The Complete Prisoner Megaset

Rating:
Summary: What can I say...
Review: [...]

What I have to say is embarassing, but two other reveiws I read here suggested (and one statted) that Patrick McGoohan was a homosexual. You know who you are, and be assured that I (and Mr. Ape) are standing outside your window as you read this.

The above statement (if you'll pardon this vulgate expression) is BOGUS!!!! Who ever wrote that (and you know who you are) is obviously biased. Let's think about a question put to the general: why?

Maybe they're biased because McGoohan is a Catholic?
Maybe they don't like that McGoohan promised his wife that he would never kiss another woman...and has kept his word?
Maybe they just don't like his acting?!?
Maybe they're lunatics doing a bad job of blending in?!?!?

And WHERE (might I ask) is the PROOF of the afore mentioned statment?? HMMM!?!?

There is none, so ha.

Rating:
Summary: Political Harangue Dressed Up as Spy Thriller
Review: First off, let me say that I did enjoy the series and the thrilling theme song by Ron Grainer is one of the best ever.
Having said this, many people were disappointed or even angry at the way the series ended. They had assumed that they were watching a spy thriller series and thought that the final episode would wrap things up. As the reader of these reviews has noted, that was not the case. Instead the viewers were treated to a harangue by Patrick McGoohan who was apparently a very angry man and very disillusion by life in the Socialist Britain of the 1960's. He left Britain for the US shortly after he made the series. So did many other prominent Britons such as John Lennon, fleeing the confiscatory taxes and stifling bureaucracy that George Orwell called "ENGSOC" in his classic novel "1984". Although other reviewers have pointed out much of the obscure symbolism seen in the series which was no doubt lost on the majority of viewers like myself, it is clear that McGoohan is attacking the British establishment when we see him in the final episode, with No. 2/Leo McKern, and the butler outside the house of Parliament. In an earlier episode, the Prisoner is accused of being "unmutual" which in a socialist society is very politcally incorrect. On the other hand, although the Prisoner insists he is an individual and refuses to become a conformist, he opposes the "turn on, tune in, drop out" mentality of the hippies of the 1960's, indicated by the Alexis Kanner character unsuccessfully attempting to hitchhike, first
in one direction, then in the opposite, with no one stopping to pick him up. This is McGoohan's way of saying that this attitude is leading nowhere and is disconnected from the larger society. I think keeping these things in mind makes the series more comprehensible, but frankly, these programs will not be everyone's cup of tea. If you decide to watch it, prepare to be challanged in your beliefs.

Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece, unfortunately the creator imprisoned himself
Review: This really is TV's first masterpiece. Meant to be a miniseries, before there was such a thing, it expanded into 17 episodes and an extraordinary finale.

But I'm not going to go into that. You can find everything you need by watching it. If you're unsure you can find theories and interpretations all over the internet. Everyone has one, and they are all different.

It is amusing in this age of dystopian micromanagement and excessive litigation to compare the Village to your workplace. If you're anything like me, and you relate to the Villagers more than the Warders, you will soon be classifying yourself as unmutual and muttering "We are democratic, in some ways," during staff meetings.

One theory I can't figure out how a man promising his wife he will stop kissing on film translates to homosexual on Amazon reviews. It seems to me, as the webmaster of a McGoohan archive site, McGoohan loves his wife and family. He kissed up until 1956. Kenny Rogers won't kiss anyone but his wife. Julia Roberts won't bare her chest. I suppose that makes them homosexual, too? My husband has promised me he won't kiss anyone but me, and I'm pretty sure he isn't gay, either. But whatever works for you. What does that have to do with the Prisoner, exactly?



Rating:
Summary: Rover Come Home, All is Forgiven
Review: "The Prisoner" is an upset tummy in the head. A fairy tale
gone awry. Or wry. It is never far from the nursery, the
rocking horse; at the same time it manages to be a
cerebral chess game. Intensely personal. Internal. The
Village is every childhood dream of long ago, gone melted
and razor blade at the neck dangerous. This place of
ginger bread houses and turrets and architecture that
seems made of spun sugar, good enough to eat. And all
belying the stark horror underneath. Colors that burst,
perfect sharp edges, picture and sound and series itself.

Patrick McGoohan as Number 6 is splendid. Sardonic,
subtle, quirky; he can go from placid to deliciously
demented it seems at a moment's notice, then back again.
He has such a unique, brainy bent and style. You can
actually see him thinking. He does not have to say a word.
So many of the words said in the Village are broken
sentences, fragment votives of sound, sometimes
fragments of nursery rhymes. Fragile words as though
spoken with an ear to china dishes softly crashing down
somewhere, giving another clue, perhaps, however
enigmatic, about this place and who is running it and why
Number 6 is there and what won't he tell them. I found
myself listening and watching so carefully. It's so great to
do that with a TV show again.

All of it a Mad Tea Party. Some episodes directed and
written by McGoohan, especially the penultimate and the
final one are just such great gluey masterpieces. They are
giddy. To see and hear McGoohan and Leo McKern as
Number 2 go at it in a nursery setting, all tilted in the
mind, all sick tummy in the head, like the Grimm brothers
have finally lost it, each man tearing out his and his
opponent's deepest fears, needs, the wanting to go back
to the beginning and cradle rock and this time get it right,
whatever identity might be shuffling about--such tension
and tight acting, and close ups of two of the finest actors
one can be honored to enjoy--this is the ultimate secret of
the series, I believe. You just want to dwell there.

Even when Number 6 manages to escape the Village for a
time, we see it still and all inside his head. Many of the
words said by Number 6 and Number 2 and the other
characters in the final two episodes are not really
necessary. You can read it in them, like you've gone
inside their bones. And when their bones become "dem
dry bones," it is a sensory explosion, and if anyone thinks
it's anticlimactic to find out who Number 1 may be, or is,
is it another practical joke?, is to miss the series' whole
point. Escape? I at least couldn't wait for him to get back
to the Village, so it will continue.

Because it was so much FUN there. Children's games.
Brightly colored umbrellas. Wouldn't you really love to
have clothes like the prisoners wore there? All the
captives and captors powdered and rouged, and torn apart
from the inside out, all their souls, especially Number 6's
and all the Number 2's as well. But with such usually tea
cozy British politeness of course.

There is Rover and tiddly insanity. It's a mad society gone
madder. Life as we know it. The rules keep changing. The
treats and the seductions turn us one way and then in a
heart beat or less, just the other. It is flannel nightie or soft
comforting blankie, but with a rattlesnake, no matter how
polite, underneath who might just possibly be as scared as
we are. In short, it's us and them, fun house reality.

Everything works. The machines and the clean lines and
the tick tock of the clockwork and the outrageousness of
the episodes, that do everything from parodying Sergio
Leone movies, to a quick nod to "Mission: Impossible,"
and more than that to "The Avengers"--another smart
cerebral nursery room series in its own endearing way--its
contemporaries. But the true madness of the Prisoner's
rationale is hidden in his madness, for it is something so
between that and sanity, that it really doesn't matter what
the mind conceives, it is just the getting caught up in the
thing that counts.

Freedom is what you make it. And when Number 6
makes it, or of course does he?, then we have lost a good
friend. And if we can run full blast across a busy London
street with No. 6 and the butler from the each episode,
played brilliantly by Angelo Muscat, so minimalist and
self-contained, and NOT FORGOTTEN, as a cruel writer
said he had been, if we can join hands with them and
bound forth between cars in glorious free sunlight, if we
find ourselves, as I did, weeping at this point, then no
need to wonder why, no need at all.

For we are losing our friends. But happily they've come
home, in this brilliant DVD mega set. The intimacy of it is
perfect for taking into our hearts right there, in our own
Villages, otherwise known as home, or as true
protections against the outside world which is the Village.
Chinese boxes within Chinese boxes. Never the secret
revealed. As McGoohan has said, if you explain the
analogy, the symbolism, then what's the point?

Perhaps some summer afternoon when the grass is too
green and the houses around me seem colored with cake
frosting, I'll pick up a paper outside the general store
where I've gone to get a map; the paper of course will be
"The Tally-Ho" with the front page story of the Prisoner
speaking his mind, news to him. And always that
possibility that our hero too will crack, for the danger of
madness beyond the next rounded pink housed corner
might come shambling out for him also. Keeping in mind
we really don't know who Number 6 is, either. It's just a
TV show you are watching.

Or is it watching you? Could that be how they all got into
this grim, sly, fanciful, edgy fairy tale in the first place?
Then "Fall Out," and fairy tale over. Or beginning. Good
night kiddies, everywhere, the Prisoner says. B C'ng U.




Rating:
Summary: I agree that McGoohan has trouble being around ladies
Review: The Honest One poster on here mentioned that Prisoner Companion book. I've gotten my hands on an old copy since reading that review. It does indeed say McGoohan had problems with intimacy on the set of The Prisoner series. Therefore, I too feel his obviously uncomfortable attitude with women on the show is not an act (which I chalked it up to being originally) but an indication of a man undergoing problems woith homosexuality or at least bi-=sexuality.

Rating:
Summary: One Of The All-Time Greats
Review: Although all of the episodes can stand on their own, if you only purchase the first set, a newcomer will likely become addicted and need to buy the other sets as well. Buying the whole thing is a little expensive, but it's still the most cost-effective way...

The show itself is at the summit of television art. Kitchy 60's set designs, first-class performances, and a heady sense of intrigue, mystery, and abstraction are some of the defining features of the show. There isn't a friend I've shared this series with that hasn't been totally entertained by it and wanted to see the whole thing. And I run with a pretty diverse crew.

Praise aside, some people have told me they would have prefered to see more continuity between the episodes and some were dissatisfied or confused with the conclusion. Personally, I like it just the way it is- with more questions raised than answered.

Let's face it, this is one of those larger purchases and you shouldn't shell out the money without trying it out to see if you like it. If you're looking for a gift for a young man who's a little on the geeky side (enjoys books and movies), then this is a pretty safe bet.

This show tried concepts which had never been used before- i.e. a hero who's as likely to fail as to succeed in every episode (a far cry from other cult series like, say, Highlander- where the hero's safety is always assured). You could say it was way ahead of its time, but I think it came exactly when we needed it (though it was 10 years before I was born).

The DVDs themselves are very light on extras. Trailers for the episodes, two interviews with Bernie Williams, the production manager, and a video companion which was less than elucidating. Sound and vision are fine, except for the alternate verison of "The Chimes Of Big Ben". I could barely hear the audio, even with the sound all the way up, but it's not that important. The stories are what counts here, but some more extras would've been nice, especially if they could've gotten something out of McGoohan himself- no easy task there, so, the complaint is nit-picking...

If you like art and action, this show's for you. It's also very, very funny at times- Be seeing you!

Rating:
Summary: A 1960s look into the future
Review: The Prisoner was and still is a cult favorite. It had the most incredible mix of content - but first, the story.

Our Hero was some kind of super-spy who resigned, for reasons unspecified. He is captured and taken to an isolated compound, The Village. It is peopled by others, like him, whose governments think them too dangerous to be allowed freedom but too valuable to be killed. Our Hero, in one-hour episodes, is unwavering in his resistance to his captors and in his attempts to escape. Interesting premise, maybe, but nothing enduring by itself.

The Prisoner's fascination comes from a unique combination of factors. It is founded on a Kafka-like sense of unreality and of hidden authorities with unimagineable power. This was sure to echo inside of people made nervous by the Cold War and the threat of 1984. The show had a veneer of gaiety; the Village looked like a college campus or resort hotel. That veneer covered a core of totalitarian control. For example, the populace is generally dressed informally and comfortably, but in an odd uniform of slacks, sneakers (the same style on everybody), and striped shirts. Many sorts of mind control always lay near the surface, another edgy topic for that propaganda-ridden era. It had elements of science fiction, surrealism, 1960s color and style - too much to capture in words. Above all, personal names were never used, only the prisoners' numbers. This tapped a real fear in the 1960s, that people were being reduced to numbered holes in a computer punchcard.

The series was at least 30 years ahead of its time. The ever-present surveillance cameras in the Village compound now appear on highways, intersections, stores, and parking lots. Even homes and dorm rooms have web-cams. Computerization of life has exploded, far beyond what any 1960s viewer could have believed. Even the show's "Orange Alert" has a ringing echo the US's current homeland security announcements. The special effects are from the era of Dr. Who and the original Star Trek, but the show's themes still have a startling currency.

This collection is an amazing find. It will certainly appeal to people who saw it as first-run TV, but to many other thinking viewers as well.

//wiredweird

Rating:
Summary: A remarkably unique and imaginative TV masterpiece
Review: Even today, THE PRISONER stands out as of the most remarkable achievements in the history of television. It is so unique that it can't be said to have been influenced by any other show and so inimitable that it really hasn't inspired copies. One can only approximate THE PRISONER by imitating it. I think there is little doubt that whatever television shows from the 20th century are still being viewed in the 22nd, THE PRISONER will undoubtedly be among their number, and even then viewers will watch it with surprise and wonder.

THE PRISONER is entirely the vision of star Patrick McGoohan. Any fan of the show knows that the American-born actor had previously been the star of the 1950s British spy show DANGER MAN, later renamed SECRET AGENT MAN when it was renewed during the James Bond mania of the 1960s. It has been widely debated whether Number Six of THE PRISONER was John Drake, McGoohan's character in SECRET AGENT MAN. I definitely take the position that he was. The one thing that is beyond question is that it was from first to last McGoohan's show. He created and developed the concept, wrote a substantial amount of the series, directed many of the episodes, and oversaw all creative aspects of the show, all while, of course, starring in it. In fact, he performed so many key tasks on the series that he began disguising some of them by using aliases so that his name wouldn't show up so often on the credits.

More than anything, THE PRISONER was McGoohan's attempt to make a set of comments on what he saw as the lingering insistence on social and political control that society was attempting to exert in limiting individualism and freedom of expression. In that sense, he fit quite easily with other sixties radicals who were if not actively calling for a revolution at least expressing a wish for it. Number Six has been imprisoned because he wanted to quit being a spy and wanted to get away from that and find a new mode of life (just before being imprisoned--a scene we see repeated each week in the credits--we see the travel brochures of the tropical beach he is obviously yearning for). Like Thoreau, Number Six finds a host of ways to reassert his individuality, and refuses to conform regardless of the pressure exerted.

If Thoreau provides the political context, Kafka provides the nightmare. Indeed, the show as a whole reads like Thoreau meets James Bond meets Kafka meets Salad Days, with the weird, strange, surreal pseudo-Edwardian Village serving as Number Six's prison. It is an amazingly personal and powerful vision. What is amazing is how potent the series has remained, even as it nears its fortieth anniversary. Despite some dated stylistic touches and regardless of the primitiveness of some of the special effects, the show still feels contemporary. One feels that McGoohan has hit upon something universal.

The care that went into the series is obvious throughout. For instance, to this day perhaps no show, whether series or mini series, has employed so many camera set ups. There are scenes in which Number Six will walk two hundred yards that might employ a few dozen camera shots. Simply walking up a spiral staircase might use ten or twelve. Nothing like this had never been seen before, and certainly has never been seen since. The quality is part of the reason that even today in many polls of the top series of all time, THE PRISONER is frequently acknowledged. It will long remain one of the more singular achievements of the medium.

Rating:
Summary: Good show but McGoohan might be gay
Review: The problem with these eps is the star, writer, director (of many eps) Patrick McGoohan has problems in dealing in almost any way wih the female sex. In The Unofficial Prisoner Companion ereies testified McGoohan had a problem with intimacy on the set of that show. I can believe it the way he writes in so many scenes on The Prisoner series where men touch him and he and grabstheir collars and pulls them up close to him and acts like he's about to kiss them. Gets in the way of the Living in Harmony ep when the Sheriff (NUmber 6 under a hallucination drug) is supposed to have a romance with a girl, Cathy, and since McGoohan refused to romance girls on camera it looks more like friendship between the two instead.