Blair Loveday
In 1967 an iconic sci-fi series was created called The Prisoner where an intelligence agent retired and finds himself awoken in a strange village.
Then in 2009 the series was recreated starring Sir Ian McKellan. Somehow I totally missed this remake, and now with a release on Bluray I was able to check this interesting remake out.
For those totally unaware, The Prisoner kicks off with a man waking in a desert confused. He comes across an old man on the run being chased by guard like people with dogs. He gives a message to The Prisoner, who makes his way to a town. Confused he starts to find out what’s up with this weird village.
It turns out this village is totally self contained. As far as the people there are concerned, the village is the only place in existence. Even weirder than that, their names are all numbers. This confused man is called 6, and is taken to his house. He tries to understand the situation, while having lost his memories. He has hallucinations, flashes of strange memories, but knowledge that other places exist.
Things get even weirder when he meets the man running the place called 2 played by Sir Ian McKellan. 2 is clearly hiding something, and as the plot goes on we discover it gets weirder and more twisted as you go.
As a series I was left feeling mixed. There is heaps to like about it, the episodes are chaotic and intriguing, but annoyingly, never overly satisfying. I don’t want to spoil the plot more because it’s the bulk of the fun, but I will say it’s good enough to justify the time, but not going to be an absolute icon of your sci-fi collection.
The acting is very solid, from the minor roles, to major roles like Jim Caviezel, Hayley Atwell, Ruth Wilson, and of course Sir Ian McKellen The effects and cinematography are all solid enough to really make the show incredibly watchable. The Bluray also comes with behind the scenes clips of each episode and some cut scenes which adds heaps of value to the collection.
On the whole, The Prisoner is well worth checking out and this Blu-ray is a great way to enjoy it. While it’s far from my favourite series, it will be worth some rewatches and is really fun while you are watching it.
