eShop USA > DVD > The Prisoner - Complete Series Megaset (40th Anniversary Edition)
The Prisoner - Complete Series Megaset (40th Anniversary Edition)
List Price: $99.95Our Price: $57.99 You Save: $41.96 (42%)Prices subject to change.
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
Brand: A&E
EAN: 0733961758580
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, Original recording remastered, NTSC
Item Dimensions: 235
Label: A&E Home Video
Languages: English (Original Language),
Manufacturer: A&E Home Video
MPN: AAE-75858
Number Of Items: 10
Publisher: A&E Home Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: July 25, 2006
Running Time: 884 minutes
Studio: A&E Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: June 01, 1968
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Editorial Review:
Though it ran for a mere 17 episodes the British sci-fi spy drama THE PRISONER is one of television's biggest cult hits. The brainchild of star Patrick McGoohan the series followed the adventures of No. 6 (McGoohan) a former secret agent who is being held captive in a highly secured village the location of which remains a mystery throughout the series. This groundbreaking and innovative show reached an unfortunate end when British TV bosses got cold feet following low ratings and increasingly strange story lines. But McGoohan himself took control and steered the show to an ending that continues to cause great debate among THE PRISONER's faithful fans. This release includes the entire series of the show.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS UPC: 733961758580 Manufacturer No: AAE-75858
If a top-level spy decided he didn't want to be a spy anymore, could he just walk into HQ and hand in his resignation? With all that classified knowledge in his head, would he be allowed to become a civilian again, free to go about his life? The answer, according to the stylish, brilliantly conceived 1960s British TV series The Prisoner, is a resounding no. In fact, instead of receiving a gold watch for his years of faithful service, our hero (played by Patrick McGoohan) is followed home to his London flat and knocked unconscious. When he awakens, he finds himself in a picturesque village where everyone is known by a number. Where is it? Why was he brought here? And, most important, how does he leave?
As we learn in Episode 1, Number 6 can't leave. The Village's "citizens" might dress colorfully and stroll around its manicured gardens while a band plays bouncy Strauss marches, but the place is actually a prison. Surveillance is near total, and if all else fails, there's always the large, mysterious white ball that subdues potential escapees by temporarily smothering them. Who runs the Village? An ever-changing Number 2, who wants to know why Number 6 resigned. If he'd only cooperate, he's told, life can be made very pleasant. "I've resigned," he fumes. "I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered. My life is my own." So sets the stage for the ultimate battle of wills: Number 6's struggle to retain his privacy, sanity, and individuality against the array of psychological and physical methods the Village uses to break him.
So does he ever escape? And does he ever find out who Number 1 is? "Questions are a burden to others," the Village saying goes. "Answers, a prison for oneself." Within this complete 17-episode set (which contains the entire series), all is revealed. Or is it? --Steve Landau
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Love it
I loved the shows so I'm delighted to have them all on dvd. If you like extremely long show openings, totally bizarre plot lines, various psychotic mind control and manipulation techniques, as well as killer balloons, this show is for you. :)
Rating: - Watch this show
I bought this set for my mother, who forced me to watch it when I was young. I have the older box sets, but this one has easier navigation menu.
If you don't know about the show it's the continuation of the series Secret Agent.
Rating:  - Don't buy this set, get the British set from Amazon UK instead
This is a good box set, but a FAR superior 40th anniversary set was released in the UK last year. That set has new, remastered transfers from the original film negatives that are much better than the ones in this set. It has better packaging, 5.1 sound, many more extras and a 288 page book included with the set. You will need a multi region DVD player to watch it but it's worth it. The set is released by Network and you can get it on the Amazon UK site for around 60 dollars.
Rating: - Must own
For "The Prisoner" fans this is a must-own item, and it should satisfy all but the most series-obsessed (get a life). The transfer quality is a little rough on some disks, odd in this age of archival discovery and preservation. I suppose it speaks of the undercapitalization of television production during the time, which makes the production of this series all the more a miracle. The weird end-credits mystery baffles me, but is worth noting for historical completists.
Rating: - "Information, we want information"
In it's time the least successful of Sir Lew Grade's many tv series, it has ultimately become the most legendary and syndicated of them all. Despite the short nature, it airs constantly (generally on PBS stations in the U.S.). Was No. 6 John Drake? Some say yes. I tend to agree with that notion. MacGoohan successfully explores the strength of the individual in a cookie-cutter world where independence is crushed and conformity encouraged. Nothing has been seen like it either before or since. ... Read More
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