View a commercial for The Prisoner here.
A free man resigns from his job after discovering something upsetting, only to wake up in The Village and discovering that he is just a number. That is the premise of "The Prisoner". Michael works in a sensitive, intelligence gathering position. When he resigns, he has one final day before he suddenly wakes up on the outskirts of a seeming Utopia surrounded by desert. He wants to know how he got there, and how he can get back, while he is told that he has always been there and that there is no back to get to.
In this remake of the 1967 British programme, "the prisoner", Jim Caviezel steps into the shoes of Six while his character is hounded by the ever manipulative Two (played by Ian McKellen). I grew up watching the original on late night PBS, so I was torn from the beginning. Not only was I pleased to see this strange and wonderful series get a new life, I was also terribly critical as I was familiar with the original and had that to compare to. But first, let's cover the basics.
The acting was well done. Ian is very good at playing the controlling Two. Everything he says, and every movement is suspect, as it should be. Jim isn't as good, but he doesn't do a bad job. So, in spite of Six being the main character, you find yourself a tad more interested in what Two will do next, rather than how Six is going to get away.
The set design was very good, showing a very nice, cheerful Village surrounded by the bleak, vast desert. And the director did a good job with blurring the edges of reality. Throughout the show there are a few nods to the original series, including an old man with a drawing of Big Ben, who wears the clothes of the original Six. Also all of the vehicles appear to be of 1960's design, and all are right-hand-drive. In a bar hangs an antique, large front wheel, bicycle (the Village emblem from the original series), and when Six gets too close to the outer edge of the village, he finds himself attacked by a large, opaque, bubble.
Unfortunately for the remake, it had a lot to live up to. While Caviezel does a decent job, he just doesn't convey the anger, contempt, and defiance that the character of Six should have. The remake also while having the blurred edges of reality, doesn't go all the way to the edge of insanity as the original had. And in the end, too many questions were answered too well. It just didn't leave things quite vague enough for my liking.
If you are looking for an entertaining 6 hours that has a decent resolution, good acting, and great set design, The Prisoner is for you. If you are looking for a more surreal series, that leaves you in a constant state of "WTF?", you'd be better off with the original series.
I have to give The Prisoner a RAPIER. It looks very much like everyone else's rapier. The only apparent difference is the number engraved on the pommel.
-Mornblade
Click here to order The Prisoner Mini-Series on DVD
Click here to buy the original the prisoner TV series on DVD
A free man resigns from his job after discovering something upsetting, only to wake up in The Village and discovering that he is just a number. That is the premise of "The Prisoner". Michael works in a sensitive, intelligence gathering position. When he resigns, he has one final day before he suddenly wakes up on the outskirts of a seeming Utopia surrounded by desert. He wants to know how he got there, and how he can get back, while he is told that he has always been there and that there is no back to get to.
In this remake of the 1967 British programme, "the prisoner", Jim Caviezel steps into the shoes of Six while his character is hounded by the ever manipulative Two (played by Ian McKellen). I grew up watching the original on late night PBS, so I was torn from the beginning. Not only was I pleased to see this strange and wonderful series get a new life, I was also terribly critical as I was familiar with the original and had that to compare to. But first, let's cover the basics.
The acting was well done. Ian is very good at playing the controlling Two. Everything he says, and every movement is suspect, as it should be. Jim isn't as good, but he doesn't do a bad job. So, in spite of Six being the main character, you find yourself a tad more interested in what Two will do next, rather than how Six is going to get away.
The set design was very good, showing a very nice, cheerful Village surrounded by the bleak, vast desert. And the director did a good job with blurring the edges of reality. Throughout the show there are a few nods to the original series, including an old man with a drawing of Big Ben, who wears the clothes of the original Six. Also all of the vehicles appear to be of 1960's design, and all are right-hand-drive. In a bar hangs an antique, large front wheel, bicycle (the Village emblem from the original series), and when Six gets too close to the outer edge of the village, he finds himself attacked by a large, opaque, bubble.
Unfortunately for the remake, it had a lot to live up to. While Caviezel does a decent job, he just doesn't convey the anger, contempt, and defiance that the character of Six should have. The remake also while having the blurred edges of reality, doesn't go all the way to the edge of insanity as the original had. And in the end, too many questions were answered too well. It just didn't leave things quite vague enough for my liking.
If you are looking for an entertaining 6 hours that has a decent resolution, good acting, and great set design, The Prisoner is for you. If you are looking for a more surreal series, that leaves you in a constant state of "WTF?", you'd be better off with the original series.
I have to give The Prisoner a RAPIER. It looks very much like everyone else's rapier. The only apparent difference is the number engraved on the pommel.
-Mornblade
Click here to order The Prisoner Mini-Series on DVD
Click here to buy the original the prisoner TV series on DVD
Powered by ScribeFire.
