Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Its about time!, August 23, 2001
Alas, if you are looking at this to buy, you must be familiar with the show, The Prisoner. If not you are in for a real treat, but you should be starting with volume one. This incredible show still holds up so well after 30 years. The writing is excellent, and can not be missed. This one contains my favorite episodes The Schizoid Man and Many Happy Returns. Its a shame writing for most shows in TV isn't this good. This DVD copy it very good with no color fading. The extra material is a bit limited, but it will provide you with some very challenging triva.
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
More Adventures "In the Village", February 12, 2001
Patrick McGoohan's Number 6 does battle in three new stories in this compilation from his classic 1966 television series; one is excellent, one very good, and only one is just fair, but even a fair episode of "the Prisoner" puts most other shows to shame. In "The Schizoid Man" - by far the standout story of the trilogy presented herein - Number 6 is put into the maddening position of having to prove to his captors that he is himself, and not the man who is impersonating him better than he is impersonating the impersonator. The story is ingenious, and worked out with a methodical and sinister brilliance worthy of an Alfred Hitchcock movie; McGoohan's acting, as the "real" and "fake" Numbers 6, is even more fascinating than usual. "Many Happy Returns" mostly takes place in the "real" world, as Number 6 realizes his dream of escaping - only to learn that his own former employers in the British secret service now consider him to be a possible traitor. The episode begins with an eerie portrayal of a completely abandoned, lifeless Village, moves on to Number 6's voyage across the high seas, and return to London - all portrayed without a single word of spoken dialogue for the first 20 minutes of the episode! Very cool, unsettling stuff. Finally, we have "It's Your Funeral," a rather routine story of multiple plots (of the criminal variety) being bandied about, disbelieved, and yet, still carried out, in the allegedly peaceful Village; Number 6 attempts, in vain, to warn the retiring Number 2 that his youthful successor is planning to send him to a *very* permanent retirement. The use of a bizarre, imaginary game called Kosho, something involving trampolines and martial arts (I am not making this up), which McGoohan invented particularly for the series, highlights a rather routine tale. Any episode of "The Prisoner" is still standout viewing entertainment, but this collection features only one truly standout piece, "Schizoid Man" - but the tape is easily worth buying, for that episode alone!
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Television's best, April 25, 2001
Set Three of A&E's The Prisoner series features three episodes of the television program and an interesting interview with the production manager for the show, Bernie Williams. I won't spend too much time talking about the individual episodes. If you've seen the series before, then you know exactly how good they are. If you haven't seen them, then you owe it to yourself to view them. The transfer to DVD was very well done with nice little touches added in the menu pages. The video is excellent and the sound is superb; Number Six has never looked better.The three episodes here are a great representation of the series. In THE SCHIZOID MAN, the Prisoner is confronted by an agent sent to test his own sense of identity. This episode is excellent and mind-bending; it definitely deserves several viewings on its own. The interview with Bernie Williams may be a bit light for the hardcore fanatics, but as a casual fan of the series I found it to be quite enlightening and interesting. Williams goes over the creation of some of the classic show elements such as Rover and the various Number Twos.
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