The Complete Prisoner Series: 10/27/09

[Jay G.]

Originally Posted by Harlock415

I have Zulu from the UK which is region free and it plays fine on my Region A Sony.

Zulu's a film though, and thus originally 24fps, which is the framerate almost everyone puts films out on on Blu-Ray, and which every BD player supports.

The Prisoner, however, was a PAL TV series, meaning it's originally 25 fps, which my research shows is replicated as 50i on Blu-ray. Not every BD player can handle 50i.

Here's a link that discusses how the US Torchwood Blu-Ray was converted from 50i to 60i:
http://www.avforums.com/forums/blu-r...-question.html

Here's a link to a list of BD players that do not support 50i:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...1#post15765041

[MTRodaba2468]

Originally Posted by Sessa17

Love the series, but I'm not sure I really need the show in Blu-Ray. It's the writing & ideas that made the series so classic, not the picture quality & audio. That said, if it ever becomes cheap I'd likely pick it up anyway.

True, the writing and ideas were what's most important. But with that said, excellent picture and audio quality couldn't hurt...

Originally Posted by aynrandgirl

A proper restoration couldn't hurt, though I doubt they bothered. Studios seem remarkably disinterested in preserving their past. I doubt the discovery of the atrocious storage conditions of the Godfather (if there's a past movie a studio should care about preserving, this is it) actually penetrated down to the core of any of the studios, in terms of wholesale changes in operation.

I know what you mean. It's even worse when you consider that Paramount themselves had no interest in restoring The Godfather, and that's one of their flagship titles. It only got the green light when Spielberg (due to the deal with DreamWorks) got a large amount of clout at the studio and more-or-less demanded that a restoration take place.

[NoirFan]

DVD Times review of the assumedly identical R2 set.

[Harlock415]

Originally Posted by Jay G.

Zulu's a film though, and thus originally 24fps, which is the framerate almost everyone puts films out on on Blu-Ray, and which every BD player supports.

The Prisoner, however, was a PAL TV series, meaning it's originally 25 fps, which my research shows is replicated as 50i on Blu-ray. Not every BD player can handle 50i.

Here's a link that discusses how the US Torchwood Blu-Ray was converted from 50i to 60i:
http://www.avforums.com/forums/blu-r...-question.html

Here's a link to a list of BD players that do not support 50i:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...1#post15765041

But wasn't The Prisoner shot on film stock? or was it shot on video tape?

[Jay G.]

Originally Posted by Harlock415

But wasn't The Prisoner shot on film stock? or was it shot on video tape?

It was shot on film stock, but at a framerate of 25fps, similar to how some US shows are shot on film stock at 30fps. Just because a show was shot on film doesn't mean it's 24fps.

[movielib]

Originally Posted by NoirFan

DVD Times review of the assumedly identical R2 set.

Looks like the only disappointment is a lack of lossless audio. Why do they do this?

[kenbuzz]

(1) When the series wasn't available in the US, I bought the R2 box set.
(2) Then A&E finally put out the series, in thin paks, loaded with extras. I got that too.
(3) Now I have to decide if I'm gonna triple-dip.

[jackson walker]

Originally Posted by kenbuzz

(1) When the series wasn't available in the US, I bought the R2 box set.
(2) Then A&E finally put out the series, in thin paks, loaded with extras. I got that too.
(3) Now I have to decide if I'm gonna triple-dip.

It sounds like you really like it. Why don't you sell your standard DVDs and get the Blu-rays? Thats what I do when I really like a certain video.

[doctorthodt]

DVD Beaver review:

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDRe...er_blu-ray.htm

Dear god it looks amazing.

[Cartload]

AMAZING! I was always disappointed by the DVDs. Here's hoping the A&E Region 1 release looks just as good!

[Franchot]

Originally Posted by kenbuzz

(1) When the series wasn't available in the US, I bought the R2 box set.
(2) Then A&E finally put out the series, in thin paks, loaded with extras. I got that too.
(3) Now I have to decide if I'm gonna triple-dip.

The current UK DVD version put out by Network is a huge improvement over all the previous versions. The new UK Blu-ray version by Network betters their current DVD version. Supposedly A&E purchased the rights to the Network Blu-ray version so you'd be getting a pretty significant upgrade from what you have now. Also, the A&E version is on sale at 49% off at Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Prisoner-Compl...4381438&sr=8-1

[The Bus]

Looks like I need to sell my current DVD box set.

[Jay G.]

Originally Posted by doctorthodt

DVD Beaver review:

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDRe...er_blu-ray.htm

Interestingly, this review pegs the framerate at 23.976 fps, but the show had to have originally aired at 25fps PAL. Is the show slowed down compared to the PAL DVDs?

[Josh Z]

Originally Posted by Jay G.

Interestingly, this review pegs the framerate at 23.976 fps, but the show had to have originally aired at 25fps PAL. Is the show slowed down compared to the PAL DVDs?

There are two possibilities. Either it's been slowed down, or the show was photographed at 24 fps and aired on European TV with PAL speedup. The latter sometimes happened for series that the producers expected would receive international distribution. I can't speak for The Prisoner specifically, though.

[GenPion]

I'm thinking about the possibility of blind buying this set. Not sure, really.

[Cartload]

DVD Beaver just updated their review of the blu-ray with the US A&E release. Looks like the quality is an exact match to what Network put out in the UK! Dolby Digital 5.1 only, no lossless. Ah well...

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDRe...er_blu-ray.htm

[Sessa17]

Originally Posted by GenPion

I'm thinking about the possibility of blind buying this set. Not sure, really.

Have you watched a lot of Brit-TV before? It is an acquired taste & the Prisoner is certainly unique to say the least. I would rent the first disc if I was you, but if you are open minded & can appreciate what IMO is one of the greatest stories in the history of television, then blind-buy it. I mean to watch this series for the first time, & on Blu-Ray is something special & marathoning through this set will be a ton of fun. I first saw this show on crappy VHS bootlegs.

[Jay G.]

Originally Posted by Cartload

DVD Beaver just updated their review of the blu-ray with the US A&E release. Looks like the quality is an exact match to what Network put out in the UK! Dolby Digital 5.1 only, no lossless. Ah well...

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDRe...er_blu-ray.htm

The Network 6-disc set is 4 BDs of episodes, with a 5th BD and a 6th DVD of extras. The A&E 5-disc set is 4 BDs of episodes, and a 5th DVD of extras.

I compared the extras listed on both releases, and found these differences:

Network:
• 290-page Book: The Prisoner - A Complete Production guide by Andrew Pixley
• Behind-the-scenes footage, including much previously unseen
• Image Galleries with Music Suites on each of the first 4 discs


A&E:
• "The Pink Prisoner": Peter Wyngarde pays tribute to the series in this unique cross between an interview and comedy sketch (9:24)
• "You Make Sure it Fits": music editor Eric Mival discusses his role behind the scenes in making 'The Prisoner' and provides a unique look at the Music Bible for the show (9:16)
• Original edit of the episode "The Chimes of Big Ben" (50:34)
• Image Archive: individual galleries of over 1,200 stills are featured throughout this set, including episodic shots, generic/PR Photos, coverage of the original press conference in 1967 and Jack Shampan's designs.
• Exposure strips gallery
• Preview of AMC's 'The Prisoner' mini-series remake (:31)

The "Image Archive" on the A&E may be the same as the "Image Galleries" on the Network set, but their descriptions are different enough that I kept them on the lists. Also, they don't explicitly mention the A&E having "newly created 5.1 audio soundtracks for each show, plus the original mono soundtrack" that the Network set has, but the audio options listed elsewhere are identical for both sets.

The 1.5 hour "Don't Knock Yourself Out" documentary is on BD in the Network set, and on NTSC DVD in the A&E set. However, I don't know if it was in HD or SD on the Network BD. The original edit of "The Chimes of Big Ben" is on the A&E DVD as well, and sounds like the same transfer as on the old A&E DVDs.

[bunkaroo]

After watching the first hour of the abysmal A&E miniseries (and subsequently deleting it all), I started looking into checking out the original which I've never seen.

I see Amazon has it "under review" and is not selling it. Anyone know if something is wrong with this set?

[Jay G.]

Originally Posted by bunkaroo

After watching the first hour of the abysmal A&E miniseries (and subsequently deleting it all), I started looking into checking out the original which I've never seen.

Having finished watching the miniseries last night, I can say that the original show is much, much better. Considering how far the remake departed from the original, I think it may have fared better if it hadn't tried to be a remake at all.

I see Amazon has it "under review" and is not selling it. Anyone know if something is wrong with this set?

As of right now, Amazon is selling it, and for half off:
http://www.amazon.com/Prisoner-Compl...dp/B002C68WOG/

I have the Blu-ray set and haven't noticed any problems with the two discs I've played so far.

[bunkaroo]

They must have just reinstated it - I literally checked it right before I posted and it was "under review".

I just bought it for in store pickup through Best Buy who are matching Amazon on the website for $50. Hope it's a worth blind buy - Netflix had a very long wait and I wanted to see it soon.

From what I read elsewhere, it might be that one of the extras discs, which is a DVD, has a PDF or something on it, and some players aren't playing that disc. As long as the BD episodes play that's all I care about.

[Jay G.]

Originally Posted by bunkaroo

From what I read elsewhere, it might be that one of the extras discs, which is a DVD, has a PDF or something on it, and some players aren't playing that disc. As long as the BD episodes play that's all I care about.

The DVD Beaver review mentioned that the 5th disc is a DVD that has 84 PDFs on it, totally 605 MB. It also mentions some players having problems with the disc, but if they are it's the fault of the player, since DVD specs allow additional files to be on the disc.

Most likely, Amazon had it "under review" temporarily while they changed a description or confirmed the sale price.

[Jay G.]

About watching the series for the first time:

The episode order for this series is somewhat controversial, as there isn't a single, official or agreed-upon order. I watched the series in the KTEH order, as that's the closet to definitive and was also the order the AVClub recently reviewed the series:
http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/tvshow/the-prisoner,84/

Here's a List from the FAQ, ordered according to KTEH:

    KTEH  6o1  SciFi   ITC  1st   McG
     *1*                        || 1  Arrival
      2     3     2  ||  8    8 || 3  Dance of the Dead
      3     4     4  || 11    9 || 4  Checkmate
      4     5     5  ||  2    2 || 5  The Chimes of Big Ben
      5     2     3  ||  4    4 || 2  Free For All
      6     9     9  ||  7    7 || -  Many Happy Returns
      7     8     8  ||  5    5 || -  The Schizoid Man
      8     7     6  ||  6    6 || -  The General
      9     6     7  ||  3    3 || -  A, B, and C
     10    14    14  || 12   14 || -  Living in Harmony
     11    10    10  || 10   11 || -  It's Your Funeral
     12    13    13  ||  9   13 || -  Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling
     13    11    11  || 13   12 || -  A Change of Mind
     14    12    12  || 14   10 || -  Hammer Into Anvil
     15                         || -  The Girl Who Was Death
    *16*                        || 6  Once Upon a Time
    *17*                        || 7  Fall Out

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/tv/the-prisoner/part1/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...soner_episodes

[Josh Z]

Originally Posted by bunkaroo

After watching the first hour of the abysmal A&E miniseries (and subsequently deleting it all),

Yeah, it kind of stunk, didn't it.

I find it hilarious that the end credits have a listing for "Jim Caveziel's Acting Coach" (no joke). I can't believe he was actually coached to give a performance that terrible!

[Josh Z]

Originally Posted by Jay G.

About watching the series for the first time:

The episode order for this series is somewhat controversial, as there isn't a single, official or agreed-upon order. I watched the series in the KTEH order, as that's the closet to definitive and was also the order the AVClub recently reviewed the series:
http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/tvshow/the-prisoner,84/

Video Watchdog also has a preferred viewing order of their own. I would have to pull out the old issue to find it, though.