The Prisoner - 40th Anniversary Special Edition - Complete [1967] | ![The Prisoner - 40th Anniversary Special Edition - Complete [1967]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51uS6r3Ez2L._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Directors: Patrick Mcgoohan, David Tomblin, Robert Asher, Don Chaffey
Actor: Patrick Mcgoohan
Studio: Network
Category: DVD
List Price: £59.99
Buy New: £45.86
You Save: £14.13 (24%)
New (7) Used (1) from £45.86
Rating:  17 reviews
Sales Rank: 3409
Format: Box Set, Pal, Special Edition
Languages: English (Unknown), English (Original Language)
Rating: Parental Guidance
Region: 2
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Items: 7
Running Time: 850 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.8 x 2.8
EAN: 5027626266349
ASIN: B000RJEIPW
Theatrical Release Date: 1967
Release Date: October 1, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Ships from U.S.A., to anywhere in the United Kingdom! Orders only take 7-10 days! We specialise in service to the U.K. and only ship airmail.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 12 more reviews...
A fine tribute June 13, 2008
Roger Goodman (North Wales)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
There were 17 episodes of The Prisoner and this will be the 17th review to praise this collection. A huge amount of work has gone into it, of which the people behind it are justly proud. You'll have probably decided to buy it without reading this far, but, if you're remotely hesitating, don't think twice.
Superb surreal psychological suspense April 7, 2008
MM Turner (Birmingham, England)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is a superb digitally restored complete set of a masterpiece of surreal British television from the 1960s, supplemented by an extremely complete collection of extras including a 288 page book, as befits one of the most discussed series ever to come from these shores.
I was instantly impressed with the colour and sharpness of the images, and the wonderfully proximate sound. This digital restoration is as crisp as anything being produced today.
However, after a few minutes watching 'Arrival', I had completely forgotten about the reproduction, the extras, the packaging and the complementary book. Right from the beginning, the Prisoner is as engrossing as the day I first saw it (not in the 1960s, I hasten to add, but when Channel 4 screened it in the 1980s).
Lots of TV series which have achieved cult status are quite hard for people outside their dedicated fanbase to really get to grips with. Not so the Prisoner. The iconic beginning to each episode is enough context for a casual viewer to grasp in one go (as much as anyone ever really 'grasps' the Prisoner). What's more, the Prisoner comes across as a series _set_ in the 1960s, not as one _made_ in the 1960s. The visuals are flawless, the bizarre logic always impeccable, the characterisations without a chink. There is nothing whatsoever dated: everything has withstood the test of time.
The other thing which surprised me was how much development of character and situation takes place across the 17 episodes. From bewildered would-be escapee, No 6 increasingly turns the tables on his captors, turning their tricks against them, driving one No 2 mad, foiling an assassination plot, destroying a powerful computer with one question (though this is probably the moment which jars the most), and eventually taking control of his own destiny. This is a series which has powerful elements of romance and passion, but no sex, moments of harrowing violence, but with little bloodshed and few bodies, and acres of suspense without having to resort to set piece car chases, bombs ticking down to zero, or any of the other hackneyed techniques which we see all too often these days. There is not one shred of unoriginality in the Prisoner.
I immensely enjoyed this set, and would warmly recommend it not only to die-hard fans, but also to anyone who wants to enjoy a series of psychological thrillers that are entirely unlike anything else that has ever been made, or ever will be, unless (as they have been promising to) they remake it.
 Nearly prefect, but not quite January 8, 2008
F. Shailes (UK)
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
Although the picture quality is peerless, there are a couple of niggling errors in the episodes themselves which prevent me giving 5/5. The 5.1 soundtrack throughout has been bodged, resulting in echoing sound which is virtually unlistenable - and these are set as the default (but you have the option to switch to a clear mono soundtrack).
The opening titles of "Once Upon A Time" have been sourced from another episode, meaning that the credits are incorrect. Also, during the "where am I?" dialogue, Leo McKern's voiceover mysteriously changes to Colin Gordon's after "information, information, information" and thus has the wrong No 2 laughing!
"Its Your Funeral" is similarly incorrect, the Colin Gordon voiceover is used again but only up until the line "By hook or by crook" when it switches to the correct Robert Rietty voiceover.
Living In Harmony - the "Prisoner's face flying up to the closing bars" end caption, seen at the climax of most of the episodes, has clearly had its audio taken from elsewhere (for reasons I can't quite fathom), since the closing notes from whatever episode it's been lifted from can quite clearly be heard fading out as those bars crash shut. The "slap noises" as No 2 slaps The Kid across the face (15 minutes in) are now badly out of synch.
Also of note is the fact that several dirty cuts and edits appear to have been repaired by removing the bad frame at the edit point, and replacing it with a repeat of the last clean frame, causing many shots to momentarily freeze at edit points.
The above glitches aside, this is a great set. There are some great Patrick McGoohan interviews in two Easter Eggs, and a superbly-researched book by Andrew Pixley.
the greatest TV series ever made January 2, 2008
Mr. DH Dixon (England)
3 out of 8 found this review helpful
Number One represents the mass of the public, or the species and its society, which has evolved from an ape to the stressed-up Number Six, who is trying to escape from it. There are two levels of symbolic meaning in The Prisoner, one being a satire about democracy and modern life, with the past represented by the penny-farthing bicycle, the present by the psychodelia, and the future by the surveillance stuff, and the other level of meaning is autobiographical, and deals with McGoohan's acting career and his need to escape type-casting. He appears to over-act at times, but he is just exploring his range as an actor. He is very funny in places. The Village is a microcosm of what is all around it, and so he is trying to escape from both. The most important episodes are nos 1-8 and 15-17, and the rest is padding, or variations on the same themes. This is the greatest achievement in TV art and it has never been matched. One of my favourite actors, Kenneth Griffith, appears in two episodes, and he is terrific. McGoohan had the bright idea of getting Griffith to write his own speech for the last episode and the result is memorable. Being smart and orderly, McGoohan's Number Six was the best sort of hippy, and in the last episode he portrays the young hippies as not knowing where they are going (this occurs when the escapees are parting on the motorway). The literary lineage behind this is Alfred Jarry and Ionesco.
Nice visuals shame about the commentaries November 22, 2007
Rover66 (Essex, UK)
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
If it wasn't for the dullest commentaruies i've ever had the misfortune to listen to,then this would have been a definate five star review.
The restoration is breathtaking and the documentary of great interest.
A big thumbs up for the mute location footage too.
But the big let down are the commentaries.On paper its a great idea to have the very people involved in the production to air their views. Its just that when the production is forty years old you end up with a bunch of OAP's desperately struggling to remember what they did and what went on all those years ago.And struggle they do with long lapses of 'dead air'. The 'commentary' track really needed a 'host' to ask questions and help guide the participants along.
Another major problem is that in many places the original soundtrack is mixed so loudly that it almost drowns out the commentaries.
A great shame as otherwise this is a fine release.
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