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The Prisoner - Set 1: Arrival/ Free for All/ Dance of the Dead | 
 enlarge | Directors: Patrick Mcgoohan, Robert Asher, Don Chaffey, Pat Jackson, David Tomblin
Actors: Fenella Fielding, George Markstein, Patrick Mcgoohan, Angelo Muscat, Peter Swanwick
Studio: A&E Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $39.95
Buy Used: $3.68
You Save: $36.27 (91%)
New (36) Used (35) from $3.68
Rating:  55 reviews
Sales Rank: 61579
Format: Box Set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd-video, Full Screen, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Picture Format: Pan & Scan
Number Of Discs: 2
Running Time: 208 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 1.2
MPN: 70135
ISBN: 0767029615
UPC: 733961701357
EAN: 9780767029612
ASIN: B00004Y7DZ
Theatrical Release Date: June 1, 1968
Release Date: October 31, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Box has slight wear
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Amazon.com
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 they let him become a civilian again? The answer, according to the 1960s British TV series The Prisoner, is no. In fact, instead of receiving a gold watch for his years of faithful service, our hero (played by Patrick McGoohan) is followed home and knocked unconscious. When he awakens, he finds himself in a picturesque village where everyone is known by number. But where is it? Why was he brought here? And, most important, how does he leave? As we learn in "Arrival," 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. "Free for All" sees the Village gripped with campaign fever (it's a "democracy," Number 6 is told, though he retains a healthy skepticism). He's encouraged to run for the job of Number 2 against the incumbent, but what's the point? And why is the Village so keen to have a defiant troublemaker like Number 6 take the reins of power? In "Dance of the Dead," Number 2 stages an elaborate costume ball that turns into a nightmarish courtroom scene--and guess who's on trial? An allegory of the conflict between person and society, individuality and conformity, and freedom and slavery, The Prisoner asks more questions than it answers, and that can be a maddening experience for viewers who like their TV neat and tidy. McGoohan (Braveheart, Escape from Alcatraz) also created, wrote, and directed much of the show, yet it's his screen presence that sets its tone. His terse body language, sardonic half-smile, and simmering anger at his imprisonment are used to maximum effect in scripts that emphasize strict word economy and witty repartee. 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." Besides, only 14 more episodes until all is revealed. Or is it? --Steve Landau
Description
"The Prisoner," one of the most remarkable and challenging science fiction series of all time, follows "No. 6," a former government operative sent into a seemingly idyllic but twisted prison known as "The Village," where he struggles to retain his identity in the face of sophisticated and relentless attempts by the powers-that-be (known as "No. 2") to extract his secrets. "The Arrival" (pilot episode)--A first look at the Village, and The Prisoner, Number Six, its newest resident. "Free for All"--Elections are about to be held in the Village, including the position of Number Two. Will Number Six run, and can he win the election, and his freedom? "Dance of the Dead"--Sadistic, secretive experiments are performed on Number Six as the Village prepares for its annual carnival.
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 Questions are a burden to others May 24, 2007
The Doctor (The TARDIS)
SPOILER ALERT!!! What follows divulges show secrets. If you haven't seen The Prisoner, do NOT read on. (I am assuming that most people at all interested in a show as old as The Prisoner have already seen it.)
Now, with that said, The Prisoner is easily, hands down, without any reservations the single greatest TV show in history. (A close second, in my book, would be the first four Doctors on the ORIGINAL run of Doctor Who.) The Prisoner wasn't only entertaining, it was thought provoking. To call it "Kafkaesque" is now cliché, though its similarities to Kafka's The Trial are many and striking. In The Trial a man is told he must defend himself in a bizarre court but cannot learn what the charge is. He never does. In The Prisoner a man learns he is a prisoner in a place called "The Village," a bizarre prison disguised as a luxury resort. The reasoning behind the prison is that prisoners will be so taken with the luxuries at hand that they will find no reason to escape. For No. 6, the sheer fact that he is not free to escape if he wishes is reason enough to do it. He spends the entire series trying to escape.
After discovering that the man in charge of The Village is himself (yes, No. 6 is No. 1), he manages to leave the Village. Or does he? Notice that when he finally gets home his door opens on its own, just like the doors in The Village. For those who didn't catch on, McGoohan later (in an interview) told us what it all means: No. 6 never escaped. He's still in The Village. Society IS The Village. If you live in society, you ARE a prisoner. But you pretty much HAVE to live in a society, which means you pretty much HAVE to be a prisoner. There is no escaping this fact. As McGoohan had achieved fame with Danger Man, he discovered he was prisoner to a contract he deeply regretted signing. He wanted to escape. Ironically, he was playing a spy on Danger Man, and resigned as star of the show. He then made The Prisoner, about a man who quits his job as a government agent. This has created much debate as to whether No. 6 in The Prisoner is in fact meant to be Drake from Danger Man. McGoohan has said no, but The Prisoner's other main writer and script editor has emphatically said yes. You decide. (I'll go with McGoohan, as I think his ultimate point is that everybody is No. 6. He once said that at the end of the show, he wishes the words "The Beginning" had appeared.)
McGoohan is obviously a libertarian. He despises bureaucracy, authority, and big government. He has said he loves the first amendment, adding emphatically that there can be no freedom without privacy. Thus we see why the greeting in The Village, "be seeing you," is so ominous to No. 6. Sure, it sounds like "see you later," but is really a way of reminding everyone in The Village that they are always under surveillance.
The show and No. 6's character traits and struggle has stayed with me, ever since I first saw it as a child. McGoohan is easily my favorite actor, and it is a true shame he did not star in more movies. I've always loved his devotion to his wife and children, how he never lets his work come before them, how he refuses to film any type of love scene because he doesn't want to kiss anyone but his wife, etc. He is truly a remarkable man. It saddens me that he had to turn down the parts of Gandalf and Dumbledor, due to his bad health, as he would have been perfect in both of them. I am very glad for his part in Braveheart, however, especially considering that before this he had spent much of the early 90s in a coma! Mel Gibson wanted McGoohan in the film as he is also a great Prisoner fan, and even (supposedly) toyed with the idea of helping McGoohan make the film version, playing No. 6 himself. Though I simply cannot think of any other actor who could "become" No. 6 (the role being a pure expression of McGoohan's rare personality), Gibson is about as good of a choice as one could make given the current options. In fact, AMC is currently toying with remaking the entire series, and guess what their greatest obstacle reportedly is? Surprise, surprise: they simply can't find anyone who can pull the role off. The actor would almost have to share McGoohan's convictions to be able to do it, becoming almost an embodiment of pure defiance and anger. The Prisoner is, after all, the single greatest showdown of the individual vs. the collective ever put to film, in my book trumping even The Fountainhead, Bullitt, and Enemy of the People (though Ibsen profoundly influenced McGoohan).
Interestingly, McGoohan and fellow Prisoner star Alexis Kanner later made a film together. Like much of McGoohan's film work, it's not available on DVD (which here is an absolute shame given that 1: McGoohan is one of the best actors alive and 2: this film is simply brilliant.) It's called Kings and Desperate Men, and has many of the same elements that The Prisoner contained. I've always been shocked that Prisoner fans haven't rallied for this film to be released on DVD. Perhaps they've never heard of it. In it, McGoohan's character is taken prisoner (literally) by a group of idealistic youthful liberal misfits. He laughs that they think they're in control simply because they have a shotgun, and proceeds to unravel them all with his wits. His libertarian views come out here as much as in The Prisoner, as his character scoffs at the moral crusaders' silly liberal ranting, and exposes the fact that their leader really doesn't know what he's talking about, and that if what he wanted actually occurred, chaos and anarchy would result. (Now that I've brought Prisoner fans' attention to Kanner and McGoohan's followup to The Prisoner, let's see how fast all 8 copies that exist on Amazon are snatched up. If you like it, try to do something to help get this released on DVD. I've written Anchor Bay several times.)
Rover Rules!!! May 13, 2007
PATRICK J.POWERS (Duncombe,IA)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
The real star of this show is the weather balloon known as Rover! This thing can swim, float in the air and do all sorts of amazing things in capturing Number 6. This DVD set has four episodes that prove that especially in Free For All,which is my favourite. The whole series is a classic in its 17 episode format!!
 A few words to the wise June 20, 2006
Me Curry (Maine)
0 out of 10 found this review helpful
Yes the Prisoner series was expertly photographed (for 1966 anyway). It had very good Shakespearean acting but that means it isn't much like real life as acting Bard-style is pretty unrealistic. It should be awfully hard for modern-day americans to identify so well with Shakespearean-acting old time Europeans. The central character/actor who plays Number 6 is a nervous type in reallife. In the book The Official Prisoner Companion it states a crewmember testifying that the lead actor indeed had a problem with intimacy on the set of The Prisoner. Raed that book, that info in it and draw your own conclusions about what that says about this man's attitudes towards women in reallife. Yes he's married to a lady but question is what does this say about his attitude towards women. Lastly, it is only a tv show not real life don't try too hard to make perfect sense out of it and remember tv is never quite like real life.
To the person who commented. I did review the show. The actor having a nervous personality affected the character of the show.
A few words to the wise June 19, 2006
Me Curry (Maine)
0 out of 11 found this review helpful
Yes the Prisoner series was expertly photographed (for 1966 anyway). It had very good Shakespearean acting but that means it isn't much like real life as acting Bard-style is pretty unrealistic. It should be awfully hard for modern-day americans to identify so well with Shakespearean-acting old time Europeans. The central character/actor who plays Number 6 is a nervous type in reallife. In the book The Official Prisoner Companion it states a crewmember testifying that the lead actor indeed had a problem with intimacy on the set of The Prisoner. Raed that book, that info in it and draw your own conclusions about what that says about this man's attitudes towards women in reallife. Yes he's married to a lady but question is what does this say about his attitude towards women. Lastlyu, it is only a tv show not real life don't try hard to make perfecty sense out of it and remember tv is never quite like real life.
You Will Be A Prisoner April 17, 2006
Tommcfearsom (USA)
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is a great series!! Highly reccommended,once you see it you will never escape The Village :). A must for your Sci/Fi/Spy collection. BCNU
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