There are days, believe it or not, when I wish I had "cable". Tonight is one of those times. AMC, or "American Movie Classics", is showing their take on the classic (and limited) 1967 television series The Prisoner; a favourite of mine. I watched an episode a few weeks ago and needed no prodding to renew my love for that series.Interesting note: The U.S. version takes place in the desert, and not the idyllic seaside locale of the original. Yes, the balloons are back, better known as "Rovers", especially by those souls who try to make a run for it. Somehow the desert is not as provocative a setting. After all, it's... just a desert.
Of course, I will save my verdict for when I do manage to see the new Prisoner. The 'west' is so paranoid today that this re-imagining is already valid and worthy. Americans, especially, feel like they have lost many of their freedoms 'guaranteed by the Constitution'. Freedom: In name only, perhaps. (It would be interesting to hear what my American readers have to say about this last point. Things are not much better here in Canada -- every so often we hear horror stories about how our government, or the RCMP, were eavesdropping, or even, gasp, conducting "experiments" on us.)
6 comments:
You're more hopeful than I; the promos look uniformly uninspired. I guess my worry with this is the same as it is with all remakes of things I have a fondness for; the remake becomes the de facto genuine article by virtue of it being more immediate, more part of the new audience's experience. Who, if anyone, who loves the new Battlestar Galactica (a dreadful series, IMHO) will go back to the campy fun of the original?
That said, the themes of the Prisoner are of as much concern today as they were in the 60s. Maybe they'll do a good "update" but I'm not holding my breath. Even the scheduling of it, two one-hour epsisodes each on three consecutive nights, indicates to me that given a week off, the network is not too convinced the audience will return...
Number 2 out.
Good points; the "remake becomes the de facto genuine article by virtue of being more immediate" one especially good.
Did you not know, sir? "New" is automatically better... especially for the impatient. "I don't wanna have-ta think. Where's my bagga Cheesies?"
Yep. The remake is an utter piece of s--t. We don't care one whit about the lead character. We don't know what Number 2 wants. The whole thing is stuffed to busting with sappy sentimentalism (Number 2 has a son and daughter; Number 6 has a brother and two love interests; there a made-for-the Village soap opera within the show). The set design is poor, and the new Village has no "geography". Remember in the first series, how distinct the buildings were and how easy it was to decipher their proximity to each other? Not so in this series; there are no distinct buildings, and barely any sense of scale or where things are in relation to each other. We a taken through cut after cut of so many layers of hallucination that we don't know what is real. And we don't care Written well, hallucinations could work to further a plot. Layered on with an idiot's trowel as it is here, the story this thick and indecipherable.
As the review in the Miami Herald says, The new Prisoner "is cruel and unusual punishment". The original stands. By Wednesday I predict this remake will be forgotten.
Downloading the newest Doctor Who special, The Waters of Mars. No matter how average a DW episode it turns out to be, it'll be a welcome blast of fun after this Prisoner crap.
I did not see any of "The Prisoner" last evening, but your sounds ring true. I have seen this happen many times - the norm, actually.
Are you sticking it out? If you do, and your opinion does not change, would you warn me about 'wasting six hours of my life that I will never get back'?
No, not sticking it out. I've lost two hours to this. Not losing 4 more. Think I'll read a book instead.
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