Prisoner - American version all eps SPOILERS [Text View]

john4200

11-16-2009, 05:31 PM

gchance

11-16-2009, 05:50 PM

I enjoyed the original series. And I like the new one so far (only seen the first 2 hours). I find myself questioning 6's actions, but since I am clear-headed, and who knows what mind-control he is under, I suppose I can forgive him his blunders :)

Yeah, who resigns by spray painting RESIGN on a window anyway? He's supposed to scream and holler at his boss and throw a resignation slip onto his desk, then drive his way-cool car home in an altogether-too-long opening sequence!

I like it so far, the ocean disappearance part was pretty weird. But as you mentioned, who knows what mind control he's under.

Greg

john4200

11-16-2009, 06:09 PM

Yeah, who resigns by spray painting RESIGN on a window anyway? He's supposed to scream and holler at his boss and throw a resignation slip onto his desk, then drive his way-cool car home in an altogether-too-long opening sequence!

Heh! I had forgotten that opening sequence until you mentioned it.

I did like the look on 6's face when he was "caught" spray painting "RESIGN". Like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Did he think he could do it without being spotted?

HTH

11-16-2009, 07:58 PM

I must say I was very disappointed with the overcompression of the AMC HD feed for the new series. I could see compression borders: one horizontally through the middle of the screen and two vertically dividing the width into thirds. I'm rerecording in SD tonight and, since I'm holding it for a friend, I think I'll opt to show him the upscaled SD version instead.

Then again, maybe AMCHD's quality varies by time of day. I saw them airing Terminator 2 once and it was distorted to fill the HD frame and super grainy. I tuned in again later for a reshowing (coincidentally the same scenes of Sarah's escape from the asylum) and it was slightly letterboxed in the HD frame and not nearly as grainy.

drumorgan

11-16-2009, 10:41 PM

Am I missing a joke here? I see that I got ep 1. I am now recording ep 3 and the next one is ep 5. Is this on purpose? Or, am I missing episodes?

ETA: Nevermind. I see that the eps are 2 hours and they have two titles separated by a ";". So I guess they are showing two at a time. Carry on.

Jeeters

11-17-2009, 06:02 AM

I've watched the first hour and find it very intriguing. Really wanted to keep watching but didn't have the time. I was a bit worried going into it as a couple reviews I read seemed to think it was mediocre at best. But I really enjoyed it, so they can BIH.

cheesesteak

11-17-2009, 06:11 AM

I fell asleep twice during the opening hour. It'll be a while before I make it through this.

sieglinde

11-17-2009, 05:32 PM

I decided to Netflix it, my Tivo is full.

ADG

11-17-2009, 05:40 PM

I was a fan of the original and had high hopes, but it's a little too "out there" for my taste.

Church AV Guy

11-17-2009, 06:45 PM

While I find the idea interesting, it is completely implausable. It can't sand up to the most basic scrutiny. Where does the gasoline come from? Is there an oil well or two, and a refinery on the bus tour? Oh, where does the bus, and cab come from? Is there an automobile an tour bus manufacturing facility hanging around? I could go on, the steel (iron mine nearby) and the wood for the houses in a desert, and so on.

We assume he has been mentally conditioned via drugs or something, but they can't get him to give up the information he has while under the influence?

In the original, we KNEW that they wanted information, but here, we don't know what they want.

Are there really only going to be six episodes? Six wants to knw that too.:D I doubt he'll be setting off a ICBM, or driving into London, or seeing himself as a gorilla.

reneg

11-17-2009, 07:24 PM

Never saw the original and gave up on this show after the first two episodes. Both the spouse and I couldn't figure out what was going on and why.

cheesesteak

11-18-2009, 09:39 AM

I watched the first two hour block. I watched about one hour of the second block. I watched the last 30 minutes of the third block. I might watch the final 30 minutes. I have no idea what is going on.

Fl_Gulfer

11-18-2009, 11:27 AM

It is real confusing, at first I thought the kids were running everything since they never new the outside world and didn't dream.
I'm finished with part 4 and now lost as hell. Im guessing #2 's wife is the key to the whole thing but I'm sure I'll be wrong after I watch the final 2 shows.

JakeyB

11-18-2009, 12:41 PM

Yeah, I've seen the first 4 hours now, I have no idea what the point of any of this is. Was the original TV series as out there as this is?

Church AV Guy

11-18-2009, 01:00 PM

Yeah, I've seen the first 4 hours now, I have no idea what the point of any of this is. Was the original TV series as out there as this is?
In my opinion, not it was not. He was in the village for a specific reason, and they told us what they wanted--information. Early on they determined that if they could find out why he resigned, he would crack. No one assumed that there was "nothing but the village". And number two changed almost every episode. The original was odd, but it at least it had a structure.

I have see all six hours of this, and I STILL don't understand anything about it. The last scene was as unsatisfying as anything I have seen on television. I liked the seaon one finale of Heroes better.

I think I have wasted six hours of my life. I predict that this version will NOT become a classic like the original!:D

That Don Guy

11-18-2009, 01:09 PM

I think one of the problems is, there are too many references to the original series that are just in name only. This is definitely not, as I like to call it, the "philosophical, allegorical, psychological" masterpiece that the original was.

There is one scene that may or may not be a reference: a gate with vertical bars slams shut - the first thing that came to my mind was the "scene" before the closing credits in each episode (except the last) of the original, where the prison bars slam in front of Number 6's face.

-- Don

ElJay

11-18-2009, 01:30 PM

I think I have wasted six hours of my life. I predict that this version will NOT become a classic like the original!:D

I've watched about an hour and a half so far and it's quite unsatisfying. I think now I can free up a few GB on the hard disk and save myself from the remaining 4.5 hours of the series.

kimsan

11-18-2009, 02:33 PM

While take a couple cues from the original, this is a whole 'nother tale. Or maybe just a nightmare of confusion and disorientation.

As soon as I saw 2's sleeping wife, all I could think was "Don't you dare pull a Tommy Westphall on us!"

Definitely not up to expectations (just a good coherent revisioning) or the original.

mostman

11-18-2009, 02:38 PM

Fail. Epic.

It had some moments and some really excellent writing and acting. In general, however, it sucked. It really sucked.

I understand trying to keep things mysterious and open ended, but at some point you are just lazy. Some things needed to be resolved in order for this to work. For example, we needed more of a discussion into the multiple plains of consciousness. How did the hidden consciousness of the real world people get pulled into the Village? Could the wife or 2 just will them there? And why did 6's inner consciousness collide with his outer consciousness? Why did he move in and out? What made him special?

Another thing, the complete breakdown of 6's morals at the end was so tangential to the character motives they spent 5 hours and 40 minutes building, that it almost made me laugh. Which was it, was he strong and resolute - an unbreakable will? Or was he a coward that was lured to power? Or am I supposed to believe that he caved just to help everyone, then the power corrupted him? Which is why 2 wanted out?

Who the hell knows. It sucked. That's what I know.

Church AV Guy

11-18-2009, 04:33 PM

Fail. Epic.

Another thing, the complete breakdown of 6's morals at the end was so tangential to the character motives they spent 5 hours and 40 minutes building, that it almost made me laugh. Which was it, was he strong and resolute - an unbreakable will? Or was he a coward that was lured to power? Or am I supposed to believe that he caved just to help everyone, then the power corrupted him? Which is why 2 wanted out?

Who the hell knows. It sucked. That's what I know.
Fail. Epic. +1,000,000:up:

That was surely a "What the..." ending if ever there was one. And there was so much inuendo. Was Number 2's son gay? Why did he murder 909? The pigs were a ruse, and we saw families with them, but then they disappeared. Was the whole thing in Number 2's wife's mind, as a mental construct? How did she "suck" them into her head? Were the holes whe way out of her mental constrct of the village? Is Number 6 now Number 2, and is 313 now his wife, and village is in her mind? Is the village to help people, or was that a lie, and justification?

AND... What did number 6 see that caused him to be taken to the village in the first place?

Oh yeah, what was with the old man in the opening scenes?

They did toss in a nod to the Penny-Farthing cycle.:rolleyes:

If any of this makes sense to anyone, please enlighten me!

whitson77

11-18-2009, 04:41 PM

Wow. So this is a resounding delete if you haven't watched this yet? :D

I have them recorded but after seeing this this it seems like you all pretty much are saying, "Don't watch this!!"

MikeMar

11-18-2009, 07:57 PM

I kinda enjoyed the ride, but not the ending.

If they built up #2 a bit more to be heading towards that, instead of the complete 180 he pulled, it might have been better.

Can someone spoil how the TV show ended? I saw it 5 years ago but forgot. I remember the whole plot and all that but forget ending

IndyJones1023

11-19-2009, 07:23 AM

I haven't watched this yet, so I've not read this thread, but is AMC not in HD?

MikeMar

11-19-2009, 07:24 AM

Not on directv at least

IndyJones1023

11-19-2009, 07:26 AM

It's not even in HD on torrents, so I was wondering if AMC is HD at all.

Jeeters

11-19-2009, 07:37 AM

It's not even in HD on torrents, so I was wondering if AMC is HD at all.There are several HD (h264, 720p) torrents of it, but they're all from private trackers.

Luckily, the HD episodes are also on usenet.

IndyJones1023

11-19-2009, 07:41 AM

Which group(s)?

Rob Helmerichs

11-19-2009, 08:17 AM

It's not even in HD on torrents, so I was wondering if AMC is HD at all.
It is on Comcast, although I think that's a very recent development.

That Don Guy

11-19-2009, 08:38 AM

Can someone spoil how the TV show ended? I saw it 5 years ago but forgot. I remember the whole plot and all that but forget ending
The original ending:
Number 6 was given the choice to leave or become the new leader, but it turned out to be yet another trick; in the end, they evacuated the village while a rocket blasted off (don't ask), and 6, the last 2, and somebody else drove off in that cell from the next-to-last episode, headed for London, where they show the butler character standing in front of 6's front door, which opens automatically with that "humming" sound all of the doors in The Village make - in other words, 6 had just swapped The Village for the much larger version that was reality.-- Don

whitson77

11-19-2009, 09:37 AM

AMC has HD with Dish. I recorded it in HD.

cheesesteak

11-19-2009, 10:37 AM

Even Alan Sepinwall couldn't handle it.

Jeeters

11-19-2009, 11:06 AM

Which group(s)?I think it was a.b.multimedia.

IndyJones1023

11-19-2009, 11:16 AM

Thanks.

kimsan

11-19-2009, 04:56 PM

Wow. So this is a resounding delete if you haven't watched this yet? :D

I have them recorded but after seeing this this it seems like you all pretty much are saying, "Don't watch this!!"

I wouldn't go so far as to say that exactly, but it's definitely OUT THERE.

Maybe the closest example would be watching the original series finale without having ever seen another episode.

I was ready for differences and updates from the original. From the promos, I was pleased with the "nods and winks" like the phrase "Be Seeing You", the holiday camp atmosphere with music and announcements over the PA, and the clothing touches of the banded lapels and a scarf in the final night. Go your own way from there with this version and intrigue me, but don't just give me a hangover without a night of drinking to enjoy for it!

Unfortunately, I really found this to be a badly executed story. It was far too abstract, making it difficult to decide on what was a memory flashback for a character or a reality flashback for the viewers sake.

The old version had an (at least assumed) premise of "how do you keep a retired agent/operative happy and debriefed and loyal" where this had no Danger Man predecessor to give it's lead character a foundation.

Maybe it was too deep for me or maybe I should have been under pharmacalogical influences to appreciate it more.

Solver

11-19-2009, 09:16 PM

The series could have been great. Instead it was just so, so. I watched all SIX episodes and am not sure where it went or even wanted to go. Was this a community on the back of a turtle, or in a snow globe or as part of some type of collective mind?

caslu

11-20-2009, 10:19 PM

Finally got around to seeing this and as a major fan of the original all I can say is that this version truly sucked. Had a lot of potential but ultimately very disappointing... I guess "The Prisoner" really died with Patrick McGoohan.

mqpickles

11-20-2009, 10:43 PM

Watching the first episode now. I'm finding the doctor's ridiculous lip filler to be a distraction.

Fool Me Twice

11-26-2009, 09:22 AM

I enjoyed it, mostly. It looked fantastic. McKellen was great. Lucy/415/Hayley Atwell is a sex goddess. But, yeah, the ending ruined it. In the original 6 was defeated but not broken; and he got the best of every 2 ever set to break him, so it was a sort of victory.

In the remake 2 gets the best of 6 in the end--6 is broken and made into 2's patsy. (I suppose you could argue that it's a noble defeat, but why let 313 make the sacrifice? Why cast Jesus if he's not going to take the cup himself?) And just to make sure you're left feeling like crap the final image is of 6 spouting nonsense and 313 shedding a tear. What a bummer.

Sex goddess:

http://www.hayley-atwell.org/photos/albums/004/normal_15.jpg (http://www.hayley-atwell.org/photos/displayimage.php?pid=112&fullsize=1)

http://www.hayley-atwell.org/photos/albums/001/normal_2.jpg (http://www.hayley-atwell.org/photos/displayimage.php?pid=127&fullsize=1)

http://www.hayley-atwell.org/photos/albums/002/normal_2.jpg (http://www.hayley-atwell.org/photos/displayimage.php?pid=116&fullsize=1)

IndyJones1023

11-26-2009, 09:23 AM

We've only seen the first episode so far, so I'm not reading this thread yet, but all I can say so far is, wow! That doctor sure has a duck mouth!

JimSpence

11-28-2009, 05:35 PM

Okay, I waited until today to do a marathon viewing of this epic remake of the original.

I have one word for it.

Disjointed.

Oh yeah, and then there's the requisite WTF?

Hunter Green

11-29-2009, 05:12 PM

As soon as I saw 2's sleeping wife, all I could think was "Don't you dare pull a Tommy Westphall on us!"
I think "Red Queen" is a better allusion, and oddly enough, though I had no reason to do so, I said to my wife, "What is she, the Red Queen?" the first time we saw her get the pills.

I was disappointed. My wife said it was less dissatisfying than the original because it at least had something approximating a resolution, but to me, the resolution is a perfect example of how a try to be an answer that fails is worse than not even trying to give an answer and making the story so it doesn't need one.

Craigbob

11-29-2009, 09:02 PM

Okay, I finally watched these and All I have to say is WTF!!!! That ending made less sense to me than pretty much anything I can recall seeing. There is bad writing then there is the Prisoner. The whole thing was a muddled mess IMO. How rthey expect to sell DVDs of this is beyond me.

AMC... I want 6 hours of my life back you SOBs.

catcard

11-30-2009, 07:37 AM

I had watched some of the episodes of the original show but I didn't remember much about it. I thought this new mini series was interesting but you have to wonder what kind of drugs the writers were on....

moot

11-30-2009, 09:32 AM

For me, the last 30 minutes was the only part that even made any sense. The rest of it was just a big jumbled mess of nonsense. I understand that they were taking some artistic license and trying to portray 6's own confusion to the viewer, but good lord... they went way too far off the deep end and were left with a mess of footage that seemed to be edited by a 5 year old and his cat.

I think you could take episodes 2-5 and rearrange them in any order and have them make just as much sense as they did in this order. There was no flow to the story at all. Just a beginning, 5 hours of wandering around not getting anywhere, then a sudden cliched ending that we all saw coming as soon as they revealed the sleeping wife.

SeanC

12-10-2009, 06:18 PM

Unfortunately, I really found this to be a badly executed story. It was far too abstract, making it difficult to decide on what was a memory flashback for a character or a reality flashback for the viewers sake.

The old version had an (at least assumed) premise of "how do you keep a retired agent/operative happy and debriefed and loyal" where this had no Danger Man predecessor to give it's lead character a foundation.

Maybe it was too deep for me or maybe I should have been under pharmacalogical influences to appreciate it more.

I liked the first episode quite a bit and was pretty excited by but it quickly went downhill from there. I completely agree it was FAR to abstract. I really had no idea what was going on, and quickly didn't really care.

I finally got around to watching the finale just now. I just couldn't bear to delete it without seeing what they did to the story with my own eyes. As I expected, I was completely disappointed.

TAsunder

12-10-2009, 06:28 PM

The first episode was great. The ending wasn't terrible. The stuff in-between was pretty bad. The series as a whole felt like it wanted to be Satoshi Kon but in the end barely made it beyond high school English assignment.

sushikitten

12-17-2009, 07:07 AM

It's not even in HD on torrents, so I was wondering if AMC is HD at all.

We recorded it in HD on Comcast.

Just watched the first episode last night and I have to say after reading this thread, I don't see any need to watch the rest. I hate WTF endings with no conclusion. And although part 1 was intriguing, I guess I really. don't. care. about what happens next...at least not enough to waste four more hours on it.

Jeeters

12-17-2009, 07:32 AM

Just watched the first episode last night and I have to say after reading this thread, I don't see any need to watch the rest. I hate WTF endings with no conclusion. And although part 1 was intriguing, I guess I really. don't. care. about what happens next...at least not enough to waste four more hours on it.There *is* a conclusion. But it's just a "really? seriously? *sigh*" conclusion.

I liked the first two episodes. But it was downhill starting in the 3rd. A few highlights here and there in the later episodes, but *too* few.

SeanC

12-17-2009, 07:37 AM

There *is* a conclusion. But it's just a "really? seriously? *sigh*" conclusion.

This

What I really loved in the original was the back and forth between 6 and the 2s.

In this one there is only 1 2, and while there is some back and forth, there is a whole lot more melodrama with other characters between 6 and 2 and I found most of that to be boring and tedious.

Steveknj

12-17-2009, 09:20 AM

I have watched the first 3 episodes so far, and from reading this thread, it looks like I'm not the only one disappointed. I just don't understand why they couldn't just update the original, rather than what they did. First off, I was really distracted with everyone called 6 or 2 instead of #6 or #2. To me, having # in front emphasises the fact they ARE a number. Second, having kids there, kind of takes away from the original Village, which I always understood was a place for political prisoners. Third, while the 60s version was surprisingly high tech for it's time, this is surprising low tech. Imagine what they could have done with all the modern technology, computers and mind bending devices and modern drugs. Even 2s digs looked more like an old English mantion than a leader's digs. The desert scenario didn't work in the way that the "quaintness" of the original Village did. I'll watch it through to see how it ends, but I was so looking forward to this and it has let me down.