Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Complete at last on DVDs--and with bonuses yet!, September 1, 2001
<The Prisoner> It is a lovely day in the Village now that A&E has released the final episodes of "The Prisoner" on two DVDs as Set 5 of the complete collection. Here we have the wonderful spoof of all spy films, "The Girl Who Was Death," in which the ubiquitous villainess (Justine Lord) is always one step ahead of the beleaguered agent (McGoohan) and in which we have the cleverest of all twist endings in the series. But Prisoner-lovers will want this set especially for the final two episodes. There is "Once Upon a Time," in which an early Number 2 (Leo McKern) risks his very sanity to break down Number 6--and, we are told, the actor actually came close to or just into a nervous breakdown during the intense filming. And of course, the "resolution" to the series, "Fall Out," in which the elusive Number 1 is finally (and literally) unmasked and revealed as the only logical person it could have been. I have to admit to a slight dislike of the smugness in this last episode, especially that of the character of the young rebel (Alexis Kanner, who had been featured in the "Living in Harmony" episode earlier in the series). But since McGoohan himself, in all probability, wanted only to keep us mystified throughout 17 episodes--4 more than he had originally planned-- I strongly suspect never really had any concrete idea of what the ultimate "revelation" would be until most of them had been filmed. But who cares? It is a lot of fun, once you toss logic to the winds and take the whole thing as something out of Kafka and/or Beckett and/or Orwell.
The second DVD hold as two special bonuses a detailed overview of the series, "The Prisoner Video Companion" and an even more revealing 16 mm home movie taken by the Production Manager, showing how the scenes were actually shot around guests staying at the location that is now world-famous for being The Village. Be seeing you.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
True fans will not be disappointed with Fall Out, May 6, 2002
I remember watching the reruns of The Prisoner when I was a schoolboy, and I have had a fascination with the series (and the village of Portmeirion in Wales, where it was filmed) ever since. The excitement as the screening of the final episode, Fall Out, neared, was palpable. I remembered blitzing every store in my hometown with posters I had made myself, encouraging people to tune in to find out the identity of the mysterious Number One.I was not disappointed with the conclusion, and don't think any true fan would be. It is in keeping with the spirit of the entire series. Technically, Fall Out is rather a shambles; apparently the episode was put together in a rush, and edited at the eleventh hour; it certainly shows. The continuity is embarrassingly bad. As usual, the dialogue veers between inspired and pretentious. But that is all part and parcel of the unique Prisoner experience. This final episode is without doubt the most memorable. Kenneth Griffith (The Girl Who Was Death) and Alexis Kanner (Living in Harmony) both make return guest appearances, as does the greatest Number Two, Leo McKern. It is in this episode that Number Two emerges as an equal and fellow-prisoner with Number Six. The conclusion is deliberately ambiguous (perhaps why so many disliked it), and leaves the viewer exhilarated after a climax that is playful, euphoric and victorious at the same time as it is melancholy, foreboding and haunting. The London and Portmeirion locations are a further treat for those who got fed up with some of the studio-bound earlier episodes. The music, as ever, is an eclectic selection of tunes and effects, but is perhaps the most memorably and excitingly scored episode of the series. Also on this edition are Once Upon a Time (which segues into Fall Out, and follows the final, dramatic confrontation between Number Two and Number Six) and The Girl Who Was Death, an unusual episode which was never intended to be part of the original series, but which is fun nevertheless.
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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE LAST EPISODES OF A GREAT SHOW, August 10, 2001
This review is based on the "Channel 5" VHS video release of the 3 epidodes. The DVD version will provide additional material.For those of you who don't know what The Prisoner is then I suggest you buy the first 4 sets and watch them in order - you won't be disappointed. Basically, the storyline involves a kidnapped British secret agent who wakes up to find himself prisoner in a village populated by captured agents, scientists and politicians from both sides of the iron curtain. The authorities want to know why he resigned from his job, but as he doesn't know which side is running "The Village" he resists and they are forced to invent new and original ways to extract the information from him... These are the last three episodes from the series and all three rank in my top 5 favourite episodes list, but are very "non-typical" when compared to the rest of the series. The first episode, The Girl Who Was Death, is almost a comedy episode and, if this is the first time you've seen it, may confuse the viewers into thinking they're watching a different show. In this story, Number 6 is back in England working as a secret agent and trying to track down an arch criminal who has already killed another agent. As McGoohan picks up the trail he faces multiple attemps on his life by a female assassin until he eventually tracks her back to her lair and untimately to the master villian himself. As the story progresses you start to wonder what the script writer was smoking! The assassin's assualt on McGoohan during the car chase is absurd... until the ending clears it all up. The second time you watch it you can then relax and enjoy it for the classic it is... without having to worry about some of the weird situations. 10 out of 10. The last two episodes, Once Upon a Time and Fall Out, are really a single, double length epidode. Leo McKern returns as everybodys favourite Number 2 and engages in the ultimate high-stakes battle to break Number Six from which there can be only one winner. Here, Number 2 regresses Number 6 back to his childhood and then guides him through major points in his life in order to win his trust and extract the reason for his resignation. ... As endings go, this one is about as final as you can get, but a lot of questions go unanswered and are left to the viewers to decide for themselves. Years later, the meaning of Fall Out is still being hotly debated by the legion of Prisoner fans. I have my own personal opinion of what happened, but I'll keep it to myself. Does anyone else find it interesting that when Number 6 gets back to London and enters his old home that the number above the door is "1"? Hmmmm
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