Favorite Episode of The Prisoner?

[auntiehill]

It's hard to pick just two, but I went with "Hammer into Anvil" and "Schizoid Man."

 

[23skidoo]

The series was shot on 35mm. Of course it could be released on HD. Any so-called "technopile" who has stated otherwise doesn't know what they are talking about.

The effects being redone in TOS were a matter of (a) wanting to redo the original effects to bring them in line with the rest of the franchise and (b) some of the effects being printed and re-printed so many times for re-use on the series that the original elements had become very degraded.

First, I stand corrected on the filming (and I will make a correction to a statement I made on the Twilight Zone thread momentarily). The reason I thought 16mm was when the DVD release from A&E came out there was some complaints over the picture quality and it was mentioned that the 16mm filming was to blame, so someone got the wrong info.

I agree with you on technophiles who don't know what they're talking about. I've similarly heard that classic films like Casablanca cannot be released to HD (well, it was - and so has Snow White), and the biggie was the fact that TOS in its original form couldn't be released ... but it was. Why I opposed the TOS remastering is because of Point A in your response - they decided to revise it and they attempted to make the original version disappear. And they made editorial changes. I'm a supporter of preserving television history, and it offended me that they did this. And the attitude around here and elsewhere was, literally, "if you don't like it, piss off." Which made me dig my heels in more.

The latest "claim" I've heard is that shot-on-standard video productions cannot be released to Blu-Ray in any level of quality. I've seen DVD featurettes transferred to BR and HD-DVD that are rendered unwatchable. However they just announced the original Twilight Zone is coming to Blu-Ray, and a half-dozen episodes of that were shot on videotape, so we'll see if this claim is also debunked.

Alex

 

[Harvey]

The shows that were on videotape can be included on Blu-Ray, of course, they just won't see their picture quality improve. Most special features on Blu-Rays these days, with some welcome exceptions, are just in standard defintion, too.

 

[Kegg]

Why I opposed the TOS remastering is because of Point A in your response - they decided to revise it and they attempted to make the original version disappear.

They still release the original show on DVD, right?

In that case, nothing's disappearing. The problem with stuff like the Star Wars Special Edition is that for many years that was the only version of the franchise you could get in a new release - only a few years ago were the originals put on DVD.

I have mixed feelings about special editions in general but I'm fine with their existence so long as they don't eliminate the earlier version.

 

[Harvey]

^^
And, in fact, the recent Blu-Rays include both versions. Certainly no harm done there. If only I had the 150 bucks to plop down to pick up those sets (and that's when they're on sale!).

 

[Kegg]

^^
And, in fact, the recent Blu-Rays include both versions. Certainly no harm done there. If only I had the 150 bucks to plop down to pick up those sets (and that's when they're on sale!).

That's good to know. Whenever I decide to upgrade (I'm still sticking with my mouldy old TOS DVDs - the original two-episode pacs, actually) I'm sure it'll be worth it.

 

[Harvey]

^^
And, in fact, the recent Blu-Rays include both versions. Certainly no harm done there. If only I had the 150 bucks to plop down to pick up those sets (and that's when they're on sale!).

That's good to know. Whenever I decide to upgrade (I'm still sticking with my mouldy old TOS DVDs - the original two-episode pacs, actually) I'm sure it'll be worth it.

Oh, those puppies are the same ones I invested in back in the day. Back when two episodes of TOS for ten bucks seemed to be a good deal, and DVD resolution blew me away.

Oh, times have changed.