my own." So sets the stage for the ultimate battle of wills: Number 6's struggle to retain his privacy, sanity, and individuality against the array of psychological and physical methods the Village uses to break him.

So does he ever escape? And does he ever find out who Number 1 is? "Questions are a burden to others," the Village saying goes. "Answers, a prison for oneself." Within this complete 17-episode set (which contains the entire series), all is revealed. Or is it? --Steve Landau

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