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Amazon.co.uk Review
Primarily aimed at fanatic completists, The Prisoner 35th Anniversary Companion gives us an alternative version of the opening episode "Arrival" recently rediscovered from Canadian archival material, along with the broadcast version for comparison. The collection also has text files on associative material like the score for the music, the novelisations and the Dinky model of the mini-moke, clips of the interval bumpers, alternative clips of the opening credits and a sequence in which the opening credits shot of a filing cabinet labelled "Resignations" is reshot in a variety of languages for foreign markets. The episode included reminds us, in both its versions, what an innovative and sinister show The Prisoner was--George Baker in particular is an impressive foil to Patrick McGoohan.
There are also text files on the careers of McGoohan and his collaborator George Markstein, as well as an extended interview with Bernard Williams in which he talks frankly about the difficulties of producing a show whose scripts were being written by the star as it was being shot, and tells us of the last-minute improvisation of the sinister balloon, Rover. There is also a short documentary about the show, its fans and the memorabilia shop at Portmeirion, plus a Prisoner parody Renault ad.
On the DVD: The Prisoner 35th Anniversary Companion is presented in standard 4:3 television visual ratio; the mono sound has not worn well, especially in the alternative version of "Arrival" where it is at times painfully scratchy. The interface is user-confusing; if you don't already know the shape of The Village it is not immediately obvious that the menu continues on two screens. The packaging includes a lavish booklet that includes a facsimile of the production notes for the show. --Roz Kaveney
DVD Description
DVD Special Features:
Alternative, 50 minute version of the very first episode "Arrival"
250 word guide to Alternate Arrival
A 30 minute interview with Production Manager Bernard Williams
Textless intro and outro sequences
Bumpers
Foreign language filing cabinet sequence
"For the Love of" - a 7 minute featurette about Prisoner memorabilia collectors
Renault 21 TV ad
Patrick McGoohan biography
George Markstein biography
Stills Gallery
Merchandise Gallery
Collectors' Edition Booklet
Production notes of each episode
Alternative, 50 minute version of the very first episode "Arrival"
250 word guide to Alternate Arrival
A 30 minute interview with Production Manager Bernard Williams
Textless intro and outro sequences
Bumpers
Foreign language filing cabinet sequence
"For the Love of" - a 7 minute featurette about Prisoner memorabilia collectors
Renault 21 TV ad
Patrick McGoohan biography
George Markstein biography
Stills Gallery
Merchandise Gallery
Collectors' Edition Booklet
Production notes of each episode
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
35th Anniversary Prisoner Companion,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Prisoner - 35th Anniversary Companion [DVD] (DVD)
For those of us who remain fascinated by the 17 part TV series made in the 1960’s, the 35th Anniversary Prisoner Companion provides genuinely useful additional material. Two versions of “Arrival” are on the DVD, the unfamiliar one being a first cut that had been prepared before incorporation of the groundbreaking opening montage sequence and the superb Ron Grainer music. The quality of this recording is very patchy (the original 16mm print still eludes the devoted fans), but it serves to highlight the brilliance of the attention-grabbing final editing and soundtrack. The DVD’s menu, based on a map of The Village, is as enigmatic as the series itself and viewers have to be careful not to miss much of the content. One such hidden gem is an informative interview with Bernard Williams who was Production Manager for the series. He describes the “nightmare” that was the production process: battling for set space with Stanley Kubrick who was making 2001 at the time, scheduling around the difficult weather at Portmeirion, and working nearly devoid of scripts while the ideas developed in the mind of the “formidable loner” Patrick McGoohan. Also revealed is how the mysterious Rover was eventually conceived, as Williams and McGoohan drank gin and tonic by the Stone Boat and looked up towards the heavens. There are intro and outro sequences, a documentary on Sir Clough Williams-Ellis’s Portmeirion, a detailed text biography on Patrick McGoohan and George Markstein, stills from the set, and more. If you want Information, this DVD will deliver. And if you don’t already know, it will even tell you the identity of Number One! Be seeing you…
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Half a dozen of the other...,
By
This review is from: The Prisoner - 35th Anniversary Companion [DVD] (DVD)
The Prisoner 35th Anniversary Companion is really no more than an extras disc that they forgot to include on the original UK boxed set release, but for fans it's not a bad selection of extras - but don't expect any input from Patrick McGoohan, who always felt that it was better to let people draw their own conclusions about the series than offer any explanations.
The major feature is the inclusion of both the broadcast version of the first episode, Arrival, and an alternate Canadian version that was sent out before the final edit was locked. The differences between them are fairly minor - no Ron Grainer theme (the music is credited to Wilfred Joseph), some alternate takes and the odd different, inferior line (for example "She was charming" instead of the finished version's "She was most upset at my funeral."), the new Number Two doesn't introduce himself, and there's more innocuous dialogue with the taxi driver. The most interesting changes are with the Rovers (the spheres that track down escapers), which are much more aggressive here - not only do they spitefully knock down Number 6 after capturing him but bounce up and down on his unconscious body, accompanied by distorted breathing sound effects rather than the sound effect used in the finished version. Their introduction is also slightly different: rather than demonstrating their effectiveness on a transgressor in the town square, they simply appear and pass through the village. Perhaps the most intriguing extra is an interesting interview with production manager Bernard Williams that leaves you with the impression that making a film about the making of the series would be an infinitely better idea than remaking the show. The rest of the extras are more odds and ends than anything substantial: textless intro and outro title sequences, foreign language filing cabinet sequence, memorabilia collectors featurette, spoof Renault 21 ad; stills and merchandise galleries and booklet.
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