AMC Prisoner Remake

[Crothian]

I'm avoiding spoilers. I'm just through the first three epidoes after recpording them all. I'm liking it. It is different from the orginal which I like very much (I even own the RPG! ). The cinemtography has been very good at times and really reminding me of the orginal series. I like that they have down played some of the key phrases of the orginal or offered them in different ways. I like the scene that has "Who is number 1?" in it.

 

[Crothian]

It was pretty good. It is nothing like the orignal just in name and village only. People expecting it to be the orginal are going to be disappointed as they should be. It is not a remake, it is its own thing.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

It is not a remake, it is its own thing.

In that (obvious) case, they shouldn't have used the name "The Prisoner."

"Inmate #2" or "The Village" would have alluded to the original without raising those kinds of expectations.

Its just one of my pet peeves about TV/Movies. Its perfectly possible to remake/retell a story without hyping people's expectations by using the same title when you're taking a radically different approach to the original material.

Some directors & writers get this.

After all, when the book Moby Dick was made into a movie about a guy in a NYC Brownstone hunting down an oversized rat, it wasn't called "Moby Dick in a NYC Brownstone." ("Of Unknown Origin") Nor when it was made into a movie about a starship captain hunting down his superhuman nemesis, it wasn't "Moby Dick in Space." ("Star Trek: Wrath of Khan.")

Even "Little Red Riding Hood" got a name change for "Company of Wolves," "The Tempest" was remade as "Forbidden Planet" and "The Odyssey" became "O Brother, Where Art Thou."

 

[BrooklynKnight]

In that (obvious) case, they shouldn't have used the name "The Prisoner."

"Inmate #2" or "The Village" would have alluded to the original without raising those kinds of expectations.

Its just one of my pet peeves about TV/Movies. Its perfectly possible to remake/retell a story without hyping people's expectations by using the same title when you're taking a radically different approach to the original material.

Some directors & writers get this.

After all, when the book Moby Dick was made into a movie about a guy in a NYC Brownstone hunting down an oversized rat, it wasn't called "Moby Dick in a NYC Brownstone." ("Of Unknown Origin") Nor when it was made into a movie about a starship captain hunting down his superhuman nemesis, it wasn't "Moby Dick in Space." ("Star Trek: Wrath of Khan.")

Even "Little Red Riding Hood" got a name change for "Company of Wolves," "The Tempest" was remade as "Forbidden Planet" and "The Odyssey" became "O Brother, Where Art Thou."

Wasn't Wrath of Khan the other way around? Khan hunting down Kirk?

 

[Mistwell]

I am pretty shocked at some of the negativity in this thread.

I honestly thought this was one of the best mini series in the last 5 years. I thought it was FANTASTIC.

I really think people need to watch it all the way through before jumping to conclusions. Very little is what it seems.

 

[Rackhir]

I am pretty shocked at some of the negativity in this thread.

I honestly thought this was one of the best mini series in the last 5 years. I thought it was FANTASTIC.

I really think people need to watch it all the way through before jumping to conclusions. Very little is what it seems.

As Danny said, if it was billed as an original project or something other than "The Prisoner", it might have gotten a better reception. What ever it's merits as an original production, it completely fails as a remake or reimagining of "The Prisoner". I like Lost, but it's a lousy prisoner remake, as is Star Wars and "Chinatown".

 

[Crothian]

As Danny said, if it was billed as an original project or something other than "The Prisoner", it might have gotten a better reception. What ever it's merits as an original production, it completely fails as a remake or reimagining of "The Prisoner".

I don't think it completely fails. It has a lot of items that are similar to the original. The look of the Village was great, the reoccurring characters was a good choice. The story was interesting and I think made more sense then the original. It was a lot tighter and more focused.

 

[Fast Learner]

I am pretty shocked at some of the negativity in this thread.

I honestly thought this was one of the best mini series in the last 5 years. I thought it was FANTASTIC.

I really think people need to watch it all the way through before jumping to conclusions. Very little is what it seems.

Was your understanding of it meaningfully different from my spoilered bits a few posts up?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Wasn't Wrath of Khan the other way around? Khan hunting down Kirk?

It wasn't a one-to-one transcription, so there are Ahab & Moby Dick elements in both of the key characters.

Khan, after all, DOES quote Ahab with his final words.

Kirk, like Moby, does win the war.

And the idea of Shatner as the Great White Whale is a compelling point.

Still, Kirk is as much hunter as hunted. Besides, he has the book.

Although, upon further reflection...the Ahab quote + Shatner as Great White Whale really have to be the deciding factors.

Your correction is accepted!