If you've read the other reviews you know this is not a remake of the original TV series of The Prisoner. This is much smarter, more obscure, certainly more existential. Not so much about trying to escape from an externally imposed imprisonment as a study of reality and self-delusion. This is not a straight-forward linear plot, but one that challenges the viewer. It's a wonder that it ever got made for television.That's the substance of my views, but I'll add that the acting is stellar, the cinematography is haunting, and the crisp directing and editing demand that the viewer pay attention and make an effort to sort things out, which some viewers may resent.The wide range of viewer scores for this six-episode series produce an average score of 6.3 (in November 2015), which is meaningless. Those who liked this series loved it and those who didn't like it, for whatever reasons, hated it. There are not many opinions in between the best and the worst, so the average of 6.3 only indicates that slightly more people loved it than hated it.

I can understand how some people hate this re-imagining of the Prisoner. The original series was, after all, sui generis and an all-time classic. But I thought that the original conceit for the new series was absolutely original and very clever (as well as very well-thought-through). And I liked its incredible remove from the political/existential aspects of the original (though the original is my all-time favorite series). I wanted something new and this new version delivered. I also enjoyed the extraordinary locale (Africa) and the mysterious desert. This caused the lighting to be so distinct, making it visually crisp in HD. Then there was the music. The amplified cello's duplication of Moroccan and Arabic scales added to the eeriness. Sure it isn't Patrick McGoohan. Sure it's not a slam against George W. Bush's (and Dick Cheney's) penchant for extraordinary rendition, whisking just about anybody whom they didn't like to a foreign land to be tortured. And I'm thankful for that. Right now we need excellent science fiction stories wherever we can get them and the final revelation of the Village and the people in it turns the Village's seeming inhumanity around to a tale of hope and healing (even if 313 has a ways to go for her healing). Finally, the imagery will long stay with me: the rusted anchor in the sand miles from the sea, the mysterious holes opening up in the ground, and finally the power station rising in the shimmery distance, overlooking all.

I had to give the upgraded version of The Prisoner full marks purely because of the stuck in the mud fans of the original who rush to give it 1 star while wishing they could give even less. It seems that they are prisoners of 'The Prisoner'. If it were not for this I would have given it a 9.0. The groundbreaking original is easily a 10.What I find surprising is that fans who claim to appreciate the original fail to see the brilliance of the new version. I wonder if they even get the original series or is it just a one eyed teddy bear from their childhood that they just cannot let go of?? While paying homage to and respecting the original, the new version boldly crafts it's own story that makes you think about the same issues that the original did such as control and free will. The only difference being that instead of using the cold war, spy culture and the power of government as the backdrop, it applies relevant issues such as corporations, globalisation and the power of marketing.This switch in backdrop was vital and very very well done. With the face off between the Soviet Union and the rest of the free world in the 60's, the concept of being on a side had meaning. The dynamics were much simpler than they are now.Now, with the advent of globalisation with corporations and their marketing culture spreading across the globe, there is no side. How could there be? We are feeding the entities that imprison us. Indeed, the concept that The Prisoner V2.0 alludes to that 'there is no out, only the village' is already a growing reality in todays world. A while back, you could go to another country and tell instantly that you were no longer back home. It is no longer so easy. Now if you travel to almost any city in the world you see the same restaurant chains, clothing brands, internet cafés, shopping malls, coffee shops, music videos, TV channels, adverts telling you how to live and what to buy......there is no escape.Pin numbers, i.d's, passwords, facebook pages and twitter accounts, stored personal information on databases all over the world, our lives are getting more and more depersonalised. You are no longer a person, you are an IMDb user name, an email address, a facebook page. In today's world, you ARE a number. In today's world, we are all number 6's. In today's world, there is no information that we have that 'they' do not already have. If anything, they have more information about us than we do ourselves. The whole concept of 'knowing' someone is being replaced by 'having information' about someone. When you now call an organisation, whatever appears on their screen is who you are.So where the No. 2 in the original version wanted information and No. 6's main aim was to abstain from giving any, in the new version No. 2 just wants no. 6 to accept the Village as his reality. In the original it was therefore much easier for No. 6 to be defiant whereas now there really is not much difference between the village and the real world. I particularly enjoyed the reference to soap operas and their mind numbing effects. Who needs brainwashing and hypnosis when your subjects willingly sit in front of a TV and allow your message to infiltrate their thoughts. For me one of the main criteria of anything I watch nowadays is 'does it make you think?' and the Prisoner V2.0 definitely ticks that box.Add the production values, and the whole package comes together beautifully. The background music has a beautiful melancholy feel to it, the visuals are stunning and the story is well paced. Whereas the original village set in Portmeirion in Wales had a quirky character all of it's own, the new village is set in the middle of a desert and has a surreal, mirage-like feel to it. Both of them very good in their own ways. Two aspects however in which I feel that V2.0 upstages the original are the characters of number 2 superbly played by Sir Ian McKellan, and the ending. Having recently watched the original once again I started to try to figure the ending out yet again even though Patrick McGoohan himself has stated that there isn't any meaning. They simply did not know how to tie the series up.The Prisoner V2.0 has an ending that requires considerable thought, but does make up a complete picture even if an odd piece of the jigsaw may be missing. Overall though as so often with Sci-Fi, some suspension of belief is required but there is a resolution in the end that makes watching all 6 episodes very satisfying.If I do have a criticism, then it would be that the new incarnation of The Prisoner should have been condensed and released as a big budget movie instead of a television series. I am quite sure that it would have done reasonably well. Unfortunately as a TV series, a large percentage of viewers will consist of original purists who will trash the new version regardless of what it is like and a lot of sci-fi fans who would have appreciated this masterpiece will simply never get to see it.EDIT: I've now bought the Blu Ray box set to sit besides my DVD box set of the original. The 5.1 sound and crisp picture quality is superb.

The first three times I did not quite understand it the fourth time I liked it. Mind you I was home sick with phenomena for over a week, it was actually double phenomena so I think I kept drifting in and out of this movie I was watching. Which is why I watched it so many times but not only did I enjoy it I loved it..............Loved the old guy Ian the great thing is the whole in the ground when the child fell in now that was heart wrenching but it was real good as it brought tears to my eyes at least and hell I was sick for most of this viewing. It was on for at least a week or so I am unsure how many episodes that there are if anybody know let me know. I read that there are 360 Minutes I believe that's only four hours I watched this for way more then four hours. I am sure it was at least fifteen hours or longer but it could include commercials.CheersStan 100% Canadian and dam proud of it.