The Prisoner: Set 1 [2 Discs]

"Patrick McGoohan's cult-classic treatise on free will versus conformity makes its way to DVD most successfully. Set one of A&E's collection of The Prisoner presents three episodes of the series in, according to the information on the case, the fan-preferred viewing order. Episodes featured here are ""Arrival,"" ""Free For All,"" and ""Dance of the Dead."" The first disc of the two-disc set also contains an alternate version of ""The Chimes of Big Ben"" episode. The video and audio quality of all of the episodes is superb, especially considering the 1968 vintage of the material. Without giving anything away, it can be said that ""The Village"" has never looked more bold and colorful. The dialogue is crystal clear; the jazzy music, which doesn't seem dated at all, sounds quite good. The white balloon object (fans will know what that means) is made quite creepy via the excellent sound effects. Bonus features, outside of the extra episode, are more fun than informative. The trivia game is short, but amusing while it lasts. The foreign file cabinet footage is mildly funny; the textless intro and outro are included for completists. The interactive map of ""The Village"" is colorful and creepy, if limited in function. The ""Stills Gallery"" contains some suave images of McGoohan, but it's very small. ""Scene Selection"" allows instant access to all chapters."