Rating: 
Summary: I am not a number!
Review: Patrick McGoohan made a clever transition from being Danger Man to The Prisoner, which, btw, are not the same - it is an allegory. The order from A&E is slightly diff from how the series was televised. I recommend watching them in order.You have to watch it all the way through - no plot give aways here - it would ruin your discovery. My personal favorite is A,B and C; followed by The Chimes of Big Ben, Hammer Into Anvil, and Free For All. The adventure is worth the journey. But, watch out for Rover. Mr. McGoohan, your genius project made us all think about Number 1, as well as Number 6. Be seeing you.
Rating:
Summary: The ultimate "debriefing" station.
Review: What is the Village? It appears to be "debriefing central", run by #6's former organization. The warders ultimately reward freedom if you prove uncrackable. Or, you remain there forever, once you have cracked. That's one way to protect national security. Another theory is that it actually is the "other side", trying to gain access to your mind, to see if you're for sale. They try to buy you during your career, but you're even more vulnerable to proposition at career's end. All #2's past and present have promised "you'll like it here" and that "you mustn't resist". We can never know for sure if it's #6's organization or the other side that runs The Village. Even the head of #6's organization, Sir Charles, said that he could not be certain that #6 was who he said he was, while he inhabited the Colonel's body, in "Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling". On that basis, the Prisoner series leans toward the Village being a debriefing center: your own folks will never know if you'll succeed in being cracked upon retirement, unless they try to crack you themselves. Men of integrity, in earnest whatever their life pursuits, are more likely to be untouchable, make much better candidates for positions of national intelligence than the person... who sides with whomever's winning (... are all over, like road apples--hence the need for debriefings). A person of character cannot be broken, because a man's will knows no limits. Loyalty, like love, cannot be forced. As former #2 soberly enters Westminster Cathedral, Patrick McGoohan's "Fall Out" emphasizes that a focus on God makes for a strong will. Recall that #2 died and was resurrected, and said that he feels a new man. Even imprisoned and severely tortured, your will cannot be stopped: you know what is right and wrong, who you love and don't love, who you will run to the moment you are freed. You grow stronger in your convictions. They can play with you for a ha-ha, your own side or the other, but they cannot put asunder seeds God plants in you. Them bones, them bones, them dry bones ("Fall Out") call forth those things that be not as though they were: it looks like you've defected, but you haven't. It looks like you're gonna be broken--but you're not. It looks like you're dead--but that's only the beginning. The beauty of boredom and of the same old, new day dawning over and over again, is trying to tell you something: that you have the chance to start your life over, each and every day. And you discover who is really #1. For some of us, as with #6, it takes longer than others. No big deal. Just live. The Prisoner series has lots of reference to sixties issues surrounding its time in history; what series can escape referring to its time? What series creator hasn't wanted to make some statement, large or small. When asked if #6 was the retired "Secret Agent Man" from his former series, Mr. McGoohan said no--yet an interview included with the Prisoner DVD complete set says otherwise. (Do you actually think he would have come out and admitted it, had it been so? Imagine all the legalities he'd have to contend with.) The prisoner rocks my world. I'd like to see more of Mr. McGoohan's capable work, and I hope he does more for us all. Thanks, Patrick McGoohan, for everything.
Rating: 
Summary: Do not watch the ending
Review: The Prisoner is quite cheesy with its special effects in today's time but the psychological aspect is interesting. Each episode the viewer is introduced to a new number two with a brand new method of extracting information from number six. Of course number six always managed to survive the ordeal. As you watch this very good quality dvd transfer, you will get more interested until you watch the ending. Don't watch the last episode on volume10 because it is disappointing. This could be a 5 star dvd collection but a bad ending ruined it. Get it anyway and stay away from the ending.
Rating:
Summary: Information for Soundtrack Seekers
Review: I bought this compilation as a gift for someone else but have not yet had a chance to view the episodes myself. Since I had to supply a rating in order to post this note, the rating above is based solely on the quality of the series, which I regard as one of the best ever in the history of television. Here is why I posted a review: One reviewer above expressed an interest in having a soundtrack recording. Please note that selections from various episode soundtracks (including two versions of the Main Title theme) were released on the Silva Screen label as no. FILMCD 042. This is a CD, not an LP. These are decent mono transfers of 1960s TV-quality masters (in other words, don't expect an audiophile spectacular).
Rating: 
Summary: who is number one?
Review: I have to admit that when my husband first told me about the concept of this series I had some serious doubts that it would be interesting for more than a couple of episodes: government agent puts in his resignation, is followed, drugged, and the next time he wakes up he is in "the village", a resort-like prison, where nobody goes by their name, but by a number. So number 6 tries to figure out how to get away from the get-go and faces off with #2, who runs the show, the village that is. Of course surveillance is complete in the village and especially his first attempts at escape are thwarted quite easily. The series is very 60ies techy in the fine tradition of the Avengers: the execution and retrieval tool of choice for wayward prisoners is an enormous moving bubble that suddenly shows up out of nowhere. Lava lamps are also quite frequent in this show and go well with the colorful outfits of the village folk - high marks for 60ies cult quality here...
So number 6 learns to ropes of the village and hears that if he answers all the required questions, he will be free. He remains defiant ("I am not a number!")and so in consecutive episodes the #2s are exchanged and each of them try their hand on number 6. This sometimes involves quite elaborate schemes of betrayal and reality theft. As the series goes on, we also find out that the whole idea of the self-contained, isolated village is really thought out to an extreme degree. Of course, after watching 3 or 4 of these we are beginning to realize that no matter what #6 comes up with, he will always wake up in the village again, but that does not take awy from the intrigue of every different episode. We also realize that he will probably never find out who is #1, but that's OK also.
The show is well directed and the cinematography is excellent. On a technical note I have to remark that a couple of the episodes have poor video transfer quality, but they are definitely few and far between. Overall these are much better as far as picture and sound are concerned than the Avengers that were made at about the same time.
Rating: 
Summary: Poor Quality DVD Mastering Mars Quality Series
Review: A note for would be purchasers: this DVD has perhaps the poorest DVD transfer I have ever seen. I love this series - don't let my review of the set keep you from wanting to watch The Prisoner. A & E fumbled the mastering of the DVD for it is rife with digital artifacts. (This - for the new DVD owner - means that the program you watch is consistently interrupted with audio/visual glitches). It is unfortunate that the artifacts are so numerous for there are many features that would keep Prisoner fans satisfied. We can only hope that A & E will be offering refunds for this inferior product and will be issuing corrected discs soon. I will be very wary of purchasing A & E products in the future.
Rating:
Summary: It will leave you wanting more...
Review: The Prisoner is about a secret agent who resignes from his job is kidnapped and taken to a mysterious village. He strives to find who No.1 is and to escape. This box set brings together all the Prisoner episodes on DVD! The quality of the DVDs are very good, but it is the show that will shall we say imprison you.
Rating:
Summary: hallmark series
Review: the prisoner is one of the hallmark series of television, and bloody brilliant entertainment. some reviews have made note of some audio problems, ...
Rating:
Summary: Incredible sci-fi before its time
Review: An old 60s show that's been recently anthologized on video. It's one of the most intriguing premises to ever grace the glass teat; so much so that you wonder how it ever got on there. This science fiction tale is muted and simple: an agent for the British govenrment resigns (we don't know why). He goes home, is knocked out by gas and when he awakens, finds himself on a mysterious island that is controlled by unseen Big Brother-like forces and on which dozens of people who used to be agents and officials are living blissfully in an idyllic existence. The man has no name, just a number ("6") and is a thorn in the side of the island's ("The Village") authority. he refuses to be a prisoner or a number, and refuses to relay to them any information he's acquired throughout his career. The island is nigh-impregnable and guarded by a mysteriouos bouncing white ball that suffocates the nay-sayers. You see the conflict. The show is RIFE with theme and suggestions at society in general, a pure example of symbolism and subtle domestic finger-pointing.
Incredible stuff, and filled with mystery.
Rating:
Summary: Back to the village?
Review: Okay Iron Maiden Fans, if you should see this, this may be for someone else (that is if you have any interest left in discovering the root themes in 15 year old heavy metal). Boys and girls if you're looking for a true mind twist, you may really like this for its own merit, unlike some wanna-be musician poseur-intellectual dirt-bags who would influence you for their own gratification to prove how "hip" they are in post-MOD culture (go to the coldest place HELA has to offer BADGER, you waste of quasi-anthropod excreate matter, and return nevermore from bifrost, Fremont never needed you, ya prick!). SOME hold this series to be the avatar of the "in" crowd of SF. Be fooled no more. Let all see the enlightenment (Guess the next stop is Dr. Who or Red Dwarf)
| 
